Painting Basses and Guitars

[Rob8]

Hey everyone.

I'm going to be painting my bass soon and just had some general questions.

1. What sort of paint should I use? Spray or anything special?
2. I'm thinking of painting a decal of sorts on it, again do I need anything special or will any paint do?
3. Body finishing. Do I need to put anything to protect it on after I've finished?
4. Neck finishing. Same as body finishing. The neck and headstock already has a varnish on it. Can I leave it as that or should I do anything else to it?
5. Chips and nicks. One of my guitars has a chip or two in it and I was going to fill them in while I was painting my bass. Can I use anything to fill them in or do I have to do anything special?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[bertbass]

1. Pop down to Halfords or Car Crazy and get a can or 2 of primer and 2 or 3 large spray cans of your chosen colour.
2. Try here. http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/category/Decal-Paper. Looks great and clear varnish over the top.
3. Leave the paint to dry for a few weeks, rub down with wet & dry paper 2000 grit and polish to a great shine with T-cut.
4. Leave it as it is. You could flat it down with wet and dry and T-cut it if you want.
5. Car body filler, Halfords or Car Crazy again. Rub down with decreasing grades of glass paper then wet & dry until as smooth as the rest of the bass.

Good luck.

[Rob8]

Thanks so much for your help.

[xilddx]

Get pre-cat nitro from:

http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/guitar-paint-and-lacquer.html

or

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/category/nitrocellulose-lacquer/

They have lots of advice on their sites. Nitro is also touch dry within ten minutes. It's easy to use. Ensure you prep the surface properly, spray with the right technique, leave for a week or two, carefully wet sand with decreasing grades of W&D, and polish.

Also, wear a mask! Do not breathe that sh*t in.

[kevin_lindsay]

The Manchester Guitar Tech nitro ISN'T pre-cat!!! Rather, it's the real McCoy. Steve's spray cans are great. I've used the products on my surf green Eric Johnson Strat refinish, the refinish on the Shell Pink USA '62 reissue Jazz Bass, and on the shell pink mid 50's style P-Bass I did also.

[xilddx]

[quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1346611696' post='1791217']
The Manchester Guitar Tech nitro ISN'T pre-cat!!! Rather, it's the real McCoy. Steve's spray cans are great. I've used the products on my surf green Eric Johnson Strat refinish, the refinish on the Shell Pink USA '62 reissue Jazz Bass, and on the shell pink mid 50's style P-Bass I did also.
[/quote]

Ah, correct, my mistake, I thought they did pre-cat too.

[kevin_lindsay]

If you want to chat about doing your refin, drop me a contact number via PM and I'll let you know how I found each stage of the process mate.

Here's my refinish stuff:

Eric Johnson Strat refin:
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/163365-refinishing-fender-strat/

Shell Pink USA '62 Jazz Bass refinish
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/165861-fender-usa-62-jazz-bass-refinish-at-home/page__fromsearch__1

Shell Pink mid 50's style P-Bass build
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/180456-my-mid-50s-style-p-bass/page__fromsearch__1

[Rob8]

All your suggestions are so helpful. Cheers for all your comments everyone!