Spraying the neck
Before spraying I sanded the neck again, checking that everything was clean and wiped over with a tack cloth to remove any dust. I then sprayed another couple of coats of lacquer to seal before moving on to the tinted coat. You can spray with the neck hanging vertically, but I like to spray with [...]
Read MoreFretting and finishing a guitar neck
I thought I’d demonstrate fretting a neck and finishing it with nitrocellulose lacquer. The neck is from Guitarbuild who have recently started making copies of 1969 specification Stratocaster necks. The neck I received is very nicely made, with a compound radius fretboard which progresses up the board from 7ΒΌ” to 10″ radius. The back is [...]
Read MoreGold top lacquer is go
I thought I’d share some photos of a Goldtop finish that a customer has sprayed with my Gold top lacquer. Here is what he said: “I must say that Goldtop Lacquer was incredible, quite possibly even better and more in keeping with the original 50′s Goldtop than gibson now spay their guitars with, it came [...]
Read MoreMarty McCann’s Surf Green Stratocaster
Marty sent me some pictures of his Mexican Strat refinish that he’d done. Marty wrote: “Thought I would share my before, during and after pix of my lefty strat. I must say the paint and advice was spot on – has a beautiful almost factory finish that I’m now reluctant to relic! Thanks again for [...]
Read MoreButterscotch Tele with Joe Barden Pickups
I put this guitar together today for a customer. The body is from guitarbuild.co.uk and the owner finished it using my Butterscotch nitrocellulose lacquer. I fitted the Joe Barden pickups, with the bridge mounted to the body, G E Smith style. There is a 4-way switch fitted, giving in-series as well as in-parallel pickup combinations, [...]
Read MoreVintage “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. I stripped the top over a couple of weeks and probably [...]
Read MoreMore 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 [...]
Read MoreGibson Les Paul Traditional neck split
Here’s another nasty break, this time a longitudinal split in a Les Paul neck, caused by a fall. All that was required was to glue and clamp both sides before refinishing the back of the neck using my nitrocellulose lacquers.
Read MoreGibson Les Paul Headstock Break
This Les Paul was only a week old when it suffered this catastrophic break. Unusually, the fall was so severe that it broke the fibre headstock face right across between the E tuners. Although not an easy repair the break had plenty of surface area for glue. The repaired headstock was relacquered and the repair [...]
Read MoreVan 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 [...]
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