Hello everyone,

First, this is my first time posting on here so hello! Second, I have a strat style guitar- not fender brand though- and its in dire need of a new paint job. I'm gonna put the hendrix monterrey style paint job on it. Although I'm not much of an artist, I think the guitar looks amazing and there's something about painting your own guitar that makes it special. I've already painted the pickguard- I used acryllic paint and clear coated it. Anyways, since I have never painted a body before I was wondering, what is the process? What is the best paint to use?

Thanks!

Just about everyone will tell you to use Nitrocellulose Lacquer, like what you can find from specialty places like Guitar Reranch. I used Lacquer paint for cars. The brand was Duplicolor. Obviously stripping the paint, sealing, sanding, priming, then painting should be in order. There are a lot of threads on here from members that have refinished or build Strat style guitars from scratch.

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Yeah i'll definitely look around, thanks. How many coats do you usually have to put on?

I would search on youtube for painting tips also.
quite a few very good painters on there, from both Fender and Gibson.
many good tutorials on just about anything to do with your guitar.

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1986 Kramer Baretta
1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
Marshall JCM 2000 DLS 50 watt / Marshall 1960a 4x12

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Hi rockandsoul, welcome to the Forum.

Are you saying you want to strip and refin the guitar, or do you want to paint patterns on top of the existing finish like Jimi did?

If it's the latter (which it sounds like) then the general principle is to use the same type of paint that's on there already. Like to like. Unless it's an upmarket model you probably have a polyurethane or polyester finish on there, which are essentially plastic-based lacquers. In that case the acrylic paint you've already used on the pickguard will be fine.

It'll work much better if you prep the surface. Even though you're leaving the original finish on you still want to sand off a clearcoat if there is one, and either way sand it lightly and evenly all over with something around a P600 paper, to create a fine "tooth" for the new paint to adhere to better. If you then clearcoat over the top afterwards, again with a clear polyester or polyurethane product, then that'll help things last better.

Bear in mind, Jimi did his design in a very rough and ready way because he didn't like that particular guitar much and didn't expect it to last long. Which was how things turned out! If you do what I'm suggesting your finish will be more durable than his would have been (if that lighter fluid hadn't come its way).

On the other hand, if you want to paint over the top of a nitrocellulose finish the principle would be to use nitro. However. You are going to find it rather hard get hold of nitro in form that you can use with brushes, Jimi style. And even if you do you will find that nitro's tendancy to "burn in" to the previous finish will prove problematic: brush strokes will tend to lift the original finish and you'll all too easily end up with an awful mess.

That doesn't necessarily apply if you plan to use an air brush - but then if you were into that technique I doubt you need to be asking questions about it here.

So, although it breaks the like-on-like rule, I'd tend to suggest you use the acrylic paints even over nitro. It will have done most of its curing a long time ago and so long as you lightly prep sand it the way I described your new paint should bond reasonably well.

There again, if after all you plan to completely remove and re-do the entire finish none of this applies and a different approach would be best. Tell us a bit more about what you're trying to do and we may be able to help further.

Long, detailed post. Any help?

Cheers - C

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Thanks for the response.

I'm really looking to strip the existing paint job off. It's faded in a lot of areas and doesn't look very sharp. I'll try and post a picture of what it looks like now. I've been reading up on how to strip it, and I'm leaning towards using a heat gun. After sanding it down and whatnot, I was going to put a base coat of white on, then cover that with the Fiesta Red fender used on it. Half of the front of the guitar has that white fade, and I saw someone put that on using a manilla folder, which gives it a really cool fade look. Finally, I would paint on the graphics.

So basically, considering this is my first time doing something like this, I just want to make sure I'm following all the right steps and am using all the right paints.

OK. Then as previously described, just make sure you use the same type of paint throughout. For example, nitro is nice but if you use that for the overall colour don't then do the graphics in acrylic. Acrylic over fresh nitro often doesn't bond so well.

Personally, if it was my project I'd use an acrylic-based car paint for the background colours and then use the acrylics you mentioned for the graphics. That way, everything is the same and matches up.

For stripping, the heat gun is a good way to go, IMO.

Good luck - C

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Thanks a lot for the help. I'm having trouble finding acrylic based car paints in a spray can, any suggestions of websites?

Also, would you recommend using grain filler after I strip the body? From what I've been reading it seems like it depends on what type of wood you have and what finish you're putting on.

Oh, really? Are you sure - most modern car paints are acrylic based these days. Check out the racks of aerosols at your local car parts store and see what it says on the tin. If for some odd reason they've got something else in them the custom mixing counter should be able to supply you paint mixed with an acrylic formula.

If not, well I'm probably an ocean away from you so I likely don't know the best websites in your part of the world. But the internet is stuffed with car paint suppliers. Nuttin' easier than sourcing the colour and formulation you want.



Grain filler is for wood with large open pores, such as ash. If your guitar has a solid colour finish it is likely to be alder or maybe poplar or basswood. None of these need grain filling.

The sequence is this.

1. Prep sand to P300. Continue till you have the surface as perfectly smooth as you can get it. Time spent at this stage will save you multiples of time and also expensive materials later.

2. Moisten the wood all over with a damp but not wet cloth to raise the grain and sand again.

3. Seal with one or two thin coats of vinyl sealer (Behlen is a good brand). This stop the solvent from the paint leaching into the timber and so will save you layers of more expensive paint later.

3a. Do your grain filling, if required. Water-based is quicker and far easier than oil-based. When it's dry, knock it back till the filler only remains in the pores.

4. Spray a couple of thin coats of primer/undercoat. Wait a day and sand back with so that it is absolutely flat. That will probably remove most of it so then denib and spray another couple of coats. Repeat till you have an absolutely smooth, nice thin layer of primer. All of this will save you time and money later.

5. Spray a coat of top coat. Wait an hour and spray another. Wait an hour and spray a third.

6. The next day do the same thing again.

7. If you are using acrylic wait a day or two then start finish sanding. If you are using nitro wait a month.

8. Begin sanding all over very lightly with P1000 wet-and-dry. As soon as you have produced an evenly matt surface all over de-nib and move on to P1500. Then P2000. Then P2500. Finally polish up with buffing compound or automotive swirl remover or even good old household metal polish.

9. If you plan to paint Hendrix designs onto the body with a brush stop at the P1000 stage. Do your decorative painting, let it dry for some days and then clearcoat with about five or six layers of clear. Let it cure and then go through the wet-and-dry process above to produce a mirror finish.

Piece of cake.

I should do a thread just on stripping, prepping and finishing, because so many people ask about it. Till then, if you want some pictures you could look at the finishing section of an old build-thread of mine about rebuilding a wrecked Strat body. The painting section starts here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17948&start=75

Any more questions, gissa shout.

Good luck - C

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Yeah i've been looking at that thread, and its been a ton of help! The paints I have seen are like the following:

http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/fiestared.html

the fiesta red is what the original hendrix body used, but it is nitro based. I'll have to stop by some local stores.

that step by step is perfect though, thanks a bunch

within the theme of finishing... wasn't it primarily Dupont auto finishes being used?
(side note: can anyone PM or link me with what was used on the 1988 Clapton signature series finiches..any details would be greatly appreciated)

Quick update: i'm hoping to start the whole repainting process this weekend. I'll start a new thread and I'll make sure to post lots of pictures

I go to Autozone or Advanced Auto and buy Duplicolor Lacquer paints. Worked great!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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