PAINT YOUR OWN GUITAR

1. Painting EMG-Style Pickups

I’ve had several people ask me if there are any tricks or special techniques involved in painting pickups, and the truth is, there’s really nothing tricky about it.

Below is the step-by-step process I used to paint an EMG-style pickup I had lying around.

If this is something you’re interested in doing, then please follow along.

FIG 1: Before painting the pickup, I prepare it by scuffing the entire pickup and removing all of the shine (so it’s dull). To do this, I used a 3M scouring pad. You’ll find them at any hardware store. (This pickup has a few dings and gouges on the surface, so you may see those in later photos.)

FIG 2: Before applying the paint, I applied three thin coats of primer. FIG 2 shows the pickup after 1 coat.

FIG 3: Here’s the pickup after three thin coats of primer have been applied. I allowed the primer to dry for about an hour before applying each additional coat.

FIG 4: Here’s what the pickup looked like after 3 thin coats of yellow. By the way, I used Krylon primer and paint for this job, but I no longer recommend Krylon paint (See Newsletter #23 as to reasons why). I allowed each coat to dry for about an hour before applying the next thin coat. REMEMBER – thin coats are ALWAYS better than thick coats. Fight your urge to apply too heavy or too thick a coat of paint, whether it be on your guitar, pickups, or anything else you’re painting… that’s how you get runs.

FIG 5: I want to continue my tiger-striped pattern onto the pickup and ring, so it blends in seemlessly. To do that, I started by putting the pickup ring in place first. Using some 3M masking tape, I marked the areas where I need the ring to be masked – and to stay yellow.

FIG 6: When the pickup ring was done, I masked up the pickup with 3M masking tape and dropped it in place. I then took a pencil and drew in my pattern on the masking tape.

FIG 7: When I had the pattern just right, I used an X-Acto knife to carefully cut the areas out that were to be sprayed black. By the way – I allowed the paint to dry for 24 hours before masking it up.

FIG 8: Here’s the pickup after one thin coat of black. Have I mentioned the importance of thin coats yet??? 🙂 YES – I HAVE. I can’t stress it enough. This simple technique of applying thin coats throughout your job(s) will improve your final finish dramatically.

FIG 9: Well – here’s my pickup and pickup ring completed. I didn’t apply any clear, but if you want to do that, just follow the steps in the book for clear coating… it’s the exact same process.

I know what some of you are wondering: Will the paint affect the sound of the pickup? ANSWER: I have NO IDEA! 🙂 Hey – I don’t have ALL the answers!… just some. (My guess is, it doesn’t affect the sound… but that’s just my best guess.)

The beauty of being a guitar painter is that some of the coolest stuff you’ll learn is through trial and error. If you want to try doing it, please let me know if it DEFINITELY affects the sound… I’m curious to know for sure.

NOTE: If you plan on trying this, you may want to place your pickup and ring on something as a type of podium rather than lying it on cardboard as I’ve done.

If you end up giving this a try, please send me the pix of your completed guitar with pickups installed!