First Time Paint Job

[jdicebassist]

I am well into making a 5-String J-Bass, and since I am not too fond of the looks of the maple body I am considering painting it (Chrome Red, or a Dark Red). This will be my first paint job as the other two basses I made were an oil finish and a lacquer finish.

Any tips or pointers for a first time painter?

As well, most of the sites I have found only ship their product inside the US. Any places or sites that anyone knows of for us Luthiers north of the Border (Canada for those of us who a geographically challenged)?

[Fat.Mike]

Practice. I went to Tech school for painting cars and have found the only way to get paint right is to practice, practice, practice. After you do it for a while it will come naturally. If you choose dark red I would suggest a single stage urethane and a HVLP gun for ease of application. Go with the reccomended primer for the paintsystem. Dupont and PPG are both quality paints and should be available north of the border from any automotive collision supply shop. It might get expensive because you cannot just purchase a small amount. It is typically by the quart in the states, and it can add up once you figure in everything you need. Hope this helps.

[Bryan316]

Go read my post in this thread:

My STUPID paint job

[Tomis17]

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Go read my post in this thread:

My STUPID paint job

+1

[jdicebassist]

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Go read my post in this thread:

My STUPID paint job

Man that helped so much.. Now all I have to do is find some supplies. Thanks guys.

[Bryan316]

What are you looking for? Tools, or materials, or paint?

[jdicebassist]

I am looking for spray paint. I found some automotive stuff at Canadian Tire, hopefully this will do.

[jdicebassist]

So I have finished the sealer coat and started spraying colour on the bass. It looks really nice right now, and the paint has a bit of a metallic flake to it. THe one problem I am facing now is that I have a two small dents that I didn't notice initially. I was considering filling them with epoxy now so I don't have to sand everything down and ruining my hardwork. Any suggestions as to how I can get rid of these small dents?

[Bryan316]

Aww man... no matter what, your current coat is worthless now.

If you sand down to remove the dent, you gotta restart.

If you epoxy, you gotta sand it smooth or it'll look worse than the dent, which means you'll have to restart.

If you bondo it, you'll have a lighter spot underneath the next layer of paint, which from my experience takes far too many coats of paint to hide and blend back with the previous layer of paint.

I know you don't want to do it, but I gotta preach the best advice anyone's ever given me. Do It Once, Do It Right.

So just let it dry for three days, scuff sand it down until you can somewhat see the sealer coat underneath, then sand out the dent. Then you can start back up. You've only wasted one coat of paint, so it's not like you've gotta go through the clearcoating process or buffing process again. Just give this paint three days, and do the fix correctly.

Believe me... you'll always feel far more satisfied if you did it right from the beginning, compared to doing a quick fix. It'll sit on the back of your mind every time you look at the spot. It ain't worth it!

[jdicebassist]

The reason why I am not so concerned about using epoxy was it is on the back of the bass. But if it is going to look that horrible than maybe I should sand down.

I am talking a miniscule dent by the way.

Man I hate sanding.

[Bryan316]

If it's on the back, who cares? You're gonna give that sucka so much belt buckle rash, it will just get lost in the aging process. Don't worry about that.

If it was on the front where you'd always see it, that would definitely need to be completely redone.

[jdicebassist]

True say Bryan. Thanks for the advice. I may try my hand at either the epoxy or bondo method (as suggested). Just to experience it first hand, and worst case scenario it won't be seen as it's on the back of the bass. So far it's looking great though, thanks for the advice. I'll try to post some pictures when I get around to it.

[jdicebassist]

Another quick question regarding the paint job... I finished all 9 light coats of paint and I am ready for the clear coat. The only problem is I notice when I scuff the paint up with the steel wool that it seems to take away the wonderful metallic flake in the paint. Do I have to scuff the final coat of paint?

What is the sanding regimen between clear coats? Continue using 000 Steel wool, or something different?

[Fat.Mike]

It will come back with clear. I would sand after all clear is done, then buff out with a mild rubbing compound at low speed.

[jdicebassist]

Just as a follow up. I read on Guitar Re-Ranch that you are not supposed to sand your final coat of paint if there is a metallic flake in it. Just put down 4 coats of clear then sand with steel wool and continue with the applications of clear coat.