Gibson LP kit build

[MrEd]

Hi all, the reason I joined up is because Ive been having a bit of trouble finding good info about the finish I want to use on this guitar, basically a translucent black face with a gloss black and border. I originally wanted to do a silverburst style finish, but when I got the timber body I decided the grain is too nice to cover up with paint.

Ive watched a few youtube vids and googled my life away trying to answer some questions but got kinda sick of researching and thought Id just go to the paint shop, buy some stuff and have a go. BAD IDEA! I bought some "Black Japan" stain and varnish and a couple of other products they recommended. In my impatience I talked myself out of doing a test piece as I didnt have any other nice grained timber and just whacked it on the guitar. Well it looked crap and Ive now sanded it back. The maple veneer is now quite thin, Ive already sanded through it in one spot, I only really have one chance to get it right now or it'll end up painted.

Some pics....

Heres the kit I bought:
LPkit2_zps81aa3c1f.jpg
LPkit1_zps5969eb9a.jpg
20140111_115844_zpskvoapggo.jpg
20140111_115930_zps1cmdmmxn.jpg

Heres the body after I put a sander sealer coat on it
20140111_132242_zpsm5p4g2du.jpg

Here it is with a coat of the god awful Black Japan on it (it was tricky to work with, possibly due to hot weather, so it either seemed to go on thick, or really uneven....so its thick)
20140113_165452_zpsfwuvnaat.jpg

24 hours later I tried to give it a sand and it didnt quite seem dry enough, although I would sooner have left it like this than the poo brown/black japan finish.
20140113_180656_zpsdmyfwedl.jpg

Another 24 hours later I gave it a better sand, this is how it is now.
20140114_173815_zpseyngs7y8.jpg

Heres how I want it to look
Gibson-Les-Paul-Classic-Plus-50s-Neck-Trans-Ebony-Burst.jpg

Its getting kinda late and Im gonna hit the hay, but basically Im after some black dye to dilute and use as a stain for the grain area, then I'll clear coat it, then spray the body and border gloss black.

Im planning on buying some waterbased dye from ubeaut (their site is actually how I found this forum) but Im not sure what sort of clear to use over that, or what sort of paint will be ok to use. I was planning to use acrylic auto paint, but it has alot of thinners in it and I dont want it to do react with the clear.

Any advise would be very much appreciated!

[Evanism]

This is done with an airbrush. Small one like an Iwata.

Centre is stained and polished then the outer edges sprayed...lots of very light coats. Finish would be nitro cellulose lacquer. Don't use car stuff. You can get 95% gloss NC and thinners from The Paint Place here in Canberra.

the pin striping is done the same ways as doing a car, lots of blue tape.

Might I suggest practice on something less valuable to start?

[simso]

There's many ways you can do this, you can also refinish it in any medium you like, nitro,poly, uv,acrylic, etc

the easiest way is to stain the top and paint the sides and back

done this before, it's pretty easy

[ubeaut]

G'gay MrEd - Second person I've spoken/written to in the last couple of days. Maybe it was you I spoke to on the phone. Anyway.... Water Dye will give you the look you want in the centre of the guitar but you will need to experiment a little with the colour rather than just applying the blach whuch is a green black anhd will need a small amount of red mixed with it to kill the green portion of the dye and make it more of a grey black.

However... before you use the water dye or any other dye you will need to completely eradicate all signs of the "Black Japan" as this will not allow the dye to penetrate the timber.

Not trying to be rude but looking at your first attempt, it looks like you haven't had any prior experience of polishing so you really need to do a fair bit of experimentation with application of both dye/stain and finish. If you intend to brush the finish you need to get a really good natural bristle brush. A paint brush won't do the job very well as it will leave brush marls as you will have seen on the first try.

Cheapest and easiest way to get a good brush is to go to an Art Supply shop and ask for a "Camel Hair water colour mop" 1/4" to 1" do not use synthetic brush.

Finish over the dye can be Hard Shellac which is ideal for guitars, harps, etc. If you have spray equipment and the ability to use it well then a nitrocellulose or other lacquer. No spray equipment then the hard shellac is probably the best of all.

Do not use water dye to colour shellac or lacquer as it is not compatible. Shellac can be coloured with Lamp Black universal tint available anywhere where paint is tinted.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers - Neil

PS Practice with everything before jumping in boots and all like your did with the black Japan/tar.

[MrEd]

Thanks ubeaut, very much appreciate your help. Wasnt me on the phone though.

I do have spray equipment so maybe the nitrocellulose is the way to go. Do you sell that as well?

And Im not at all offended by your comment on my painting efforts, I completely agree how poor it was. It was a bit of a hot afternoon, maybe that made it worse, but either way Im definitely going to be practicing a little more before I attempt it again, but if spraying is a better idea then thats what I'll do.

The black japan is well and truly gone now. I wiped a bit of water onto the timber with a damp rag to check and it all wets out nice and evenly. Im pretty confident its back to bare timber.

At this point Ive sanded it to a 400grit finish, on your website you suggest sanding be done in steps of each grade, up to 1200grit, which is what I plan to do before applying the dye.

[rhoads56]

Dont go past 400 grit unless you want more issues...

[MrEd]

Ok I'll leave it as is. Thanks for that.

Can anyone recommend a specific nitrocellulose clear coat product?