Trying to love the unlovable

[Greg_L]

It is entirely possible your climate could have something to do with how that glaze went on? Maybe? Like it could have thinned it out a little bit? Did you have many issues with runs in the clear coat at all?

No runs. I'm getting nice flat pretty even coats. This stuff tacks up pretty quick. I am definitely fighting the climate. I'm not painting on bad days though. That's why it's taking so long. I'm only painting on days that jive with the specs on the can - a certain degree range and low humidity. So to the best of my ability I'm minimizing climate problems. I'm following all of the temp and humidity and re-coat and drying time directions. Once the paint flashes off I bring it in to dry inside the house which is a pretty steady temp and humidity.

It was also marketed as extra thick too which kind of made me raise an eyebrow. When i see stuff like that it just screams "we've modified something to make it more convenient and faster" and history shows sometimes those modifications don't work as desired. But you are always so well researched before you kick anything off i didn't really feel I would add those 2 cents. But the "glaze" and the "extra thick" had me thinking it wouldn't work as well as say a generic run of the mill automotive clear coat rattle can application. Mix that with your steamy hot muggy climate it could have thinned it out a bit from it's desired working consistency.

The extra thick glaze clearcoat was recommended to be used with the glitter bomb spray. I don't know anything about clearcoats, but it seemed logical to me. Need to bury a bunch of bumpy flaky glitter? Extra thick seems like a good way to do it.

Now, all that said, i did use a generic run of the mill automotive clear coat enamel on my guitar and all the test scraps and it took upwards of 18 light coats or more to get it the bare minimum of what i would have called acceptable for a deep clear.

I haven't counted them, but I'd guess that I'm at about 6-8 full coats of clear at this point. And it still needs a little more around the edges and in the cutouts. I could level sand the top and back right now. The sides need a touch more. I can run my hand across the guitar and not have glitter flake off anymore so it's finally mostly buried.

regardless, It's going to turn out better than your own expectations and you'll have the satisfaction of saying you turned a POS Strat into not at all a POS Surf Factory Strat!!!!! I can't wait to see hear it!!!

How is the neck coming along? I can't recall but are you putting some muttpups or putting new pick ups in this bitch or what ?

Also i am really curious to see how the wet sand goes around all the screw holes and other entry points into the body. Be sure to document that after everything is dry!!

The neck is okay. My buddy did a fret leveling but I need to add a better crown and polish. I'm just using the stock pickups right now but I'll probably get something else in the future. This guitar is not really something I want to use often. I was okay with it's sound before so the pickups aren't that big of a deal to me. I just want it to at least look a lot better.

[WhiskeyJack]

It is entirely possible your climate could have something to do with how that glaze went on? Maybe? Like it could have thinned it out a little bit? Did you have many issues with runs in the clear coat at all?

No runs. I'm getting nice flat pretty even coats. This stuff tacks up pretty quick. I am definitely fighting the climate. I'm not painting on bad days though. That's why it's taking so long. I'm only painting on days that jive with the specs on the can - a certain degree range and low humidity. So to the best of my ability I'm minimizing climate problems. I'm following all of the temp and humidity and re-coat and drying time directions. Once the paint flashes off I bring it in to dry inside the house which is a pretty steady temp and humidity.

It was also marketed as extra thick too which kind of made me raise an eyebrow. When i see stuff like that it just screams "we've modified something to make it more convenient and faster" and history shows sometimes those modifications don't work as desired. But you are always so well researched before you kick anything off i didn't really feel I would add those 2 cents. But the "glaze" and the "extra thick" had me thinking it wouldn't work as well as say a generic run of the mill automotive clear coat rattle can application. Mix that with your steamy hot muggy climate it could have thinned it out a bit from it's desired working consistency.

The extra thick glaze clearcoat was recommended to be used with the glitter bomb spray. I don't know anything about clearcoats, but it seemed logical to me. Need to bury a bunch of bumpy flaky glitter? Extra thick seems like a good way to do it.

Now, all that said, i did use a generic run of the mill automotive clear coat enamel on my guitar and all the test scraps and it took upwards of 18 light coats or more to get it the bare minimum of what i would have called acceptable for a deep clear.

I haven't counted them, but I'd guess that I'm at about 6-8 full coats of clear at this point. And it still needs a little more around the edges and in the cutouts. I could level sand the top and back right now. The sides need a touch more. I can run my hand across the guitar and not have glitter flake off anymore so it's finally mostly buried.

regardless, It's going to turn out better than your own expectations and you'll have the satisfaction of saying you turned a POS Strat into not at all a POS Surf Factory Strat!!!!! I can't wait to see hear it!!!

How is the neck coming along? I can't recall but are you putting some muttpups or putting new pick ups in this bitch or what ?

Also i am really curious to see how the wet sand goes around all the screw holes and other entry points into the body. Be sure to document that after everything is dry!!

The neck is okay. My buddy did a fret leveling but I need to add a better crown and polish. I'm just using the stock pickups right now but I'll probably get something else in the future. This guitar is not really something I want to use often. I was okay with it's sound before so the pickups aren't that big of a deal to me. I just want it to at least look a lot better.

Awesome man. You are doing a bang up job regardless. If you aren't getting many runs I would say things are likely working as they should. Without having a climate controlled work area you really are at the mercy of mother nature and that can really slow down the process.

Steady on old boy!

[Greg_L]

Awesome man. You are doing a bang up job regardless. If you aren't getting many runs I would say things are likely working as they should. Without having a climate controlled work area you really are at the mercy of mother nature and that can really slow down the process.

Steady on old boy!

Yeah just now I went outside. It's a gorgeous 60-something degree sunny day. Perfect for painting. But it's pretty windy, so maybe not. Last thing I want is dust and dirt blowing into the wet clearcoat. I might do a little blast in the garage because the temp and humidity is so good right now.

[rayc]

I've been a fan of metal flake since I was a fan of full moons, fat rear tyres and chrome exhausts...since my early 70s thing about rods.

[Greg_L]

I've been a fan of metal flake since I was a fan of full moons, fat rear tyres and chrome exhausts...since my early 70s thing about rods.

Same. I love metal flake. Hot rods, speedboats, motorcycles, etc. It's not a finish I'd want on everything, but I think it's pretty fucking cool most of the time.

Candy too. I love candy paint. The term gets misused a lot, but a true candy finish is gorgeous.

[Greg_L]

Red and black are my least favorite guitar colors. And it just so happens two of my Mosrites are red and black. You can't be too picky when it comes to Mosrites so I have to let it slide. But in general I avoid red or black guitars.

I'm also not a big fan of seeing wood grain or brown hues. I don't particularly care for tobacco bursts or any tans and browns. I like colors.

[CrowsofFritz]

I saw a strat on the local FB page the other day purporting to be "candy apple green"... nice colour in and of itself, but looked weird on a guitar. Think it was supposed to be some Clapton model or other, factory finish. I like most colours on guitars, but green's probably one of my least favourites.

I like seasfoam green on a guitar, which is funny because I’m not a fan of that color otherwise. But it gives it a cool vibe on a strat.

[vomitHatSteve]

Green is obviously the best guitar color

[WhiskeyJack]

Green is obviously the best guitar color

I love his bullshit. I could sit and watch it al day.

[WhiskeyJack]

I saw a strat on the local FB page the other day purporting to be "candy apple green"... nice colour in and of itself, but looked weird on a guitar. Think it was supposed to be some Clapton model or other, factory finish. I like most colours on guitars, but green's probably one of my least favourites.

I like seasfoam green on a guitar, which is funny because I’m not a fan of that color otherwise. But it gives it a cool vibe on a strat.

I have been on the hunt for a lefty seafoam green mandocaster for a long time. They look so cool. I've played the sunburst one and they play and sound like a dream i just do not like bursts generally speaking.

[Greg_L]

It's really hard to get a good pic or vid of how sparkly this thing is getting, but here's a try anyway.



The glitter shit is now buried. There's a noticeable thick enough layer of clear across the whole thing. It's still bumpy and orange-peely, but I can now start the level sanding process. I think I can get it smooth now without burning through the clearcoat. It looks pretty cool in person.

[JD01]

That looks great.
You're going to fairly extreme lengths to build a guitar to stick on a stand and use as an ornament.

[Greg_L]

That looks great.
You're going to fairly extreme lengths to build a guitar to stick on a stand and use as an ornament.

That's true. But maybe I'll start using it more if I like how it turns out. Maybe. Probably not.

[WhiskeyJack]

It's really hard to get a good pic or vid of how sparkly this thing is getting, but here's a try anyway.



The glitter shit is now buried. There's a noticeable thick enough layer of clear across the whole thing. It's still bumpy and orange-peely, but I can now start the level sanding process. I think I can get it smooth now without burning through the clearcoat. It looks pretty cool in person.

I can see it. It looks awesome man! I think you are going to love these next few steps. It's shit hard work but once you start polishing dude... oh baby!!!

[Greg_L]

So I've started level-sanding this thing. I wet-sanded the back with 400 grit to knock down the heavy texture of the glitter under the clear. It seems to have worked out great so far. It's very very smooth and level, but there's still a nice layer of clearcoat on it. So now I'll do the top and sides to get the whole thing smooth as glass and then.....more clear.

[Lt. Bob]

[Greg_L]

Ok here it is wet sanded to 800 grit.



Still dull obviously but it's flat and smooooooth as glass. I can already see some of the depth I'm hoping for in the flake. I've got a few tiny little bad spots but they were test areas that will be covered by the pickguard. The parts that will be visible seem like they're gonna be pretty good. At this stage, for having never seriously done this before, I'd say I'm way better off than I expected to be.

Now that it's truly flat and level, the next step is a few more thick coats of clear which should lay down really smooth. Then sand and polish.

[Tadpui]

Looks like a million bucks, man!

[rayc]

NOICE!

[JD01]

Thats excellent. Well done, mate.