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it's been awhile since my first posts about doing my finish and I'm finally to the point of spraying my burst finish on my first guitar. I've got about four good coats of lacquer on the body and am going to be spraying a mix of transtint in lacquer thinner mostly, with some lacquer mixed in to give it some bite. My question is whether it's necessary to mask off my binding or whether it would be easier to just spray the color and then carefully scrape back to the natural finish of the binding before I do my final clear coats. My concerns about masking are pulling off lacquer when I unmask it, and potentially pulling, or cracking the color along the edge where the tape was. Any preferences?

I have done it both ways. The scraping will result in a more "vintage" style while the taping will be a cleaner line. I think you should tape. There is very little risk of pulling the lacquer off if you do it shortly after you spray the color. Then you will probably need to scrape just a little to clear some slight bits that get under the tape. I like the tape that is like electric tape because it takes bends better without buckling.

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Ken

The tape I've found that works well is pinstriping tape from the auto parts store. It can actually make the bend around the horns on my DC Les Paul without buckling like you say. So you think I'll be okay as long as I pull it off fast enough? Do you let it flash off completely or pull it while it's still wet? I'm probably going to have to take several passes with my airbrush to get the density of color right as I intentionally mixed my colors thin, so I guess the base color layers will have flashed off by then.

Just thought I should mention the binding is Bocote and I also have fiber purfling on the face of the guitar.

If the tape makes the bend then it should be good.

You mentioned the binding is wood and the purfling is fiber. You should have the guitar all sealed before you spray a burst. Vinyl sealer is good but so is dewaxed shellac or sanding sealer.

If you have a good exhaust system then spraying in several light coats to get the desired burst is fine but if not you can get a lot of overspray in the center. I think it looks less fussy if you try to get the burst in a couple passes around.

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Ken

yeah I've got about four coats of lacquer on it already, just doing a couple drop fills still before I do a final level sand and then the burst. I'm going to be using the spray booth at my shop, I guess it could be described as professional, (barely though, lol...).

I've never used an airbrush before so I'm going to have to do some practice first. From what I've found on the internet it looks like the preference is to spray from the opposite side of the body to where you're laying down color, that way the overspray doesn't settle in the center. Sound about right?

I do mine the other way, spaying from the outside in. I find it gives a nicer fade and I don't mind the center picking up a tinge of color. But either way will work.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

In his DVD series, Benedetto masks fastidiously. And then he scrapes and scrapes. Whatever works is what you do. It sure takes some nerve and some patience!

Patrick

well I finally got some color on my first. Decided to mask the binding and purfling off and used a Harbor Freight airbrush which worked okay, but I had a couple issues with spatter and getting the volume right. I think I did alright though and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Here's a closeup of the bocote binding:



closeup of the purfling:



here's a couple overalls:

the first was a little more tobacco burst than I wanted



so I added a little more color to the middle. I'm not sure if I shouldn't add a little more, although I think it looks pretty good.



still need to do my top coats of lac, then buff and polish in a month or so.

Nice rich tobacco!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks Chris! Pretty happy with it considering it was my first go with a burst and first time with an airbrush

That should look really nice under gloss.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

John, I love the tobacco color - what shade of Transtint did you use?
DZ

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I actually used four colors. Started out with a mix of medium brown and black, heavier around the outside and did the main burst with that. Then I used a mix of medium brown and orange as a toner to warm things up. Then a mix of red brown and orange to highlight the center more, and finally another round of black and med brown just around the perimeter. The last color was pretty far towards black but I didn't apply it to build to its full color.

Originally I was going to color the center a bit more so it was less tobacco and more root beer, but as I was spraying I just thought it looked so nice with the small section of near natural wood that I decided to let it go.

Thanks, I made note of the colors. It reminds me of the LP I always wanted but could never afford.

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