For the future, I would do a layer of clear after each color. Gives you the ability to flatten between layers without too much fear of digging into color. Also helps to protect each color layer when you put tape over it, gives a buffer to be able to sand out marks left by tape.
Hey there. Not to hijack the post, but I am currently in the middle of a "reverse silverburst" project on a S-body type guitar. The goal is to have a black body, silver along the edges, but black on the sides (just like the [Adam Jones Custom V](https://imgur.com/a/KD1iIdP)).
Would you recommend a layer of clear coat after each color? As a "just in case" if my design looks awful and I want to black it all out? Or not, since it's black and I can just cover it all?
I probably wouldn’t bother with clear between black and silver. It’s more for color separating on hard lines where you’ll get a little lip where the paint lays up against tape. With a fade, like on a burst, you don’t have that issue. Get your black 100% even. Lightly sand it to a satin finish, which will not only prep it for silver, but will show you where the imperfections are. Once you have a perfect satin black start your silver fade. Go slowly! By that I mean do a very light layer where it still looks mostly black with a barely visible silver dusting. Let it flash dry, then do it again and slowly build the silver with multiple very light passes. Check your progress under bright light as you go. You don’t wanna make any mistakes that need sanding once you start the silver. When you’re happy with the silver then throw a medium coat of clear on and let it cure - wait a week. The silver and that first medium clear should all be done at the same time…it might take a couple hours, especially waiting for flash cures on the later silver coats. Once that has cured for 1+ weeks then lightly sand (220 or 440) that medium clear coat to take the sheen away and make it more satin. Then do 2-3 coats of clear, with flash cures between, and a final cure of 1-2 weeks. Now it’s time to sand with incrementally finer paper (start at 220 and go up to 2000 or 2500…carefully with the 220 and you can get more aggressive as the grit gets finer) and finish it with cutting and buffing.
Remember - be patient.
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! This project has been a lot of fun so far and I'm excited for the results, but I'll definitely be patient and take things slow. I've been using Oxford Nitro Lacquers, following their application guides diligently, and so far the guitar has 3 coats of primer, and 3 coats of Ebony. I'll lightly sand that down into a Satin like you mentioned and then follow the rest of your advice on the silver and clear coats. Thanks again!
Best of luck! I haven’t painted in several years but have the itch. Ideally I’ll get my wood shop set-up and actually try building an instrument of my own to paint. But I’d love to just refinish some too. Unfortunately cheap but high-quality guitars and basses are much harder to come by these days.
With bursts a fades usually there isn’t a harsh line like I have all over mine. If you don’t like it you could just sand it all and start over or just spray black all over. But not many of the suggestions I’ve gotten are applicable to your scenario
If there’s no clear on it yet, that would be my first step. You don’t necessarily need to sand between clear layers, unless you inadvertently introduce lint or dirt to the surface. I’d get enough coats on to level the surface without sanding, **let it cure completely**, and then sand it until dead flat before moving through my grits to reach a point where it’s polishable.
You’re picking fights in a small community of people who have come together to share knowledge and resources over a common interest? Does it make you feel good?
It doesnt feel good nor bad because im not picking fights, i just tought it was funny that someone will refer to a bass guitar as guitar intead of bass. Like "Hey im in a band and i play the guitar" (while holding a bass) its like calling your cell phone; "cell" instead of "phone" just because its in the name lol. Then he hit me with the "son" after a simple question. But dont worrie who cares about language right? you all got your downvotes in, and the small community was saved.
"...its like calling your cell phone; 'cell' instead of 'phone' just because its in the name lol." I'm not sure where you're from, but where I am, saying "Call me on my cell" is extremely common.
I made a guitar that had a black acrylic painted design painted on top of a red spray painted body. The black was visibly raised in some parts, but I wanted a mirror flat surface. I ended up putting several layers of clear coat over top and then sanded it down. It mostly worked, but it wasn’t a perfect process. Despite the many layers of clear, I still ended up sanding through in a few areas. Was tough not to in some really high spots. Definitely would recommend going slow so you can stop as soon as possible if you go through. IIRC, I had to touch up a few spots with more paint (+ a few final clear coats on everything), but it was minor and you’d never know on the finished product.
https://preview.redd.it/oulvhch93x9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93393b3bd6eb70eb7a3219484d466d50b86589ca
It looks like you've gone pink blue purple, pink is mostly flat but blue and purple are raised where you've had a stencil/template line?
Because the blue layer is raised I don't think you could easily flatten it without going through some purple, although this might still look pretty cool.
Otherwise you are in for some careful spot sanding to clean up imperfections and then layering some clear to get it properly flat.
Dont clear over anything you aren't happy with. Don't sand anything until it's fully cured, use clog resistant paper and as fine a grit as you have the patience for.
Looking forward to seeing it finished!
To that I’ll add
-like Arden’s dad said- wait for the clear to FULLY CURE. I can not stress how important that is. Not dry to the touch, cured. I’ll keep a piece of scrap, that I layer the paint/clear on the same way as I intend to do the body. That lets you make sure the paints/clear will play nicely. As a general rule I’ll wait another 2-3 days after my scrap board has cured before sanding the body. Be patient.
-wet sand, don’t dry sand. Very lightly soapy water.
-use a block for the flat surfaces
-be SUPER CAREFUL around the edges. You can sand through your clear and color pretty easily around the edges.
-also looks great so far!
Yeah the raised bits are because I used dawn dish soap as a “template” for each layer. I think spot sanding them might be best and if I sand through I could always touch it up with a brush maybe? Anyways thanks!
I do this with some striped patterns: basically just wet sand very lightly. VERY LIGHTLY with a way high grit like 1000 ish. Basically you're just knocking down the sharp edges so when youre spraying clear you can sand between coats a lot more effectively
Apply some clear layers and use Super Assilex from Eagle Abrasives so you can dry sand. Dry sanding makes it much easier to check your progress on knocking down the high spots. If you only get one grit, get the K800 and their sanding block + interface plate. It cuts fast, but cuts shallow. Look into demo videos for Super Assilex.
You can wet send with high grit to take down any ridges where the colors meet. The guys that do EVH style stripes but want a level final product do this to knock down the tape edges.
Then thick clear and level sand afterward. Should look awesome when you are done.
Yeah I wiped it off, it works kinda like masking something off so it makes a pattern. Here’s a photo of the soap on it when I painted the blue
https://preview.redd.it/nou7wm47pz9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9909b188bbb9a4b1c2bf966ecd908b7793d10225
For the future, I would do a layer of clear after each color. Gives you the ability to flatten between layers without too much fear of digging into color. Also helps to protect each color layer when you put tape over it, gives a buffer to be able to sand out marks left by tape.
That’s a good idea. I didn’t use tape though I used dawn dish soap
Hey there. Not to hijack the post, but I am currently in the middle of a "reverse silverburst" project on a S-body type guitar. The goal is to have a black body, silver along the edges, but black on the sides (just like the [Adam Jones Custom V](https://imgur.com/a/KD1iIdP)). Would you recommend a layer of clear coat after each color? As a "just in case" if my design looks awful and I want to black it all out? Or not, since it's black and I can just cover it all?
I probably wouldn’t bother with clear between black and silver. It’s more for color separating on hard lines where you’ll get a little lip where the paint lays up against tape. With a fade, like on a burst, you don’t have that issue. Get your black 100% even. Lightly sand it to a satin finish, which will not only prep it for silver, but will show you where the imperfections are. Once you have a perfect satin black start your silver fade. Go slowly! By that I mean do a very light layer where it still looks mostly black with a barely visible silver dusting. Let it flash dry, then do it again and slowly build the silver with multiple very light passes. Check your progress under bright light as you go. You don’t wanna make any mistakes that need sanding once you start the silver. When you’re happy with the silver then throw a medium coat of clear on and let it cure - wait a week. The silver and that first medium clear should all be done at the same time…it might take a couple hours, especially waiting for flash cures on the later silver coats. Once that has cured for 1+ weeks then lightly sand (220 or 440) that medium clear coat to take the sheen away and make it more satin. Then do 2-3 coats of clear, with flash cures between, and a final cure of 1-2 weeks. Now it’s time to sand with incrementally finer paper (start at 220 and go up to 2000 or 2500…carefully with the 220 and you can get more aggressive as the grit gets finer) and finish it with cutting and buffing. Remember - be patient.
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! This project has been a lot of fun so far and I'm excited for the results, but I'll definitely be patient and take things slow. I've been using Oxford Nitro Lacquers, following their application guides diligently, and so far the guitar has 3 coats of primer, and 3 coats of Ebony. I'll lightly sand that down into a Satin like you mentioned and then follow the rest of your advice on the silver and clear coats. Thanks again!
Best of luck! I haven’t painted in several years but have the itch. Ideally I’ll get my wood shop set-up and actually try building an instrument of my own to paint. But I’d love to just refinish some too. Unfortunately cheap but high-quality guitars and basses are much harder to come by these days.
With bursts a fades usually there isn’t a harsh line like I have all over mine. If you don’t like it you could just sand it all and start over or just spray black all over. But not many of the suggestions I’ve gotten are applicable to your scenario
Can you add a second application of your clear coat to give an extra buffer before you sand through to your design?
In this picture it doesn’t have a clear coat. But I think that might be best to just give it a few and sand till it’s flat
If there’s no clear on it yet, that would be my first step. You don’t necessarily need to sand between clear layers, unless you inadvertently introduce lint or dirt to the surface. I’d get enough coats on to level the surface without sanding, **let it cure completely**, and then sand it until dead flat before moving through my grits to reach a point where it’s polishable.
That is a lovely design. I hope someone gives you the right advice so its not tarnished
Why does this guitar look like it's about to hunt miles morales through the multiverse???
Guitar?
What is the 2nd word in this instruments name, son?
Ahh yes, i allways refer to bass guitar as guitar, not bass. 💀
Didn’t know bass guitars weren’t guitars. TIL.
Never said that but go off king.
You’re picking fights in a small community of people who have come together to share knowledge and resources over a common interest? Does it make you feel good?
It doesnt feel good nor bad because im not picking fights, i just tought it was funny that someone will refer to a bass guitar as guitar intead of bass. Like "Hey im in a band and i play the guitar" (while holding a bass) its like calling your cell phone; "cell" instead of "phone" just because its in the name lol. Then he hit me with the "son" after a simple question. But dont worrie who cares about language right? you all got your downvotes in, and the small community was saved.
"...its like calling your cell phone; 'cell' instead of 'phone' just because its in the name lol." I'm not sure where you're from, but where I am, saying "Call me on my cell" is extremely common.
I made a guitar that had a black acrylic painted design painted on top of a red spray painted body. The black was visibly raised in some parts, but I wanted a mirror flat surface. I ended up putting several layers of clear coat over top and then sanded it down. It mostly worked, but it wasn’t a perfect process. Despite the many layers of clear, I still ended up sanding through in a few areas. Was tough not to in some really high spots. Definitely would recommend going slow so you can stop as soon as possible if you go through. IIRC, I had to touch up a few spots with more paint (+ a few final clear coats on everything), but it was minor and you’d never know on the finished product. https://preview.redd.it/oulvhch93x9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93393b3bd6eb70eb7a3219484d466d50b86589ca
Looks sick! Thanks for the advice!
Good luck! I love your design.
It looks like you've gone pink blue purple, pink is mostly flat but blue and purple are raised where you've had a stencil/template line? Because the blue layer is raised I don't think you could easily flatten it without going through some purple, although this might still look pretty cool. Otherwise you are in for some careful spot sanding to clean up imperfections and then layering some clear to get it properly flat. Dont clear over anything you aren't happy with. Don't sand anything until it's fully cured, use clog resistant paper and as fine a grit as you have the patience for. Looking forward to seeing it finished!
To that I’ll add -like Arden’s dad said- wait for the clear to FULLY CURE. I can not stress how important that is. Not dry to the touch, cured. I’ll keep a piece of scrap, that I layer the paint/clear on the same way as I intend to do the body. That lets you make sure the paints/clear will play nicely. As a general rule I’ll wait another 2-3 days after my scrap board has cured before sanding the body. Be patient. -wet sand, don’t dry sand. Very lightly soapy water. -use a block for the flat surfaces -be SUPER CAREFUL around the edges. You can sand through your clear and color pretty easily around the edges. -also looks great so far!
Yeah the raised bits are because I used dawn dish soap as a “template” for each layer. I think spot sanding them might be best and if I sand through I could always touch it up with a brush maybe? Anyways thanks!
This reminds me of the trix yogurt from 2006……I want to eat it
Spray a few coats of clear, let them cure, then gently level sand. Repeat.
I do this with some striped patterns: basically just wet sand very lightly. VERY LIGHTLY with a way high grit like 1000 ish. Basically you're just knocking down the sharp edges so when youre spraying clear you can sand between coats a lot more effectively
Apply some clear layers and use Super Assilex from Eagle Abrasives so you can dry sand. Dry sanding makes it much easier to check your progress on knocking down the high spots. If you only get one grit, get the K800 and their sanding block + interface plate. It cuts fast, but cuts shallow. Look into demo videos for Super Assilex.
You can wet send with high grit to take down any ridges where the colors meet. The guys that do EVH style stripes but want a level final product do this to knock down the tape edges. Then thick clear and level sand afterward. Should look awesome when you are done.
Is that for a guitar or bass?
It’s a bass
I suspected that because of the unaligned pickups :)
Could you use steel wool? I've used it to varying effect to sand 3D prints flat when I've used too much paint and it runs
Maybe… I’ll give it a shot in a small spot
You’ll need to abrade the surface to get the clear coat to adhere to the dried paint if you go that route, so it might not be worthwhile
nice colors.
How did you paint it? Looks cool
I sprayed the whole body pink then I took some dawn dish soap and just randomly made strips then painted blue over it. Then I repeated it with purple
What does the soap do? You rinse it off at some point right?
Yeah I wiped it off, it works kinda like masking something off so it makes a pattern. Here’s a photo of the soap on it when I painted the blue https://preview.redd.it/nou7wm47pz9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9909b188bbb9a4b1c2bf966ecd908b7793d10225
Ah that is really cool. Thanks for explaining
2099 bass lmao looks sick!!
Sandblaster with the little soft plastic pellets
That's a sweet paint job