IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Painting A Set-Neck Guitar
2. Today's Q & A: Your Questions Answered
3. Become A PYOG Affiliate

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1. Painting A Set-Neck Guitar

Painting a guitar with a glued in neck does make it a little more tricky to paint, but certainly not difficult if you have a few tricks up your sleeve. Fortunately, I do!

To paint a guitar such as this, you're going to have to hang it in a way that you have full access to it. In other words, you'll be able to walk around it and spray it, get up on a ladder and spray the headstock, and get down on the floor and spray the bottom of the guitar.

There are other ways of spraying this type of guitar, but my method is very easy for anyone to do and doesn't require a whole lot of work.

Take a look at FIG 1. These are hooks that I made from some copper wire (1/8" thick). It's sturdy, yet easy to bend. I bought the wire from ACE Hardware for about 10 cents a foot. I made each of these hooks from about 14" of wire that I cut to size and then, bent them into place.

I used a washer and a screw and mounted it into a beam that I have running across my garage. I spread them wide enough so that they accomodated the holes of the top tuning pegs from the headstock without a problem.

FIG 2, 3, & 4 show you that you're not limited in any way painting a guitar like this. You'll still follow the method of painting I describe in my books - which is, thin coats.

When doing any airbrush work on a guitar, I use my drafting table and two carefully-placed pegs to hold the guitar in place. See FIG 5. (FIG 5B shows you a closer view of the pegs which are covered with paper towel so the paint doesn't get scratched.)

Laying the guitar on the table like this does obscure my ability to paint certain areas, so when I'm done spraying the main work, I'll once again hang it and use my airbrush to hit any final areas as I did in FIG 6.

FIG 7 shows how one of my book buyers painted his set-neck guitar.

Hopefully, these tips will help you with painting your set-neck guitar.

 

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2. TODAY'S Q&A: Your Questions Answered

Q: Can I use guitar polish on my newly painted guitar or should I use something else, for clean up every now and then?

A: Some guitar polishes contain wax and/or silicone which are two things that aren't great for clear coats.

I'd recommend using the swirl remover you used to buff when you want to polish it up a bit. It's sitting around, right? - Might as well put it to use.

If you want, you can also use this guitar polish that Stew Mac sells.

 

Q: I was wondering what kind of paints will work over the top of the lacquer spray paint? I have a friend who is going to paint a design on my guitar body, but he was wondering if water-based acrylics would work over top of the spray paint?

A: In order to use a water-based acrylic over top of lacquer, you'll have to sand the lacquer first. This can pose problems - you may mess up the base coat while sanding, so you have to sand carefully. Use a 600-grit to rough up the lacquer before applying your water--based acrylic.

Secondly, when it comes time to apply a clear coat, you'll have to use something that's compatible with your base coat - preferably, the exact same brand and line of paint. To start, make sure you apply dust coats of clear - don't apply too heavy of a coat to start, otherwise, the clear could buckle the acrylic.

 

Q: Is there something that can speed up the drying time associated with using lacquer?

A: I wish there was. Unfortunately, there isn't. This is why catalyzed urethane was invented - as a way for manufacturers to finish something and get it out the door in a matter of days rather than weeks or months. You're just going to have to be patient and let the paint cure.

 

Q: What can you tell me about Krylon's new H2O? Can I use it for my guitar?

A: According to the label, it's a water-based latex paint. The paint portion is not the part that concerns me, it's the clear coating portion that does. Can you do the finishing stages and will the paint harden? That I don't know. Personally, I would use Duplicolor Auto Spray lacquer.

 

Q: Have you tried the new Krylon Triple-Thick clear yet?

A: No, I haven't, and I recommend staying away from Krylon paint. See newsletter #23 for reasons as to why.

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3. Become A PYOG Affiliate

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