Wood sealer before paint? Dumb question alert.

[fretmeister]

Quick dumb question!

 

I'm putting belly and arm carves into a Telecaster body (boo; hiss etc) and ultimately it will be getting a plastic wrap finish courtesy of a local car place that is willing to give it a try.

The body already has a poly coat on it apart from the bits that I have shaped. They will be getting painted so the wrap will stay on.

 

Do I need to use a sealer before the paint, and if so can someone recommend a rattle can sealer? Or do I just paint it - will paint alone protect the body wood enough?

 

ta

[Silky999]

I think the paint should be enough to seal and protect the wood especially if it’s primer then colour?. However, for the sake of a little bit of grain filler, I would do a belt and braces job for peace of mind. The main potential issue is if it is an open grain wood such as mahogany or sapele etc as you won’t want the paint to sink into and therefore the wrap to dimple into any open pores. Closed grained woods like maple and alder don’t generally need grain filler before paint

 

The wrap just needs a flat sealed surface to adhere to. 

[Joe Nation]

Depending on how thick the wrap is, I would expect it to show some surface imperfections underneath - probably not swirl marks or orange peel, but any scratch deep enough to feel with your fingers. Ideally you'll want the paint to be as close to perfect as you can get, as if it were the actual finish - but OTOH I've never done a wrap myself except really basic hobbycraft-type stuff, proper professional-grade materials might cover better.

 

The key to a good finish, as always, is good prep.

[fretmeister]

Thanks chaps. I've ordered some grain filler so I'll do that first then sealer then paint.

 

It's a paulownia body so it is quite open grain. Most of the body is poly coated already, but I've put in belly and arm carves that are currently without any finish and they'll need a stable finish for the wrap.

[Silky999]

I had my SR800 wrapped but it was over the original paint so I would agree that the finish needs to be good. It has been on some about 5 years now and still looks great.

[Geek99]

On 05/09/2025 at 14:56, fretmeister said:

Quick dumb question!

 

I'm putting belly and arm carves into a Telecaster body (boo; hiss etc) and ultimately it will be getting a plastic wrap finish courtesy of a local car place that is willing to give it a try.

The body already has a poly coat on it apart from the bits that I have shaped. They will be getting painted so the wrap will stay on.

 

Do I need to use a sealer before the paint, and if so can someone recommend a rattle can sealer? Or do I just paint it - will paint alone protect the body wood enough?

 

ta

Hell has a special place for those who meddle with toy basses. Specially trained imps will use your butt for pitchfork target practice and that’s if you’re get off lightly

 

[Geek99]

15 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Thanks chaps. I've ordered some grain filler so I'll do that first then sealer then paint.

 

It's a paulownia body so it is quite open grain. Most of the body is poly coated already, but I've put in belly and arm carves that are currently without any finish and they'll need a stable finish for the wrap.

See my build thread - I had the worst time with that stuff. It drinks grain filler like I drink expresso 

I just painted it on, it drank it. I put some more on …

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Geek99

[fretmeister]

10 hours ago, Silky999 said:

I had my SR800 wrapped but it was over the original paint so I would agree that the finish needs to be good. It has been on some about 5 years now and still looks great.

 

@Silky999

 

Who did the wrap? Looks like it might be a better bet than my local car place who have never done it before!

 

Presumably it does not go under the bridge so the contact with the wood is unaffected?

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

@Silky999

 

Who did the wrap? Looks like it might be a better bet than my local car place who have never done it before!

 

Presumably it does not go under the bridge so the contact with the wood is unaffected?

And the earth wire…

[fretmeister]

3 hours ago, Geek99 said:

And the earth wire…

 

EMG's don't have an earth wire.

[Joe Nation]

Earth, Wind and Wire...

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

EMG's don't have an earth wire.

I did not know you were putting those in. 

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

I did not know you were putting those in. 

 

I'm not - sorry  - thought you were talking about his photo.

 

Still - on most Telecasters the bridge ground wire has a little ring that is pushed hard into the bridge baseplate by a pickup mounting screw so the wire doesn't need a channel or hole in the wood under the bridge. It's all in the pickup cavity. 

 

One one hand that's a nice solution.

On the other to swap the bridge pickup the entire bridge has to come off including the ground wire.