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Custom Paint Jobs?

T

Thelowendfunk

Dec 22, 2011
37
0
UK
#1
Hi all, not sure where this should go but i figured luthiers thread was a good place :)

If some of you remember, i posted before about a white fleabass which was being a right b**ch!!! I've actually got fed up of its glossy yet plain boring solid colour white body.. It's just bland!

Now, being a flea fan ( :) ), was wondering how I could go about going this really funky coloured paint job. I'm expecting the cost to be quite high but any advice and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]


^P i c t u r e of the funky bass^

Even if I were to manage manage the body I'd have now idea on how to go about painting the back of the neck, just beacuse I hate a plain wood look, and how to go about the headstock has it has his signature doodles on it.

^P i c t u r e of the funky bass^

Thanks!
 
#2
That's a swirl finish like on Steve Vai's Ibanezes. There are some guys that do brilliant work, but you can pretty much forget about the back of the neck and headstock because it will never happen (at least not as nicely as the body IME.) The reasonback is that thisyou paint job is done by dipping the piece into a bucket of paint and water and other "stuff". Check out jemsite for more info and possibly finding someone who can do a fantastic job for you...
 
#3
Lol, this is not hard a kid could do it, gotta love these guys that discourage everyone because they're afraid to take a risk.

YouTube has SEVERAL videos on this process and you'll find all you need to know there,,I'd recommend you spend a good amount of time watching others do it so you have a good idea on how to achieve different results, and also to know which colors you'll want.

Seriously this is mindless, simple, and easy to do. Very little is needed to do it.
I'm on my phone otherwise I'd give you a link.
But just search YouTube for it, type in this in the search query, (Dipping guitar paint)

Here's the catch, no two paint jobs are the same, every single one will most certainly be different.
But it's a really cool process.

Good luck I hope your able to find what your looking for.
 
#5
I dont think it is a swirl to be honest as it looks like "streaks" coming from the center. It looks cool nevertheless.

Swirling is not necessarily "difficult" but it could be frustrating as hell to get the right setup of paints/water/borax/temperature, and any mistake means a hell of a lot of sanding. There are several professional swirlers out there. In the UK there was Out of this Swirled but he stopped doing it. I don't know of any other in the UK. There's another in Germany (swirled.de) who I think are one of the best. These guys have specialized in Ibanez JEMs but that doesn't really matter too much.
 
#7
I remember Fender once had this "spinning" paint job where they spun the body and dropped a bit of paint in the middle. The result is that the centrifugal force made the color spread from the centre. This still does not remind me of Flea's bass. I think Flea's bass is hand painted.
 
#9
Maud said:
If you look under the lower bout you can see a pronounced 'seam'. I'm wondering if this is a vinyl wrap like you see on cars.
It has the same low gloss sheen as a vinyl wrap.
Click to expand...

You may be onto something there, I didn't notice that but yeah there does appear to be a seam there.
 
#13
1SHOT1HIT said:
Lol, this is not hard a kid could do it, gotta love these guys that discourage everyone because they're afraid to take a risk.
Click to expand...

I think to a certain point you are correct. If a person wants a professional finish, in other words something similar to what you would buy from a pro builder or off of a music store wall, then your best bet is to have this done professionally. A professional paint/clear coat finish is not simple. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking it is.

If on the other hand you have a cheap bass laying around or don't care about a pro looking finish (or resale value), then of course do it yourself.

Update, here is an interesting site that says regular household paint was used to make these special flea basses. I think they are cool. Personally if i had it done, I would want the finish protected by a nice clear coat. I am guesses regular household paint would not last too long on a gigging bass. I could be wrong though.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/ca...-red-hot-chili-peppers-spun-bass-guitars.html
 
#14
I do have a cheap starter bass lying around. It would be perfect to practice on. If I were to get the proper paints and coats etc, my only concern would be how the hell I spin the body aroud to get an even yet random affect all over, including the sides and the back.
 
#18
Alrod said:
A professional paint/clear coat finish is not simple. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking it is.
Click to expand...

this is the single most intelligent statement in this thread.

Those who would tell you "OH, It's so simple", are full of something excreted from the north end of a southbound, male bovine...
By that I mean they have no idea what it takes to prep, paint, clear, and finish a professional quality paint job. They probably would not know the difference between clear coat, and hairspray, and could not even tell you the correct ratio of activator to paint, without googleing it, and trying to act like they had a clue
 
#19
I do understand that it is hard but I'll try and be professional as possible. Will do a lot more research into what is actually used etc. My very very very basic grasp of the process is that there is a lot of sanding and a lot of other coats of stuff other than paint XD

I hope I can pull this off. First off I'll have to get the money for it but it's definately something I'm considering. The cost of getting a professional to do it is about the same price as the damn thing which i believe is around the £200 mark which is a real bummer but we shall see :)
 
#20
Alrod said:
I think to a certain point you are correct. If a person wants a professional finish, in other words something similar to what you would buy from a pro builder or off of a music store wall, then your best bet is to have this done professionally. A professional paint/clear coat finish is not simple. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking it is.

If on the other hand you have a cheap bass laying around or don't care about a pro looking finish (or resale value), then of course do it yourself.

Update, here is an interesting site that says regular household paint was used to make these special flea basses. I think they are cool. Personally if i had it done, I would want the finish protected by a nice clear coat. I am guesses regular household paint would not last too long on a gigging bass. I could be wrong though.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/17935/damien-hirst-flea-from-red-hot-chili-peppers-spun-bass-guitars.html
Click to expand...

Speak for yourself, I've been painting since I was a "kid" when it was still cool to spray paint your car parts, back before you could pick up a current magazine and order anything you wanted.
I've airbrushed for just as long got my first airbrush at 11 years old, I've painted several things and even when I was a kid it was pretty simple stuff.
I personally wouldn't pay a pro to do what I can do myself. A fair amount of patience and common sense would be the only required tools needed. Even with shaker can paint for the clear it's all about patience and building up layers and slowly and allowing proper dry times between
and finishing with a buffer to desired finish.

Now is he gonna knock it out of the park the first try , this well idk maybe not.
 

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