Matte black finish

[SA_Brad]

Hey guys,

I ended up getting an SG kit of eBay as my first and I've been contemplating how to make it look. I've decided I want to do it black/white and silver hardware. I would really like it black matte with some white stenciling on it.

So my plan was to do a flat white spray paint (couple of coats) then do my stenciling and spray it flat black, then a matte clear over the whole lot. But since reading posts on the forum it seems to be a bit of a no no to use anything except wudtone?

I am not sure I could achieve the result I want with wudtone finishes?

Also I want the body, neck and headstock to all be matte black so would I be best to glue in my neck before painting so it gives a nice smooth finish around the joins?

Thanks

Brad

[keloooe]

You can use anything you want, but we all swear by Wudtone, Wudtone is harder to use to get stenciling, so it's best to try and use spray paint (Dingobass WILL yell at you :P )

[wokkaboy]

Hey Brad,
you won't get a dark finish you are after with wudtone, the black magic woman (darkest wudtone colour) will show the wood grain where it sounds like you are after a solid paint finish.
Not sure whether to recommend glueing the neck before you put final paint coats on, it will be more awkward to hang and sand if the neck is glued in, I'd tend to tape off the neck pocket on the body and neck heal and keep them separate will make life easier, you should still get a nice smooth join when glued in at the end. Just be careful to only tape off the area that will sit in the pocket.

[SA_Brad]

Thanks guys, I hope I will not get banished for using spray Maybe just won't be able to enter GOTM.

Brad

[phloggy]

I sprayed my Tele to get the finish I wanted. Then I used a poly clear coat, then polished it with car wax. Even bought stuff from Bunnings. They still let me hang around, and my guitar still looks and sounds great.

[Andyport]

I also used lacquer for my LP-1 sunburst because i felt it was the only way to get the finish i was after.
Sprayed it, then used varying grades of wet sanding paper, cutting compound, finishing with car polish.
The build is still in progress, but i am very happy with the paint finish.
I've always thought if Gibson do it, it can't be all bad!!

[pablopepper]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from SA_Brad on July 24, 2013, 14:33
Thanks guys, I hope I will not get banished for using spray Maybe just won't be able to enter GOTM.

Brad

Hey Brad, don't be shy about doing your own thing. Guitar of the month is more often than not judged by non forum members, so while there is a definite bias towards wudtone here, the guitars are judged on their individual style. I've won two GOTM (not bragging) with solid sprayed finishes.

Plus, you're building your own guitar. Do it how you want rather than whatever everyone else thinks is best.

[adam]

What pablopepper said. Using Wudtone is not a prerequisite for entering our GOTM competition. What does matter is that your guitar has that "wow factor". If the judge/s would make a beeline for your guitar in a guitar shop then you have a good chance of taking out the comp.

[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from phloggy on July 24, 2013, 14:39
I sprayed my Tele to get the finish I wanted. Then I used a poly clear coat, then polished it with car wax. Even bought stuff from Bunnings. They still let me hang around, and my guitar still looks and sounds great.

Bunnings!!!!?????? Disciplinary hearing notice on its way!

But seriously, we Wudtone Nazi's as Adam calls DB and I is simply because we love a wood grain finish on an awesome piece of timber. Plus Wudtone maintains awesome tone on a guitar.
By not using Wudtone doesn't count against you in the compo because the judges cannot even tell if you guitar is in tune from the pictures let alone if it can even play! It's just a fun compo to encourage folks to share their experience which we hope enriches every one's lives on the forum! So far it seems to be working!?

[SA_Brad]

Hey thanks everyone.

The GOTM comment really was tongue in cheek it was more to do with the talk about the tone being improved by Wudtone, so if it was possible to do what I wanted with Wudtone I would have used it. It is more important with this guitar to have the look I want as I want it to be my main guitar on stage. Maybe my next project can be studio focused and use Wudtone.

Thanks for the input on fixing the neck before painting Wokka, you make a great point.

Just a couple more things.

The white will be the stencilled area so it will be the bottom coat. Should I use some sort of undercoat under that to make sure no wood grain shows through.

The other thing is should I use flat white and black spray because I'm going for flat black? Do I still clear coat it? Can you get a flat clear?

Basically I want the look of the finish car guys get on a Rat Rod.

Brad