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Agreed. I have 20 litres of Protec r100 timber finish left for my acoustics. They've stopped making it. I don't know what I'll do when that runs out. I don't really want to go back to Mirotone.

I just happened to check out this side of the forum and saw this post so I thought I would chime in. I have had a lot of experience spraying candy colors as I use to work in the auto body business mainly doing custom and restoration painting.

The pic you posted is a candy purple over a white base. You can use any color as a base coat as long as it is a good solid color that covers well in 1 or 2 light coats. The "color" is actually a tinted clear that you can see through. I use to make my own candy colors from automotive tinting colors and have sprayed them over all kinds of base colors. This kind of paint work has been done since the 50's so it has been around for a long time.

The most important part of doing any base/color/clear paint job is in the prep. It was nothing for me to spend 150 hours just prepping for a custom paint job... That is just priming and blocking to get a perfect flawless base.

A trick that most guys use is called a guide coat or dust coat. That is after you have primed the surface you then fill you spray gun with thinner and just slightly tint it with a color. The color doesn't matter because you will sand it off the next time you block sand. This tint will show up every imperfection in the surface as you sand. You then re-prime it and put another dust coat and re-block it with finer sandpaper. Do this until all imperfections are gone and you are down to 400 grit paper.

When you are ready to apply color you have to lay down a very very smooth base coat. You can not sand this coat (or the color coat) so these need to be sprayed perfectly. Next you start with the color coat. Again it has to be sprayed with perfect overlap of your spray pattern or you will get a striped finish where the stripes are darker. It usually takes about 3 coats of color to get a good deep color but the more you put on the deeper the color will get. When you are happy with the color then you start spraying clear. After about 2 or 3 coats you can start wet sanding between coats if you have any imperfections but do not sand through to the color or it will show.

A finish like that is not easy for the "average" handy man and I would suggest going to your local pawn shop and buy a couple of cheap practice guitars to learn on. I say you should learn on a guitar and not just a scrap of wood because you need to be able to lay down the color coat all the way around the edges as smoothly as you can and that will take practice.

Good luck with your project.

Bob

Wow ok, a lot of good answers and a lot to consider. I actually did go ahead and ask Mr. Moser about his paint after all. He said he doesn't have the time or room for a booth to do his own painting so he sends his pieces to DRLgraphics and that Dan Lawrence was the master painter.

Ok so I'm not an inexperienced painter with a brush or spray. I've painted everything from mine and my friends bicycles to models to cars. My first guitar build the Bastard V I keep trying to post but won't for some reason took me over a week to to sand and fill and veneer then seal the veneer yada yada yada. So don't worry I know all about getting that flatness your talking about. I actually started the clearcloat process with spray urethane but it ran a couple times in the fins so I started over with brush and found it easier to work with and get flat so I had that glassy finish you need to set the black walnut veneer off just right.

So thanks everybody for your help. Thanks Bob for the detail. You have all given me a lot to think about. I will keep you all posted.

Also a practice guitar is a great idea I just so happen to have a first act I bought for $20 years ago from a friend that I keep stripped for learning purposes. I call it the purple POS. So yay I can practice with a couple things to see what I like best.

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In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

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...are you aware of the school of thought that claims that the thick, candy-dipped plastic finishes affect tone negatively on solidbody electrics? not trying to go off topic, but i thought i'd mention it. i am on the fence about it, probably leaning towards the "thin/nitro" crowd......by the looks of that metal guitar example, i am guessing you are probably in to heavily processed sounds anyway, so the tone argument wouldn't matter much....just throwing it out there

While factory applied finishes, especially on import stuff, tend to be rather thick ( have seen .09" !), a two part urethane finish goes on really thin. System average is around 2-3 mils in its original application. I have used it on both electric and acoustic guitars with great results. The key is in what you put under it to seal the wood and anchor it. I have been using epoxy on entire instruments and ca for repair and touch up. Since we are on the subject anyway I'd like to ask what others may be using as a sealer under this type of finish?

_________________
Brian

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

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Why yes I am aware of the negative tonal qualities produced from to much paint and clearcloat. I thought of that when I picked my tone wood. I'm using alder which I hear fender used in the 50's and 60's. I don't see too much of a difference after all fender put thick coats of paint with hard shell then too. If I'm wrong tell me. Also I'm actually an accomplished Violinist and I play everything from classical guitar to hard and heavy Drop D. Tone is important but over the years I've learned how to make even a crappy First-act guitar sound right. Skill and the players own ears can make up for a lot. I'm not saying I'm gonna put a crappy job in my guitar just saying there are a lot of other factors that combine to get the guitars actual tone. I don't mean to sound like a smart ass. Just stating what I've learned through the years with personal experience.

Y'all really have given me a lot to think about. I'm leaning toward the nitro for now, found enough to do two guitars for under $10, so that's looking good to me. But since tone was brought up how about we wait and see what the grain of the wood looks like after I join the two pieces and decide the best procedure from there. Again thanks everybody for all your help.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

To say that the finish affects the tone of a violin is probably reasonable.

I don't believe the same is true of a solidbody electric guitar.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

You need to plan the pointy pieces carefully to avoid short grain as much as possible, or the pointy pieces will break off easily.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I know that's right!! When I was routing the pickup holes and etc I accidentally knocked my piece off the table and broke a whole side of the V off and had to do some creative clamping to get it back on right. But after the veneered was glued on I had a laminated product so it reinforced everything.

Ok this is my Bastard V. Made from New Guinea Walnut and a black walnut veneer.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

The pic was taken about three days after I put the poly coat on. The blue painters tape you see I put on the back of each component to pad the poly and keep it from mucking up my job.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

I did paint it with out the components just got in a hurry to see it completed.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

My wood came today. I was told this was dry wood but it was moist on arrival. It made the cardboard wet. The ends feel dry though.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

Ok it's been drying since 9/16. So does anyone know how long it takes alder to dry enough to glue?

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

Never mind just found it 20-180 days. That sux big time.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

Anybody know of any quick dry techniques?

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

keep it in the back seat of an automobile for a few weeks....(parked in the sun/windows cracked when weather permits). i use my car to dry peppers and once in awhile to dry painted guitar bodies....cars are natural solar dehydrators

So I've decided I would like to build an acoustic next, after the siren. I had a couple questions for you guys. 1 can y'all point me to some good reading on board bending and shaping techniques and jigs. Also every acoustic I've ever played has such wide sides. Can this be reduced from 3 and 3/4 to 2 and 3/4 or even 3? I know it will reduce the overall loudness having a smaller resonance chamber but will it affect the tone quality?

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com

yes, the guitar won't have any low end

Ok what about acoustic electric which is what I want any way. The Ibanez and a few others I've seen seem quite thin a few just as wide as the preamp box.

_________________
In order to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.
- Carl Sagan

Check out F.O.F. Custom guitars on Facebook.

Www.fofcustomguitar.weebly.com