Does anyone know if you have to use a top coat on a nitro paint job? Did the original fenders have it of did the highway ones?
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Nitrocellulose finish on fender
- Thread starter Joshua Phelps
- Start date
You should put a clear on it of you want a glossy finish. If you're going matte, you can ignore using a clear coat.
Fender used clear coats regardless I believe.
Fender used clear coats regardless I believe.
I got gloss black nitro & the clear coat I got was satin clear so I'm guessing I'm going to just going to not use the satin clear. Not sure how satin over gloss would look.
A satin finish can be sanded and buffed out to a very high gloss. Solid colors do not have to have a clear coat. When buffed, solid colors are as high gloss as a clear coat. Clear coats were originally used on metallic colors to keep them from oxidizing and fading. A solid color with a clear top coat may have a depth to it but the actual gloss will be the same
Rocky
Rocky
Rocky McDougall said:
Duly noted. Thanks for the learnin'! I thought that clear coats always went on glossy solid color finishes.
It is easier for hacks like me to get a good gloss finish with a glossy clear, though.
The newer Fenders HWY 1, Roadworn, FSR & AVR's are not Nitrocellulose lacquer.
If you read Fenders description it just says lacquer.
I was speaking to the guys at Southbound Customs and they explained to me what type of lacquer it is but (I can't remember the name they used right now) but it isn't nitro.
If you read the description on the Custom shop basses and guitars it states nitro.
If you read Fenders description it just says lacquer.
I was speaking to the guys at Southbound Customs and they explained to me what type of lacquer it is but (I can't remember the name they used right now) but it isn't nitro.
If you read the description on the Custom shop basses and guitars it states nitro.
^^ probably acrylic lacquer. It acts just like nitro, though. Melts into itself and will shrink, check, yellow and wears away with regular playing.
Well, he had a fancy name for it.
That's why I can not remember it.
I know when I saw lacquer I automatically assumed it was nitrocellulose.
I think that is why Fender just puts lacquer
So do you guys think the satin nitro over "gloss" black would be alright? Great info in all these posts by the way too guys.
Lookin good mech! What's the texture of the satin like? Did you wet sand the paint before clear coat?
Are you wanting a satin finish? You can do a satin black without a clear coat or a gloss black with a satin clear. It makes no difference. I would use Nitro color and Nitro clear, rather than mix Acrylic with Nitro, only because Nitro dries/cures quicker.
Rocky
I'd build up a few coats on one day and wet sanded with 400 grit the next and spray some more. Used about 5 cans of Deft brand for the neck and body. After the last satin clear coats I went over it with a very fine Scotchbrite pad to even out the gloss.
mech
Sorry for dropping in here uninvited, but I just happened to stumble across this thread while doing some research on this very question. Last year I bought a 60th Anniversary Precision which they advertise as having a "thin-skin lacquer finish" -- and I was wondering whether this was or wasn't the same as "nitro." Here's a page I found at the Fender site that doesn't exactly answer my own question unambiguously, but does speak to the question of "nitro" finishes on some other modern Fender instruments:
Invalid Link Removed
Here's a key quote, in case you don't feel like reading the whole thing:
"Fender still uses nitrocellulose lacquer finishes on a select group of instruments (Road Worn and American Vintage series, various artist models). Variants in use include satin nitrocellulose lacquer (Highway One series, Jim Root Stratocaster), which is a flatter finish, and thin-skin nitrocellulose lacquer (Vintage Hot Rod series), which has a thinner sanding sealer or lacquer undercoat."
FWIW.
