Anyone done it, or have advice or a 'net source to study up?

I have a blank bass body, glued pieces to the body and not figured or anything, but there is alot of grain that if possible some transparency in the middle would be nice. As for colors, I'm thinking a deep amber color in the center, than the "burst" around the edges to be a dark orange-red. No burst necessary on the back, solid is fine, who sees it anyway?

Any advice anyone can offer would be great. Thanx!

check out ReRanch for tips
http://www.reranch.com/

Stew Mac has a lot of info too
http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Finishing.html

also, nothing really like you're planning but here's one I did awhile back
http://www.pbase.com/jroy/building_a_tele

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I recently finished a guitar build from Precision Guitars body/neck kit (very nice wood) but everything after that came from Stewart-MacDonald including the nitrocellulose lacquers for the body and neck. I did a basic yellow base with a red burst and love how it turned out. I even did the tuner head (maple overlay on the mahogany) the same way.
The key with any of these finishess is going slow, lots of sanding and then tons of light coats of finish with lots of very light sanding between coats of clear once you get enough built up to not hurt the color coats below them.

http://www.geezerguitar.com/precigitkit.html

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Tom Hintz, owner
Geezerguitar.com
NewWoodworker.com
NewMetalworker.com

+1 Ive used their products and their info. Its good stuff to help the novice.

Thanx for the info, I'll check them out.

I'm only doing the colors, burst if I can, the clear is gonna be gone by a buddy that runs an auto body shop. The orginal body on this MM bass was in terrible shape when I got it, so it had to be refinished. It was repainted about 17 years ago at a different shop where we used to live, that clear coat job will be inexpensive and from the experience I've had will last forever.

Didn't want to mess that original up if I didn't have to, just in case. Got the spare off of Evil bay.

Of course you know, and the sites recommended will undoubtedly reaffirm, that Prep is the key to a good finish !!

Make sure you sand with an ever finer grade of sandpaper.

And, if you really want a 'perfect' finish, first spray with a light coat of primer, then carefully block sand it to remove any low spots.

Make sure you have a near Clean-Room environment to avoid contaminating your new finish as it is applied and dries/cures. Use Acetone or Denatured Alcohol to do a Final Wipe of the piece before applying finish. This will remove any dust or grit without swelling the wood fibers. Try to have an enclosed space with no drafts and minimize people entering/exiting the space while your work is still 'wet'

Be sure to have proper temperature in your workspace as well as all your supplies. Pre-heating the Primer, Base and Clear to about 75°-80°F by placing the containers in a bucket of warm water before using them will allow for better spraying, flow and curing, leaving fewer imperfections to remove later.

Good Luck !!

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

This was your most important piece of info.
Talk to your buddy, find out what he is using for the clearcoats. Not everything is compatible, it will be very unlikely it will be compatible with nitrocellulose.


he won't want to use primer if he wants visible grain.

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

That's just it, a light coat of Primer is sprayed on, especially on the face of the Guitar, and then sanded off (called a Block Coat). This reveals any low spots on the surface and you sand until all the Primer is gone, revealing all the woodgrain.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Some more good tips. Nitrocellulose?

The paint on this was gonna be the standard airbrush paint, acrylic I think. My plan is to get a board with this kind of paint on it to the body shop so he can spray it with one of his several kinds of clear coat to check for compatability.

I also didn't know or think of the primer/sanding it gone to show the wood grain either.

+1 on the importance of the prep work.

I worked in an auto body shop years ago. Compare to the prep work shooting the paint was a breeze.

I had no business working in a body shop. I could fix a dent in a fender (car fender, not fender guitar) and it would look great with the flat primer on it. The painter would check my work and tell me it's not straight. It looked great to me but the painter would run his fingers across my repair work and tell me it's not straight.

The last time he did that I barked at him and refused to re-work it. So they painted it. Sure enough, it was wavy as gravy. WTF?!

I didn't work there much longer.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.