Custom Paint Your Electric Guitar

This is a basic guide on how to go beyond loads of stickers and actually repaint your electric guitar to look amazing!

Steps

Getting Ready To Paint Your Guitar

  1. Select your guitar. If you own more than one guitar, pick out the one which is of least value to you. For example, the first electric guitar most people own when they are young is something like a Replica Stratocaster, by makers such as Vintage or Encore. These guitars are fairly cheap and it is not a great loss if you damage them.
  2. Get your work area ready. Unless you have a spacious indoor area like a workshop available, you will be doing most of the work outside. In this case, the best time is to wait until the late spring or early summer.

Stripping Your Guitar

  1. Strip down the guitar. Unwind your tuning pegs and remove the strings.
  2. Get yourself a set of screwdrivers of various sizes. However, it is likely you will only need 2 or 3 different sized screwdrivers. Make sure to find a box with partitions in it, or a few small boxes in which you can store parts such as screws and knobs and tuning pegs. If it helps, you can label them.
  3. With a screwdriver, remove the screws on the back of the guitar which attach the neck to the body. This removes the neck so you have the lone guitar body to work with.
  4. Work your way around the scratch plate. Remove the screws and place them in one of the little boxes as appropriate, and remove the Jack plate cover.
  5. Ensure you have access to a soldering iron. You must know how to use it or know someone who does that is willing to help out later on.
    • Often in Strat-style guitars, the wires that attach the output jack to the pickups and pots (volume and tone dials) are routed through a hole drilled between routed chambers of the body, which means you will need to snip the wires in order to remove the scratchplate components and the output jack.
  6. With sticky labels or colored tape, color code the two wires to the two metal parts of the jack input to which they are soldered, then snip as close to the solder as you can so you have the full lengths of wire intact.
    • There may be a third wire that simply acts as a ground wire, which goes from the pickups to the piece of metal in the back of the guitar to which 3 or 4 springs will be attached. You will need to have removed the plastic cover on the back of the guitar in order to see it. Label it with some tape if necessary, then cut it close to the solder. You should now be able to completely remove the scratchplate that is complete with pickups, pots and all electrical parts still attached to it. Keep this section very safe from dust or static, just keep it in its own cardboard box with a closable lid.
  7. Remove all metal components from the wooden guitar body. Label them for future reference where necessary.

Using a Heat Gun and Sandpaper

(NOTE: Before you sand, get—and wear—a good pair of eye goggles and a dust mask. Your eyes and lungs are more valuable than any guitar, and it's just smart to protect them during the following steps!)

  1. Clamp the guitar body down to a workbench.
  2. Use the heat gun to heat the body. Scrape the finish off. This usually works quite well and is much safer for the wood than a sander (you won't risk ruining the body), but be aware that overheating can char the wood and that where you've heated will be hot enough to burn your fingers.
  3. Get four sheets of sandpaper. You will want a coarse grade ('40 - 50 grit'), medium grade ('60 - 80 grit'), fine grade ('100 - 120 grit'), and very fine "wet-or-dry" paper ('150 - 220 grit'). Those numbers represent the size and density of sand/glass grains on the surface of the paper, 50 grit being harsh and 220 grit being very fine.
  4. Work over the entire body with the coarse grained paper. Work to even out any steps or imperfections caused by the power sanders, and remove any remaining acrylic in places such as the arc of the cutaways.
  5. Work over the entire body with the medium grit sandpaper to make sure all the contours flow properly. Use the fine grained sandpaper afterward. This last bit of sanding should take at least 45 minutes to an hour.
    • You must work over the body smoothly with the fine grit paper. Do this until you can brush off the dust and run your fingertips over all the contours without even being able to feel the grain of the wood, let alone bumps or steps.
  6. With a dry cloth, brush off all the dust, then take the "wet-or-dry" sandpaper and wet it down. Wet sanding helps remove any hand oil from the wood and also provides a better surface to paint. Gently rub down the guitar with the sandpaper, wipe off excess moisture and sanding residue and allow to dry. It should take about ten minutes. You are now ready for you base coat of paint.

Painting Your Guitar

  1. Decide how you want to paint your guitar. When choosing your paints, make sure you read the instructions carefully. You will likely need to apply a coat of wood primer.
  2. With a clean paint brush, apply the primer thinly and evenly. Make brush strokes that follow the direction of the wood grain, or you may be lucky to find some spray-on primer that is easy to apply if you are good with spray paint. You can paint one side of the guitar at a time, allowing the first side to dry fully before starting on the other side, but you can also hang your guitar body or neck to the ceiling with heavy twine through the holes of the neck screws on the body.
    • Once the body is fully dried, use the fine grit sandpaper and rub the body very carefully. Do this just enough so the the raised bumps of the brush strokes are evened out. You should be able to rub your fingertips over the body and not even feel the tiniest of bumps.
  3. Mask off the inside and where the neck attaches to the body. Use spray paint to achieve an even finish. As you spray on the paint, depress the spray button whilst spraying slightly away from the guitar and moving the can steadily over the body. Always apply at least two coats of any color or the finish won't look 'finished'.
    • Make sure to never depress or release the spray button whilst pointing at the body.
  4. Use 2-3 coats of lacquer to give the guitar a more finished look. This also helps stop the paint from peeling. Note that lacquer will dissolve enamel, so don't mix types of paints!
  5. Finished.



Tips

  • You should use car or indoor/outdoor use spray paint. Cheap spray paint looks convincing, but is less uniform. A glossy paint does not leave as much paint dust and will look much better.
  • If you really mess up on painting the first time around, you can just sand it down and start over. However, be aware of how much time you will need.
  • If you want to go a little further, you can use a router to change the shape of the contours, or make the tips of the cutaways sharp rather than rounded. Cut sections out of the body, so long as you don't cut so much that it detracts from the structural integrity of the body. You don't want it to bend and warp as you tighten the strings.
  • Be sure to sand between finishing coats. It may seem as if it will dull the gloss but it will offer a more protective shine.
  • While in its disassembled state, take the opportunity to clean your guitar. Dab the pickup heads with blu-tack to remove the fine metallic dust that accumulates each time you strum. Rub any grime off the pick guard with a slightly damp cloth in warm water and soap. Apply some fretboard polish to the fingerboard.
  • If you are staining with a sanding sealer base, you must use varnish. Polyurethane will peel! Make sure you approach your finish as a system. Do not mix brands or types of paint.
  • To get an even finish whilst spraying and drying the guitar, you can lay it on top of 3 or 4 glass marbles, or untwist a wire coat hanger. Put it through one of the holes that the neck bolts go through, then hang it from a washing line.
  • Search online for Conductive Shielding Paint to paint all of the inside cutaways with. This will provide shielding for the electronics and reduce hum. If the inside of the cutaways are already painted flat gray or black, Use a Multimeter set for ohms to see if the paint is conductive. If so, mask them off and do not paint over them with standard paint. To shield plastic pickguards and covers, cover their inside surfaces with copper tape.
  • Make hardware adjustments as needed. This could include replacing pickups instead of sticking with the cheap single coils that invariably come fitted with replica models. If you want, you can buy a new scratchplate. You may find that the original scratchplate no longer matches the color scheme of the newly painted guitar, so you can get a replacement of a more suitable color relatively cheaply.
  • Speak to your friends, particularly anyone you know who does Art at college, as they can offer valuable advice when it comes to designing the new paint job.
  • Make sure you get professional help and advice when you go about replacing electrical components.
  • Once finished, show it off to your friends! Take the guitar to band practice or play it at your next gig.
  • Paint strippers are also a good option to remove old finish. The most powerful strippers will remove any surface coating. After you have removed the old finish, wash the stripper off with a 3M scouring pad and water. The wood grain will be slightly raised.
    • Sand the surface with 220 grit, use a dry paint brush and tack cloth to remove all dust. You will start with a grain filler for grainy woods such as mahogany or ash, then sand with 320 grit. Finer grained woods start at step 2, a sanding sealer.
  • If you have extra money, buy a guitar kit for less than $200 (or a body) and paint on that. If you like your painted body, buy the best components you can afford to get your dream guitar. If you don't like the painting, just install the components in the kit and put the guitar on your wall.
  • Another design option is to paint the undercoat in a bright race car red color. Once it's dry, use narrow strips of masking tape to make 'racing stripes' around the body. Carefully lay the masking tape along the edge following the contours, with an extra line or two next to it, then spray an over coat of black and peel off the tape. This will reveal red stripes going around the guitar. Masking and stenciling is a very good way to create unique designs that can be as simple or as intricate as you want, so long as you don't go too over the top.
  • This can be a lengthy process. If you have to leave the project for a while after you have already started it, you don't want to come back to a disassembled, half painted guitar and have no idea where all the screws and components go. Make sure you label, organize, color code and sort out whatever will be necessary for you to remember how it all goes back together.
  • Cut a piece of scrap wood into the shape of your guitar and try out different designs and techniques.
  • There are limitless ways of painting your guitar. One way is to use spray-on Crackle glaze, with a gold undercoat and a stoney blue color on top. The result will be a light marine blue colour, with cracks in it that showed the gold underneath. How heavily you spray the crackle glaze determines the size and amount of cracks, so you can vary it. Finish it off by spraying a few coats of shiny (not matte) lacquer over it to seal it.

Warnings

  • If you're using paint stripper, it is important not to get any on your skin or in your eyes as it is highly toxic and caustic and will burn you. If you do get some on you, just run it under cold water for a while. If it gets bad, you should see a doctor or someone with first aid training.
  • Use common sense. If you use power tools, make sure you know how to use them. If not, get someone with more experience like a parent or a professional person who lives nearby.
  • Acrylic dust will wreak havoc with your lungs as well as your eyes. Make sure you get the right protection. Wrap around safety glasses and a white respiratory masks can be bought for a reasonable price at any hardware/DIY store. A particle mask would be the most ideal option.

Things You'll Need

  • Set of screwdrivers
  • Sandpaper in fine, medium and coarse grade
  • A hand-held belt sander and oscillating sander
  • Some cloths (for wiping down and brushing off)
  • Paints of your choice and some finishing lacquer
  • Wood primer (if required by specific type of paint)
  • Safety goggles
  • Dust mask
  • Old newspaper to cover surfaces like tabletops when painting
  • Soldering iron
  • Series of boxes in which you can store and organize the guitar components to make reassembly easier
  • A large, well ventilated workspace (optional)
  • Clamps (preferably with rubber grips to protect the wood)
  • Stable workbench to clamp the guitar while sanding.

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Custom_Paint_Your_Electric_Guitar&oldid=352775"