best place to by Nitro cans?

axisus

Best/cheapest place to by from in the UK?

vasselmeyer

Get them from The Manchester Guitar Tech, Steve Robinson. He has an online store at http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/

Excellent tech and one of the nicest guys you'll ever deal with.

JookyChap

Northwest Guitars and Rothko & Frost also do them, but quite agree on Manc-Chap, top fella and happy to help

SteveRobinson

Let me know if I can be of any assistance! 

axisus

Ahh yes, I ordered from you last time Steve - I couldn't remember! I'll put something through on the website.

Just trying to decide, Vintage white or olympic white ....

SteveRobinson

Thanks, the Oly White is very white, Vintage White is cream/ivory of course. 

jd0272

The White Blonde. Nice.

ChrisMusic

Hey there @SteveRobinson, this is probably a dumb question, but what are the two colour patches for each sample doing ?

I assume one is full can colour and the other is either natural ageing simulation, or yellowed with a tinted clear, maybe ?  Cheers.

SteveRobinson

Yes, the right hand side is supposed to show the effect of overspraying a tinted lacquer. 

It does cause some confusion and it might be better done away with.

ChrisMusic

Cheers  @SteveRobinson,  I thought I had missed something explaining it on your site.  Thanks for your explanation.  It has a valid reason to be there if you understand how to use it IMO.

I should also have asked how to specify a custom colour, and how close to expect the finish to be ?

How does your range compare to old style nitro ?

SteveRobinson

This page http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/nitrocellulose-lacquer/  has the explanation

"Please note that where the lacquer colour shows a darker shade on the right hand side, it represents the colour of the lacquer when sprayed over with my Light Tint Gloss clearcoat."

The shop software I'm using has no easy facility to add text to the catalogue pages.

If you want something special mixing then it's best to supply a physical object that can be scanned. Computer images aren't much use unfortunately.

Compare in what way? It's proper nitrocellulose, no pre-cat shenanigans, but it does contain some UV block to inhibit yellowing. The clear top coat will craze if you temperature shock it (in a freezer say) but generally not in normal, stable environments. 

ChrisMusic

Brilliant, that's a very useful link, thanks again @SteveRobinson, I came straight in on your catalogue page from the very useful link posted earlier in this discussion.  I will take some time out and explore your site a bit more.

By compare, I was meaning 60s or 70 stylee nitro, which seems a very different animal to the likes of Gibson's current usage.

Which I assume is plasticisers an who knows what other additives or exclusions / substitutions to comply with legal restrictions in whichever market.  My 2005 CS has a finish which is more like an extremely viscous liquid than a hard lacquer which my 60s and 70s Gibsons from my "past life" had.  BTW, whats pre-cat ?  There are so many hybrid factory finishes too.  So do I take it that your nitro cans are the familiar old skool nitro ?

SteveRobinson

Yes, it dries hard and glassy, not soft and rubbery like the stuff Gibson use these days! 

"Pre-cat" is short for pre-catalysed. Whereas lacquer dries by evaporation and can be re-dissolved in solvent, a catalysed finish undergoes a chemical cure (so not a true lacquer.)  It can be tougher, but is harder to work with than true nitro.

ChrisMusic

Thanks @SteveRobinson, it's good to have you around  

IvisonGuitars

Hi @SteveRobinson, not wanting to dera this thread too much but, just wondering, could one spray a clear coat of 'proper' nitro over a current Gibson 'rubber' coat nitro and get it to harden off like a 50's finish or would it melt into the original finish and end up in a dogs breakfast?!

axisus

SteveRobinson said:

Yes, the right hand side is supposed to show the effect of overspraying a tinted lacquer. 

It does cause some confusion and it might be better done away with.

I hope it stays. I wasn't confused and I am always interested in the tinted option.

SteveRobinson

I imagine that the harder (more brittle) layer would soon craze as the softer original finish moved underneath it.

jd0272

Leave the split tone patches on the colour charts @SteveRobinson, I think they're very useful mate.

jonnyburgo

+1 for @steverobinson, a nice chap. I bought a Banzai Fireball overdrive off him a couple of years ago. Everybody says he's the go to guy for nitro.

ChrisMusic

Back on the subject of colour matching @SteveRobinson

I assume that it is possible to specify Pantone colours ?

Or supply the tri-stimulus values from a spectrophotometer ?

Not sure how my missus would feel about me sending in her favourite purple lingerie...  (only kidding)    

hywelg

SteveRobinson said:

Yes, it dries hard and glassy, not soft and rubbery like the stuff Gibson use these days! 

I can vouch for that. I've used both the clear and the vintage yellowy tint lacquer for two necks a Strat and a Tele. I always find Gibson necks 'sticky' but these two are great, and its great stuff to work with.