A few weeks ago I had the brilliant idea to build a guitar for a mate as a going away present. He's an outstanding musician (pianist) who picked up a TV silver Epi Les Paul earlier in the year and is loving it. He's expressed some interest in trying out a Strat, so I figure, why not? I've never put a guitar together, never attempted any kind of paint finish that didn't involve a roller, so what could possibly go wrong?
The concept I'm going for is something atypical for a strat. In keeping with the TV silver LP, I'm going with silver as a base, but taking that a step further and trying a metallic silver (Dupli Color Metal Specks) and then I want to layer a smoky burst over that (Dupli Color Metalcast Smoke). Knowing my limitations, I'm not aiming for a super clean silverburst - I'm aiming for a "smokeburst", something a bit more organic and dirty. For hardware, I've gone for black across the board - but may consider a brushed metal pickguard. We'll see once the paint is done.
I originally wasn't going to do a build diary, but having lurked here for a few weeks, it seems like something I'd get a lot out of. It does mean I didn't take any pics during my mock up/filling/sanding/priming/etc - but since I'm doing a solid colour over basswood I don't think anyone is missing out.
So after a couple of weeks of raising grain, sanding, filling, sealing, priming, I sprayed a couple of layers of the sparkly silver. I'm pretty happy with the coverage - it was pretty fiddly work. The metal flecks clog the nozzle pretty frequently, so I ended up in a routine where I'd spray for 5-10 seconds, then dunk the nozzle in some metho, swirl it around, shake it off, and spray again.
At this stage, it's looking super fabulous. Blindingly glittery. If it was a present for Taylor Swift, I'd be clear coating by now, but instead, it's ready for some smoke.
Reply With Quote