SPI Products on a guitar

[JayL]

Hello group,

First post so I'll try to be quick about it.

I refinish guitars.

I create custom colors based on what my customers want.

I normally use nitro cellulose lacquer but I would like to investigate using Auto paint based on 2 major reasons. (Drying time and hardness)

I paint like this.
Primer/Sealer, base (normally it's a clear base that I mix with thinner that has been tinted to make a color base,) mid coat and top coat.

So with this info in mind, my questions are as follows:

1) which SPI products should I use to do this knowing it will be used on wood.
2) Does SPI make a clear base that I can add my own pigments to?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay
Tampa, FL

 

[Bob Hollinshead]

intercoat clear is a clear base-very good stuff!!! I would start with epoxy primer, finish up the job with universal clear. You'll never go back to lacquer once you get familiarized with SPI products. Check with Barry about the compatibility of of tints/pigments.

 

[shine]

i would stay with lacquer on guitars . the hardness of lacquer ads to the richness of the tone . many people use auto paints but i believe it hurts the guitar .

 

[JayL]

i would stay with lacquer on guitars . the hardness of lacquer ads to the richness of the tone . many people use auto paints but i believe it hurts the guitar .

I should have included that I am refinishing solid body guitars.

If they were acoustic or hollow body I would absolutely stick with Nitro.

Part of the reason I am looking at Automotive (and I could be way off in my thinking) is that because it is such a hard coating I wont need as many coats to color (base/color and mid/effect coat) and clear (top coat) as I do with Lacquer.

Again thank you all for any advice.

Jay
Tampa, FL

 

[shine]

in the early 70's i did a custom job on a friends strat . absolutely loved it but after playing for a while we stripped it and redid it back to lacquer. i was going to redo my sg but decided to leave it alone. i think even solid body guitars are affected by it . just like not playing one for a long period of time . you have to set it in front of speakers for a while to wake it up .

 

[JayL]

intercoat clear is a clear base-very good stuff!!! I would start with epoxy primer, finish up the job with universal clear. You'll never go back to lacquer once you get familiarized with SPI products. Check with Barry about the compatibility of of tints/pigments.

Bob, if I follow you're suggestion I would do the following:

First Coat(s) - Epoxy Primer
Second Coat(s) - Intercoat (mixed with color & or effects)
Final coats(s) - 4000 Universal Clear

Thanks again
Jay
Tampa, FL

 

[JayL]

in the early 70's i did a custom job on a friends strat . absolutely loved it but after playing for a while we stripped it and redid it back to lacquer. i was going to redo my sg but decided to leave it alone. i think even solid body guitars are affected by it . just like not playing one for a long period of time . you have to set it in front of speakers for a while to wake it up .

Shine, I totally get where you are coming from. My biggest issue with Nitro is that it takes so long to cure properly. Once I spray a guitar with multiple layers of Nitro I have to let it cure for a month before I can wet sand and buff it. (And that is only if I am using Nitro as a clear coat. If I have to add pigment to it and use it as an intercoat as well that takes even longer to do it right.) Then it is still not "fingernail proof" and the last thing I need is having a customer come back to me after a week saying how their guitar has all the "mars" in the surface because they were playing it.

I know currently most of the big guitar manufactures use automotive finishes on their guitars. I also know that some of the boutique guitar makers are using Nitro. But I am not going to be making $10K Guitars for people. I will be refinishing (most of the time) cheap guitars that someone wants a fresh look given to it. I am basically going to be a guitar "re-newer" and not a restoration shop.

I love the way Nitro looks and sounds but for ease of use, I have to find something faster for my customers sake.

Who knows, I might paint a few guitars with Auto findings and then decided that Nitro is what I will just have to use.

Thank You

Jay
Tampa, FL

 

[Bob Hollinshead]

Bob, if I follow you're suggestion I would do the following:

First Coat(s) - Epoxy Primer
Second Coat(s) - Intercoat (mixed with color & or effects)
Final coats(s) - 4000 Universal Clear

Thanks again
Jay
Tampa, FL

Jay, seal the wood with a few coats of epoxy primer. I don't know how perfect your woodworking skills are but you can use bodyfiller over the epoxy primer if there's any need for fill. The epoxy can be used as a primer surfacer as well-prime and sand as needed. When it's perfect apply a sealer coat of epoxy and start your painting process. I would choose a line of automotive basecoat and use that for your base colors, they can also be added to the intercoat along with candy dye, pearls, flakes, etc... There's numerous solvent based automove basecoat lines that work well with SPI intercoat. Give Barry a call to get the rundown on what basecoats and additives are compatible. Don't mix any lacquer products in anything.

 

[NYTrainer]

My son paint's a lot of wood products (skateboards, longboards, guitars) and uses the formula Bob mentioned above (usually automotive basecoats and not intercoat as much for the projects he does). One thing I noticed on the guitars (not super expensive ones) is that they seemed to be finished with a gel coat. But an 80 grit sanding, epoxy primer, any bodywork (some had fine cracks so had to vee out the gel coat and resin down to the wood) on top of the epoxy, another 2 coats of epoxy to block, then BC/CC.
Here's a pic of some of his projects I had previously posted.

 

[carson5150]

Bob's right on with his procedures. I really dislike nitro because of the cure time and the grain sink that is inevitable no matter how long you let it cure before you cut and buff it. I only use pre catalyzed nitro on "relic" style guitars. The pre cat nitro allows me to check (crack) the finish within a few days to get that authentic 50 yr old look. A solid body guitar's tone will only be affected by the proficiency of the operator IMHO.

 

[JayL]

My son paint's a lot of wood products (skateboards, longboards, guitars) and uses the formula Bob mentioned above (usually automotive basecoats and not intercoat as much for the projects he does). One thing I noticed on the guitars (not super expensive ones) is that they seemed to be finished with a gel coat. But an 80 grit sanding, epoxy primer, any bodywork (some had fine cracks so had to vee out the gel coat and resin down to the wood) on top of the epoxy, another 2 coats of epoxy to block, then BC/CC.
Here's a pic of some of his projects I had previously posted.

These look great. Thanks for sharing again.

Jay
Tampa, FL

- - - Updated - - -

Bob's right on with his procedures. I really dislike nitro because of the cure time and the grain sink that is inevitable no matter how long you let it cure before you cut and buff it. I only use pre catalyzed nitro on "relic" style guitars. The pre cat nitro allows me to check (crack) the finish within a few days to get that authentic 50 yr old look. A solid body guitar's tone will only be affected by the proficiency of the operator IMHO.

I appreciate the knowledge.

I love Nitro. But as I get more and more jobs the time evolved for proper Nitro use is starting cause issues. So far everything that I have read seems to point toward automotive coatings working out just fine and the only thing to do at this point is to get some and test it out. So again thanks for the info.

Jay
Tampa, FL

 

[mlp-mx6]

I've used both Universal clear and Euro2020 clear on solidbody guitars with good results. Euro is my choice for hardness.

I have not used epoxy on my solid bodies. Mostly clear/translucent finishes. I'd be inclined to use 2K primer (for hardness) rather than epoxy, but that's just intuition.