Paint Help

[BassVirtuoso]

I sanded my old Jazz bass body down and I am getting an artist to paint a Grateful Deadish design on it. What paint should I use? And how should I do this?

[BassVirtuoso]

Cough.

[sixner]

ask the artist? being an artist he should have some sort of idea as to what to use....

personally im not sure, but am interested... i want to re-paint my westone... and probably my bc rich.. not sure, i need to research more...
-sixner

[BassVirtuoso]

I need to know what kind of paint is used on a bass and how to prepare/finish it.

[sixner]

well, who ever owned my bc rich before me, spray painted the body red...(why i want to repaint it)... my friend painted an off brand P bass with car paint... excess from painting his.. i hear the car paint stuff works well.

-Sixner

[BassVirtuoso]

How would you do intricate designs with car paint?

[Guevara]

Stencil maybe? Could be difficult, but I've heard car paint works great as well.

[sixner]

^FOAMY!!!

yean, stencil? i dunno........... *Waits for someone else to come along*
-sixner

[BassVirtuoso]

That won't work, it's a totally custom design.

[blizzard]

Car paint works great on instruments, my friends dad has repainted 3 of his guitars with car paint.

[The Brad]

I am pretty sure the professionals airbrush custom graphics onto guitars.

[BassVirtuoso]

Is there anyway I can use a traditional paintbrush?

[sixner]

^ unless it's what you want....... you could probably get streaks and if it's a cheap brush, you'll get bristles falling out and drying to your body....
-sixner

[BassVirtuoso]

What are streaks?

[DavetheGrumpy]

What are streaks?
Well, the finish will be thicker and thinner depending upon where the bristles have been/pushed down when you painted it. I asked my mum, our family's painting virtuoso, to paint my Squier Strat in metallic blue, and she tried painting it with a brush. It came out pretty nice, if you don't mind it looking like someone has actually been remotely involved in painting it. It depends on how good the person is at painting.
You can always lightly sand it afterward, and you're gonna want to put some sort of finish on it afterward to prevent the paint from just falling off, like it did on mine in combination with a belt buckle...
If it's a pretty intricate design like you say, and there are no really massive areas of paint in a uniform colour, it's not too likely you'll notice brushstrokes, anyway.
Have a gander at Eric Clapton's SG from when he played with Cream, his was hand-painted. I thought it was cool.

[DavetheGrumpy]

I'll get some pictures of my Strat up, if you want. :thumb:

[BenJammin]

I'll get some pictures of my Strat up, if you want. :thumb:

I would like to see it, if you don't mind. I've been considering repainting my Peavey.

[FenderJazz]

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8374/sgclapton20composite2oi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Clapton

[DavetheGrumpy]

Here you go...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/TheGrunch/StratPic1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/TheGrunch/StratPic2.jpg

The blue paint on the bridge is from an earlier, and less successful attempt to spray-paint it. :lol:
My mum says that if you use enamel paint, it sort of evens itself out as it dries, so the brush strokes are less noticeable.
I replaced the pickguard with a loaded SSH MightyMite guard, and it sounds fine, especially with the single coils.
And yes, I am aware that I am missing an A string...:upset:
I think it's an improvement, anyway. It's a 1997 Squier Affinity Strat, and used to be the default cellophane-finish gloss "candy-apple red", with a single-ply white pickguard, and 3 single coils. So now it's immensely more playable, thankfully, since it doesn't sound and look like arse...

EDIT: It's a bit worn, as I haven't put any sort of varnish/lacquer on it, and it's not exactly been treated with the greatest courtesy, hence the scratches etc.

[rodneymullen119]

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224706



EDIT: just realized the pics in the first post no longer work, scroll down.

[TheBassman238]

I hear car paint from everyone... but im not 100%...

-TBM

[FunkMetalBass]

Using car paint is best, but any spray paint will work...people just don't realize it.

The key factor in a good finish is a spray booth. A spray booth has fans that suck the excess paint out of the air. If not, those tiny paint molecules land on the object you are spraying and give it sort of an uneven finish.

If you choose to handpaint it, be VERY careful of streaks. Time, and patience is key. Once you are done, give it a few coats of some glossy clear coat or even an epoxy clear coat (as epoxy spreads out smoother). Spray booth would be nice for that as well.

[darrell]

A spray booth is best not only for the overspray that it sucks out of the air, but also for the dust that it, too, sucks out. I'm happy with the way PPG's DBC series sprays for guitar. Use 2-4 light to medium coats (reduced 2:1) sprayed on a prepped guitar... then cleared with a compatible clear (DCU 2001/2042...)

If you need any more help, let me know...

Edit: It's not worth brushing it on. You will be dissappointed at the result.

[FunkMetalBass]

Oh yes, the dust too. I forgot to mention it.

Unfortunately, hand-painting pictures and designs is about the only way on his bass.

[BassVirtuoso]

So JP told me to use enamel paint, but i don't know if I should sand it somehow.

[FunkMetalBass]

So JP told me to use enamel paint, but i don't know if I should sand it somehow.
Yep, you have to sand it. If you don't, the paint will not properly adhere and it will not work.

[BassVirtuoso]

So I guess I should use an unbelievably fine grit...I really don't want to mess it up...

[Kibuddy]

So I guess I should use an unbelievably fine grit...I really don't want to mess it up...


Didn't you already sand the whole body, though?

[BassVirtuoso]

Wait...I was asking if I should sand it after the painting was done...not if I should sand it before I paint it...

[Kibuddy]

Wait...I was asking if I should sand it after the painting was done...not if I should sand it before I paint it...


Sand the body before painting, don't sand it afterwards.

[hartke20g]

if you just want to paint your design on one specific part (if it's a very small intricate design) then you could just get something so scratch off some of the finish on that specific part, then paint and clear coat (poly, laquer, epoxy, etc) it and maybe wet/drysand it to smooth it out. but the job would have to be done very smoothly and at the exact same thickness as the original paint.

[BassVirtuoso]

I'm getting the whole thing done, and I'm using a spray polyurethane. I will keep you all updated on the progress.

[hartke20g]

pics are more than expected when youre done:)

[darrell]

Really you should scuff the whole body and clear it to get an even coat over the whole thing and not have to worry about blending...

[FunkMetalBass]

Feel the finish after you're done painting it. If it isn't smooth, you can sand it, but use a really fine grit.