Originally Posted by
Simon Barden
You stain the body black using a fairly diluted stain, then use a solid black spray to create the sunburst effect. If the body looks too black after the stain, then sand it back a bit very gently (very thin veneer so be careful). Then add clear coats over it all.
Always spray outwards from the centre of the guitar towards the far edge for a 'burst, starting with the spray missing the body completely, then bringing the spray down until just the edge of the spray is catching the edge of the body. Don't point the centre of the spray at the edge, or else you'll end up with a very thick sunburst edge, with almost no 'clear' centre section.
You'll probably need to do this a couple of times; the first time spraying a bit more in towards the centre than the second time, in order to get a good solid outer edge to the burst.
It's an idea to have the body resting on a smaller piece of cardboard so that you can rotate the body in front of you, as you are unlikely to have a suitable table and enough space to walk around it and spray from a constant distance.
Practice on some cardboard cut-outs first until you are happy. It is very tempting to bring the spray too far into the centre of the body to start with, but you really only want the edge of the spray cone hitting the body otherwise you end up with too solid a line of paint, and not one that transitions nicely.