Oli the only way to learn is to do it yourself, but on the other hand the car repair shop will do a top quality spray job, so it's really up to you and what he is charging
Oli the only way to learn is to do it yourself, but on the other hand the car repair shop will do a top quality spray job, so it's really up to you and what he is charging
Current Builds and status
scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck
Completed builds
scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in
Late on this one but will say that I know my limitations, and using an airbrush is one of many limitations I have!! I use a airbrush artist to do any and all artwork on my guitars, and on my last one, which was unpainted but clear coated only, I masked everything that I didn't want cleared, and gave it to him to spray when he had other stuff to coat. (He does motorcycle tins as his main earner). My point is, he does an awfully good job with the best of materials and because I was prepared to wait on the job, it cost me the price of the 2-pack used on the job, about 15 bucks.
Now, I could not possibly do the same quality of work for that kind of price so consider it money well spent! Also, I sold all of my spray gear, apart from a small airbrush, some years ago and really don't want to be outlaying a considerable sum for good gear....
Again, money well spent....
Yes, I realise that learning how to do the painting is part of the ethos of building your own and if I were a little younger and full of plans for the future, perhaps I would persist, but even with a car painter uncle who endeavoured to teach me the finer points of the trade, I was never very good at it!!
Funny, though.... I'm quite prepared to do anything else on a build - I even wound my own pickups many eons ago, as an exercise, mind you!! - but painting/clear coating gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies....
"If it's Blues music in a bar and it helps people swallow their drink of choice, or it's a dance song and people get up off their chairs and shuffle their feet, or it's a Jazz tune and the Chardonnay tastes so much better... then it's all good."
- Marcel