I want to do some pin-striping on my Tele, kind of in the hot-rod style of SoCal speed shops.

Anyone know which type paints would work well on the finish of the guitar, or do I need to prepare it a certain way or something? I'm planning on getting a good artist friend of mine to do the actual painting, but neither of us have done anything on guitars, so I'd kind of like to go into this prepared, so I have a good looking long-lasting pin-striping job, and not something that's going to fade off in a few gigs.

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Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet - Maj. Gen. James Mattis, USMC

The type of finish on your tele would determine that.
if it's urethane, then the same stuff you'd stripe a car with should work fine.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

It's the Deluxe Nashville Tele, so according to Fender, it's a polyester finish.

Sorry, should have added that in the OP.

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Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet - Maj. Gen. James Mattis, USMC

BastardN would be your best contact for all things custom paint. Check out his web site which has a link to his paint shop.

From my experience the best source would be automotive paints. They are durable, available in many colors in spray cans, The most important steps would be to use a good primer first so that the paint adheres to the wood in this case.

Please use a good quality mask with filter to avoid inhaling paint fumes and work outside if possible.

Pin stripes can be done either with paint or with vinyl then clear coated to protect and even out the finish. Follow all instructions on the can and you should come out with a pretty decent looking guitar. Remember use thin coats and spray about a foot from the object to avoid runs.

I think he wants to add pinstripes to the current paint job. so he won't be priming.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Twelve, you're right. I would like to put the striping on the existing paint job, but if I had to strip it down, I would. Although, Fender did a pretty nice job on the candy apple red, so I"d hate to mess with their (close to) perfection.

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Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet - Maj. Gen. James Mattis, USMC

I would think you just need to find a paint that will work with the polyester.

I've done total repaints before, but I've never added artwork to an existing paint job, I wish I could offer more info. I'm not sure how feasible it would be. You could stripe it, but I'm not sure how durable it would be, and/or whether you could re-clearcoat it, to try protect it.

Most modern paints have a really precise window in which you can paint and have it bond with the prior layers.

That said candy paint jobs are among the toughest to do, so I would try research this and find the best option.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.