Vintage “Lemondrop” Refinish
The owner of the Vintage Lemondrop guitar that I upgraded some time back asked me to refinish the top. Thinking that the finish would be thin and strip easily, I agreed. I discovered however that the finish is thick, tough and difficult to remove. Stripping this Lemondrop is hard work I stripped the top over a couple of weeks and probably spent about ten hours on the job altogether! My fingers lost their feeling from the vibration of the mouse sander. Once... Read More
More on preparation – sanding sealer and using an index coat
I’m building myself a “La Cabronita” style guitar in black, with a very nice one-piece alder body from Phil at GuitarBuild.co.uk. I can’t stress enough the need for thorough preparation for a guitar finish to turn out well. Black lacquer is very reflective and shows every defect, so it is especially important here. Sanding sealer Sanding sealer soaks into end grain The first step is to sand the body well with fine sandpaper... Read More
Van Halen tribute guitars
I received an email from a customer who has used my lacquer create tributes to a couple of Van Halen style guitars. Here’s what he wrote: Hi Steve, I finally finished my Van Halen guitars, painted with Nitrocellulose lacquer that you supplied. I attach a couple of pictures, as I promised I would when they were done. The “Frankenstein” guitar is fitted with original Floyd Rose trem and EVH frankenstein pickup, the main Kramer 5150... Read More
Distressing my Butterscotch Telecaster Body
More as an experiment than anything else, I decided to have a go at relicing the body I finished in August. I based my techniques on the TDPRI article “How To: Relic Your Guitar“. The first job is to add a few knocks and scrapes. I dropped a set of keys on the front and back and gently knocked the edges in a few places. Any damage on the lacquer surface acts as a centre for cracks and the crazing radiates out from dings. Rather than use... Read More
Finishing an alder Telecaster body in metallic lacquer
Preparation Finishing alder is much easier than painting an ash body as the wood is more tightly grained. The reduction in finishing costs is why Fender used alder bodies for their solid colours and sunbursts from the late fifties. As with any wood however, preparation is absolutely fundamental to achieving a good result. If you skimp at any stage you will pay for it later so it’s worth while spending the time to do things right. I’m going... Read More
Finishing an Ash Telecaster in Butterscotch nitrocellulose lacquer
Ash Telecaster body I’m often asked how to spray a butterscotch guitar body so thought I’d put together a bit of a tutorial. Please note that I do not offer a refinishing service. The body I’m using is by Guitar Build who offer a range of CNC machined guitar bodies. I’m very impressed with the accuracy of the shape, which even includes a “router’s hump” for vintage fans. It is two piece, centre joined and... Read More
Grain-filling an ash Telecaster body
When painting a guitar, preparation is critical to success. At every stage, it’s important that you get the body as smooth as you can. A bit of work early on saves a lot of work later. Open-pored woods such as ash must be grain filled before lacquer is applied otherwise the lacquer will sink into the grain and it will be very difficult and expensive in lacquer to get a smooth finish. Grain filler is not the same wood filler and is only for... Read More
Building a SAGA TC-10 Part 3 – The Body
Preparing to paint Unless you have a purpose-built spray booth, paint outdoors. Lacquer fumes are toxic and explosive. Even if you are outdoors you should wear a dust mask to avoid breathing the spray. The Saga kit bodies are already sealed with a coat of polyurethane sealer which gives a good surface for your top coats. If you are using a body from another manufacturer you may need to seal and grain-fill first. You can buy the nitrocellulose lacquer... Read More
Building a SAGA TC-10 Part 2 – The Neck
Shaping the headstock Because the Telecaster headstock shape is a trademark of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. (FMIC) then all modern kits come with a blank or “paddle” headstock from which you can cut your own design. Any similarity to a Fender Telecaster headstock on this page is purely coincidental! The first job is to decide on your headstock shape. I made a paper template and used this to draw the shape on the back of the headstock.... Read More
A Couple of Finish Repairs
Finish Repair A customer had had an accident with his Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5-string bass. He had dropped it and knocked a large piece of the finish off the lower edge of the guitar. I filled the damage with matching lacquer so that the damage was no longer noticeable. Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray bass showing finish repair Sunburst Gibson L6-S finish repair Here is a similar repair to a tobacco sunburst Gibson L6-S. The ding was through the... Read More
