painting a solid colour

mike_odonovan · #1 03-29-2003, 12:49 PM

i live in London and therefor can't get hold of the reranch guitar respray cans that look real cool to me. i have looked around for someone doing it on this side of the pond but to no avail. i just want a solid colour for my bass. i think my two easily available options come down to 1) car paint or 2) "plasti-kote" spray paint which is sold over here for use on wood, metal, church walls, what have you.
which is the best choice?

mike_odonovan · #2 03-29-2003, 12:52 PM

i have found the plasti-kote web site here - www.plati-kote.com

ashton · #3 03-31-2003, 10:41 PM

hi
when all else fails.......crayons.

im looking for something to paint bass with aswell.
Lukas

mike_odonovan · #4 04-01-2003, 02:43 AM

hey ashton,
saw your post. not getting much response are we?
c'mon guys! help!
crayons?

Carey · #5 04-01-2003, 10:48 AM

Car paints will work, but before you spray the color you shoud build up an even layer of "undercoat", or basecoat as some call it. Spray about 4 coats and let them dry for a few days. Then sand them level with 240, or as high as 320 grit sandpaper. Make sure you keep the body very clean during the whole process. Any oils introduced by excessive touching or any other source will give you major headaches.
So, the next step is to spray the color, or colour, as it is over there.

If you're good with a spray gun you may not want to add a topcot, but a topcoat will afford the most protection to the color and prevent premature wear. Topcoats generally need to be sanded and buffed for the ultimate glossy appearance, but again, if you're good with the spray gun, it may not be necessary.
Good Luck

BTW, the plasti-kote link didn't work for me.

ashton · #6 04-01-2003, 06:53 PM

Hi
what sort of undercoat....sorry, the last painting I did was with my fingers.

Lukas

Carey · #7 04-01-2003, 07:01 PM

You could use anything that has a high solids content. I have used urethane on alder with perfectly acceptable results. The key is that you want something that will build up well and fill in the pores so you can sand it flat for the color coat.

ashton · #8 04-01-2003, 07:42 PM

Hi
urethane, sweet.

ill be trying it on alder and ash so once its all done ill post the results and pics here sometime, wont be for a few months.
thanks alot
Lukas

htdesigns · #9 04-02-2003, 05:31 AM

DO NOT USE PLASTI-KOTE! It is awful paint. It produces a very soft finish that is very easilly damaged. Stick with car paints. I refinished a old bass I had and used standard aerosol car paint (the sort you will get from Halfords or any car specialist shop). I used primer filler to start with and applied about five coats, wet and dry sanding in between coats and i would reccomend a similar number of coats of final colour. Remember that if you are using aerosol the coats are considerably thinner than other finishes. In between coats of final finish wire wool the finishes to get a good result. Leave a decent amount of time between coats as the paint realy needs time to cure, if you don't the paint will peel away if knocked.

Half of this knowledge is from working on guitars and the other half is experience of model making on my product design degree course where i have used every paint under the sun at one time or another.
Good luck

mike_odonovan · #10 04-02-2003, 02:39 PM

thanks for your help guys you have saved me a lot of potential headaches! i too will post a pic after the "summer of bass painting". cheers

KidNamedFord · #11 02-20-2004, 02:46 PM

what about a ****ty bass, appraised at 20$... could i just spray paint it with enamel, and then a few layers of the color i want, and then a few layers of enamel?

ive got no love for the bass... i just do complete **** to it...

mike_odonovan · #12 02-14-2005, 11:21 AM