where to get a guitar professionally spray painted?

4114Effects

The recent thread on La Cabs has inspired me and I'm looking to build one like the blue sparkly bound one. I'm resonable at spraying, but I've never tackled a metal flake like that. My finishes are limited to what you can get in a spraycan...

Is there anywhere in the UK you guys use/would recommend for guitar body spray painting? Or is there a forum member that offers this service? I was thinking of trying a local car sprayer, but don't know if they'd have the experience in filling and prepping wood?

Cheers!

mart

@lamf68 does a pretty good job judging by the pics. Not so handy for you geographically tho.

WezV

Mike Lennon did the blue one I posted. Doesn't look as flakey as the fender in the pics but I have a vid somewhere that shows it in full twinkly glory

WezV

4114Effects

Cheers @wezv any idea of a cost? PM me if you'd rather not discuss on the forum :-)

Dinosauria

I had a guitar refinished a few years ago (before I started doing it myself) I had mine done by a guy who sprays cars for a living. It was super fast, very cheap (compared to most refinishers prices) and the result was flawless. Also no waiting in a queue for weeks/months. 

He'd been painting high end cars for about 40 years so you don't get much better experience than that. Most car sprayers will have much more experience on the gun than the average guitar refinisher. Most of them are used to dealing with flake too should you go that route.

WezV

@4114Effects - Its probably not worth me discussing prices as it was 6 years ago.  I found him to be reasonable.  best to message him

@dinosauria - unfortunately its not always that straight forward, although i do agree its a good place to look for a sprayer

You are right that they usually have more experience on the gun than most guitar refinishers.   The issue is that almost all of them have no experience spraying wood.   The actual spraying technique is a transferable skill - but choice of lacquer, cure times and buffing technique can catch out some autosprayers doing a guitar for the first time.

Mike is primarily a car sprayer, but he also loves guitars so understands the challenges, although i know he had some issues with the adjustment too.  

I have worked with other car sprayers where their "experience" was a real barrier.  They felt they knew best, wanted to use their usual lacquer and were totally confident it would cure as hard as it does when sprayed onto a non pourous surface

 

 

 

 

Corvus

By and large paint is very much paint, but -

Prep, grainfill and matching primers won't be something most car/bike guys are familiar with. Some primer techniques do transfer straight over but not all. But, if already painted it's very possible to make some use of that a kind of ready-made prep.

Car/bike guys will be very familiar with metallic & pearls, but dry flake and candy isn't something they'd use normally - look for a 'custom' paint place for that. Or a painter who's into hot rods & customs, or chops.
It's best to have cleared flake sit for 2-3 weeks at least, before final clear & flat & polish. It's common to wait a month. It can settle leaving a slightly pimply surface. May still do some months later even, but most people prob wouldn't notice.

All-over flaking bound bodies can be a pain in the arse. The bigger the flake, the harder it is to get a good scraped edge.

Prev stuff

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/weazel_tele/24.jpg
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/shimmerkaster/front_sparkle.jpg
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/lp_special/take2/flaked_4.jpg
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/lp_special/take2/spice_weasel_2.jpg

Got a load of car/bike/misc stuff as well but
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/flak_monkey_chop/13__tank_top.jpg http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/minx/stg11/roof1.jpg

rawk100

Bow Finishing in Surrey have been recommended to me although I've never used them. Sims Guitars in Kent is another.

axisus

I got a lovely refinish via our very own Feline.