Guitar - Luthier - Guitar Finish Part2.pdf 242r

B Y

J O H N

G L E N E I C K I

Copyright ©2004 - Stay Tooned, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. This book, or portions of it, may not be duplicated, resold, or redistributed in any way, without the expressed written consent of Stay Tooned, Inc.

HOW TO CREATE A FACTORY GUITAR FINISH WITH JUST A COUPLE OF SPRAY CANS!

P R O J E C T

R E B E L

PROJECT REBEL

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT REBEL TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION STEP 1: ACCESSORIES AND REMOVING THE OLD FINISH STEP 2: FILLING THE HOLES AND PREPPING STEP 3: MASKING THE BINDING STEP 4: SPRAYING YOUR BASE COAT STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES STEP 6: CUTTING OUT AND PLACING THE STARS STEP 7: SPRAYING THE BLUE STEP 8: UNMASKING AND REMASKING STEP 9: SPRAYING THE RED STEP 10: TOUCH-UPS STEP 11: MORE TOUCH-UPS STEP 12: SPRAYING THE CLEAR COATS STEP 13: WETSANDING STEP 14: BUFFING YOUR FINAL FINISH STEP 15: BOTTLE CAPS ANYONE? BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 13 17 18 20 21 23 25 26 28 30 33

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INTRODUCTION When I originally released ‘How To Create A Factory Guitar Finish...’ back in early 2004, it contained just two projects - Project ZW and Project EVH. Over the course of the next several months, I had numerous people email me to ask if I was planning on doing more projects, such as EVH’s Frankenstrat and Zakk’s Rebel Flag Les Paul. At the time, I thought at some point, I may add additional guitars. But as the emails poured in requesting these other project guitars, I had little choice but to expand the book to include the four designs, including EVH’s Frankenstrat and Zakk’s Rebel Flag. So, now that this book covers all four projects, let me add this: If you are new to painting guitars, do not make the Rebel Flag your first guitar project; it is the most challenging and advanced design in this book. Even if you bought this book just for this design, start with something a little easier just so you get an idea of how to do all of the steps properly. After you’ve gotten one project guitar under your belt, you’ll then have a complete understanding of everything that’s involved with painting a guitar. From then on, move on to any project you want, including Rebel Flag or some of your own. As you continue with your guitar painting career, the one thing you’ll realize soon enough is that great prep work can make a “so-so” paint job still look good. However, if your prep work is bad, your paint job will look bad, regardless of how perfectly you masked and painted... so always keep that in mind. For some of the steps in this section of the book, you may have to go back and read Project ZW for a better understanding of how certain things are done. I tried not to repeat myself too much. However, if I did repeat myself on certain things, it’s most likely because those topics are critical to creating a great finish. Anyway, without further adieu, let’s get started on how to paint the Rebel Flag design.

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STEP 1: ACCESSORIES AND REMOVING THE OLD FINISH I’ve already discussed how to remove parts from a body in Project ZW, so I’m skipping over that and moving straight on to removing the finish. (I won’t be discussing any stripping techniques here refer to Project ZW for that.) For Project Rebel, I’m using a beat-up, old, 70’s Les Paul copy body from Japan. To remove the finish, I used the three items in FIG 1, which are 3M Sanding sponges - the coarsest paint-stripping grades they carry (medium course, 36 and 60). I also used an electric palm sander for stripping the paint off the back (to speed up the work). The paint came off very easily on this body. There wasn’t a whole lot of paint or clear coating on there, so I was done in a little over 90 minutes.

FIG 1

FIG 2

FIG 3

I tried to be extra careful to keep all of the sanding sealer that was already on there so that I wouldn’t have to do that step again. I managed to keep MOST of it on. If you look at the body in FIG 3, you’ll see a few light spots on the body; that’s where I went through to bare wood. To fix the spots where I went through, I used a new tool that wasn’t used in any of my previous jobs. I stumbled onto the Preval® Spray Gun at ACE Hardware as I was picking up more Krylon® Spray Paint. This is a very interesting spray gun - it allows you to mix anything you want in the jar, and then use the spray valve on top to apply it. It works pretty much like an aerosol spray can/gun, although the valve tends to spit the paint out if you’ve been spraying for quite a while. Because it was just sanding sealer I was spraying, it didn’t really matter. However, if I was going to spray a translucent paint, I would’ve stopped as soon as the paint started coming out in an inconsistent manner.

FIG 4

4


STEP 2: FILLING THE HOLES AND PREPPING As I described in detail in Project ZW, using a beat up, old Les Paul body will require the use of something to fill little dings and holes.

FIG 5

I prefer Bondo over plastic wood. I find it dries much quicker and sands much nicer. Overall, it’s just much easier to use. However, if I were doing a sunburst finish, I’d HAVE to use plastic wood to fill little holes, otherwise, I’d see the red Bondo right through the transparent paint. So, once my body was sealed and sanded, I applied the Bondo to a few areas that needed a bit of a fix. It’s best to apply Bondo before you do the sanding sealer, but because I kept the sealer that was already on this body, I had to add it after. Okay, now that this body is sealed and the little dings and holes are fixed, it’s on to Step3: Masking The Binding. By the way, as you can see, I already masked the neck pocket and added my stick - refer back to those steps from Project ZW if you need to.

5


STEP 3: MASKING THE BINDING For Project Rebel, I tackled masking the binding, as this body had very good binding on both the front and back. (In Project ZW, I painted over the binding and recreated it using some computer graphics printed out onto Avery clear film.)

FIG 6

To mask the binding for Project Rebel, I used 3M’s Fine Line Tape (1/4” - available at your local auto paint supply stores. This size works best for the masking of the binding).

FIG 7

Using 3M’s Fine Line Tape is pretty straightforward - I tend to work in roughly 6”-9” pieces, stretching and molding it into place. I always do the entire top of the binding first (FIG 7), followed by the sides of the binding (FIG 8). FIG 8 When using this tape, you just have to be aware that it’s not a real sticky product, therefore, it has a tendency to lift. If you use this tape, which I do recommend, make sure that you press down before every coat of paint you apply. The fine line tape is costly - much more than normal masking tape. If you don’t want to spend the extra money, just use regular masking tape and follow VERSION A’s explanation in Project ZW for masking the binding.

I’ve used the pix above to show the masking of the binding because it was very hard to see the 3M Fine Line Tape on a wooden body; it all blended together. The pix above create a better contrast so it’s easier to see how the tape can be molded into place.

With the masking complete, I’m ready to spray the base coat.

6


STEP 4: SPRAYING YOUR BASE COAT As the famous saying goes, “There are many ways to skin a cat.” Well, the same holds true for painting certain designs on a guitar. This design could’ve been done three different ways. The thing to always consider is, which way will yield the best results? With a little bit of experience under your belt, you will soon have a good idea which way is best just by looking at a design. As I mentioned in earlier projects, it’s almost always best to spray your lightest color of your design first, then mask and spray your other colors.

FIG 9

With this Rebel Flag design, there are white stars and stripes that we want to be clean and crisp; therefore, it makes sense to spray the white, then mask, remove other areas to be sprayed, and then paint those areas separately. So, to begin, I decided to by primer for this job. With 3-4 coats for white and then 3-4 coats for red, I didn’t want to add to this with another 3-4 coats of primer. Plus, since the body was going to be red, the base coat of white would help to give a good solid color. FIG 9 shows the body after the first FIG 10 coat; you can still see wood showing through. As I always stress: THIN coats, no drips! After four thin coats were applied, I had a good white base to work with. I allowed each coat to dry at least 30 minutes before spraying the next coat. When all coats were completed, I allowed the body to dry for three days before moving forward. Next, it’s on to masking the stripes.

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STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES Tackling this Rebel Flag design requires that you have somewhat of a good eye for placement. You’ll need to be able to judge that you’re placing the stars in the right position and that they’re straight up and down - not slanted. This design’s not as simple as the bullseye design is. Still, with my measurement charts (see Step 6: Cutting Out And Placing The Stars), plus the photos and descriptions, I think you should be able to do a pretty darn good job. Plus, if you’re planning on destroying the finish and hammering beer caps into the wood like Zakk did, I guess PRECISION isn’t really going to matter, now, is it? One thing to keep in mind as you’re masking this design is that sometimes it appears that your lines and stars may be crooked. Because the design is on an arched top, I found the “arch” to be the culprit. When you look at FIG 11, you can see at the top, where the rhythm and treble switch is, that it looks like that masking is off; it’s not - that’s the arch top playing tricks on your eye. As you begin to mask, you’ll need to have a ruler close by (as I do in FIG 12). You’ll need to measure and mark where the tape should fall, not only at each end but throughout, so your blue stripes end up being the same width across... or as close as possible.

FIG 11

FIG 12

FIG 13

I recommend that you also pick up some of the 3M Fine Line Tape (#218) 1/2” from your local auto paint supply store and use it to mask the cross stripes. The size is perfectly suited for cross lines for this design.

Before beginning the masking, I want you to go to this URL http://www.paintyourownguitar.com/images/rebelflag.jpg

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STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES and print out this letter-sized template of the Rebel Flag design on a Les Paul. That way, you can have it right there in front of you as you do this. Now then, onto the task at hand.

0mm

0mm

FIG 15

X X

You could also use a carpenter’s level to do this; use the center line in your neck cavity and then simply position your level accordingly. When the bubble is in the correct horizontal position, mark the butt-end of the body on the masking on the binding.

FIG 14

X

To find the center of the body at the other end, use the neck cavity. Measure it and divide the measurement by 2. Draw a pencil mark on top of your hanging stick, preferably not on the body - it may show through the paint later on.

masking tape

X

To start, you need to find the center line through your guitar. To do this, you can most likely use the strap holder’s hole on the butt-end of the body and simply follow that line up. Place a pencil mark on the masking on the binding. If you feel that the strap holder’s hole is off, then you may have to use a carpenter’s level for it to be accurate. (If you don’t have one, maybe a neighbor has one that you can borrow.)

FIG 16 With your center lines marked at both ends, gently place a small piece of masking tape at the butt-end of the guitar as I have pictured in FIG 14. When it’s in place, put your ruler down across the body lining up your center lines. Take a pencil and mark the center line on the masking tape - dark enough so you can see it easily. When the tape is marked, take your ruler and measure 9cm from the center line in both directions as I’ve shown in FIG 15. Mark both of those distances as I’ve indicated with the “X”s in FIG 15. These will be the edges of the masking for the white stripes at the butt-end. Okay, that was simple enough, right? Here’s where it gets harder. I can’t

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STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES

When you’ve marked the top where your tape should be placed, take a long strip of the 3M 1/2” masking tape #218 (FIG 13) and lay it down, making sure it’s straight and each edge lines up with your pencil marks (FIG 17). Now that your first piece is in place, measure 4cm (40mm) from the inner edge of the masking tape and put a pencil mark on the masking on the binding. Do the same up at the other end of the guitar. When you’ve marked that distance, you’re ready to place your next piece of masking tape (FIG 18). As you lay it down, don’t press down firmly yet; take your ruler and make sure that your measurement all the way up is consistently 4cm. When you’ve got an accurate measurement all the way up, press down firmly on the tape. Well done.

FIG 17

X

So, here’s the next step in this first bit of masking: Take your ruler and place it diagonally as I’ve done in FIG 16 (previous page). Look where the line crosses under the tailpiece, bridge, and pickup hole, and try to be as accurate as possible to match this. Place a pencil mark at the top of the body on the tape on the binding.

X

tell you exactly where to mark the lines at the other end of the guitar because each Les Paul copy’s shape is slightly different; this is where you’re going to have to use your eye.

4cm

4cm m

FIG 18

FIG 19

FIG 20

With one side of the cross in place, it’s time to work on the other side. Start by place your ruler across your body so that you’re lined up with your center lines. Now, mark the front of the piece of masking tape that es underneath the tailpiece with a pen-

10


STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES cil. Your mark should be located in the area that I have marked with the red circle in FIG 21.

3cm 3c cm

Most tailpieces are in different positions on virtually all Les Paul copies, so I don’t suggest you try to place your pencil mark dead-center between the stud holes for the bridge and the tailpiece; instead, I would say because all bridges are virtually in the same position, measure 3cm (30mm) back from the center of the top hole for the bridge stud and follow that distance down. Then, mark your masking tape. Your mark should land in the red circle in FIG 21. It still has to be between the holes for the studs for the bridge and the tailpiece, but for true accuracy, you have to measure back from the bridge.

FIG 23 X X

4cm

4 4cm X

X

X

Do the same up at the opposite end of the guitar. When you’ve marked that distance, you’re ready to place your next piece of masking tape (FIG 24).

X

X

Once again, as you place your masking tape, pay careful attention that it’s as straight as possible. When it’s in place (FIG 23), use your ruler and measure 4cm (40mm) from the inner edge of the masking tape and put a pencil mark on the masking on the binding.

FIG 22

X

When you’ve marked the masking tape, take another long piece of the masking tape and line it up with the “X” at the bottom of the body (FIG 23). Using the mark you just made on the masking tape, this piece should cross north of that mark as it is in FIG 22.

FIG 21

FIG 24

As you lay it down, don’t press down firmly yet; take your ruler and make

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STEP 5: MASKING THE STRIPES sure that your measurement all the way up is consistently 4cm. When you’ve got a consistent measurement, press down firmly on the tape. Voilå! Your guitar should look like the one pictured in FIG 25. I realize that finding a place to put the 4cm mark is tough; that’s why you have to use your eye for part of this and rely on the ruler for the other part. You could lay a small piece of masking tape to help you mark the 4cm width at both ends, then when you’ve placed your ruler along the line and marked the masking on the binding, you can remove it. Just an option if you’re having a bit of difficulty getting the distance perfect.

FIG 25

Next step in the first part of this FIG 26 masking is to use your X-Acto knife and remove the overlapping pieces of masking tape so that your tape job looks like the one pictured in FIG 26. Make sure you use a brand-new blade for these cuts. Use only as much pressure as necessary in order to cut the tape. When you’ve finished cutting out the section of stripes not needed, you’re ready to move on to cutting out your stars - 12 to be exact. IMPORTANT POINT: As you’re doing this masking, use these illustrations and photos to help you with all of your placements. Don’t be afraid to lift the tape up and reposition it if you have to.

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STEP 6: CUTTING OUT AND PLACING THE STARS In order for you to cut out the stars for this design, you’ll need a template to use... so here it is! Print out this page (or photcopy this page) and carefully cut out the star using your X-Acto knife (see FIG 28). Once it’s cut out, we’re going to transfer it to some masking tape. Before I discuss the best way of accurately cutting them out, I want you to look at FIG 27. As you can see, the stars form boxes - so when placing a star into position, you’re going to use a combination of both a measurement and your eye to line each of them up. In a few minutes, I’ll discuss which stars should be placed first. As I mentioned earlier, the stars should be placed at a 90-degree angle; however, because of the “arched top” of a Les Paul-style guitar, it sometimes appears that your stars may be crooked. This is where just paying careful attention to your placement and not rushing this masking will yield perfect results. FIG 27 If you have to take some off to reposition them properly, do it - just be careful that the edges stay crisp and you don’t bend the masking tape underneath and lose the point(s). Before pressing down firmly on each star, make sure that you’re satisfied with the positioning for each one. When you feel they’re in the right place, press down on them to get a nice, tight mask. FIG 28 Now then, on to cutting out the stars. I use a simple method of transferring a star to the masking tape. To start, I place a piece of masking tape onto my cutting board. I then place the star on top of the masking tape as I have in FIG 28. While holding the star in position with my left hand, I place dots (from a fine-point marker) at the tip of each point and at each

13


STEP 6: CUTTING OUT AND PLACING THE STARS indent of the star with my drawing hand. I do this rather than drawing around the entire star; I find that doing it this way is, in my opinion, a cleaner method of transferring the outline. As long as you’re consistent with your dot placements, your stars should come out very accurate. (Don’t be afraid to practice on a couple to make sure you’re doing a good job of transferring and cutting.)

FIG 29

Once I have all of my points drawn, I use my ruler and X-Acto knife to cut out each star (FIG 29). From there, I remove the extra tape around the star first; then, very carefully, I use my X-Acto knife’s blade to lift an edge of the star, being very careful not to bend the star under and lose any of the sharp points (FIG 30).

FIG 30

Depending on how you want to do it, you can either cut out all of your stars first, then begin to put them into place, or you can cut out one at a time, and then place each into position - whichever method you prefer. Don’t forget that you’ll also have to cover the areas that will eventually be sprayed red (the entire body will have to be masked up), so as you can see in FIG 31, I’ve covered those areas with a combination of the blue 3M 2” masking tape as well as paper (letter-sized sheets doubled up).

FIG 31

Again, you can mask those areas before you put all of your stars into place or after... whichever you prefer. I use paper for most of the back. I do this simply because it’s quicker to cover the back with paper than it is to

FIG 32

14


STEP 6: CUTTING OUT AND PLACING THE STARS mask it up with masking tape. Plus, your goal is to shield the back from any overspray that might occur; you’re not turning the guitar over and spraying or painting any design on it, so paper masks secured with tape work fine for this role. For paper masks, I use two sheets of letter-sized paper doubled up. I cut chunks off to match the shape of the body; then I simply secure them in place with the masking tape. Since we are only spraying the top or front of the guitar, everything else must be masked - whether it’s with masking tape or paper secured with tape. Just make certain that no areas are left uncovered, otherwise overspray could get in through any openings or gaps.

FIG 33

Now then, onto placing the stars. I recommend you begin with the stars closest to the center (FIG 33). Just like in Project ZW, where I recommended that you start with the bullseye closest to the center and work your way out - same thing for the stars. (Although, in FIG 31, I’ve started laying the stars in a different way than I’m recommending, follow how I’m explaining it here.) To lay these first four stars, you’ll start with the top-left corner star (see FIG 34 FIG 34). Since the star sits between the holes for the tailpiece and the bridge, you’ll use those holes to help position it correctly. Make sure when you’ve got it in place that it’s sitting at a 90-degree angle, too - in other words, straight up and down. When it’s perfectly in place, press firmly down on the star, and you’re ready to place star #2 (see FIG 34). For star #2, you’re once again going to use the holes in the body as a guide to help place it. But, you also have to line it up with the star that was placed prior. So, as you’re placing the second one, pay careful attention that you’re lining up the top point of both stars (see FIG 34). When the second one’s in place, you’re once again going to have to use your eye to help place stars 3 and 4. If you look at FIG 34, you’ll see a dotted line that goes horizontally across to the other side. Using your eye,

15


STEP 6: CUTTING OUT AND PLACING THE STARS you’ll be trying to place the third star in this position, centered in between the space that will be sprayed blue. Same goes for the fourth star; use your eye to place star #3 in the correct position, and then use your eye to place star #4 in the correct position, lining it up vertically under star #3 and horizontally with star #2. After the first few have been placed, you’ll find it’s not as tricky as it may seem. Again, just take your time - there’s no rush in doing this. When the first four stars have been positioned correctly, you’re now onethird of the way there! So, let’s move on... Positioning the rest of the stars will require a simple measurement and careful placement using your eye. As you can see in FIG 35, if you were to draw a line straight up from the point of your first star (which sits between the holes of the bridge and FIG 35 tailpiece), the point of the next star would sit 1-3/4” away... followed by the next star 1-3/4” away. To mark these distances correctly, take your ruler and extend the line up from the point of your first star onto the masking. Then, position your ruler horizontally and measure the distances of the next two placements for the stars as I’ve indicated in FIG 36. (If you look carefully, you can see my marks on the masking tape.) Once you’ve marked the distances, simply place each star at a 90-degree angle (straight up and down) and centered within the area that will be sprayed blue. For all of the remaining stars, simply repeat your measurements and pay careful attention to positioning. Take as long as you have to and try to be as meticulous as possible - it’ll pay off! When all of your masking is complete, press down firmly on ALL of it... cuz it’s spraying time!

FIG 36

16


STEP 7: SPRAYING THE BLUE By this point, if you’ve done at least one guitar painting project, you’ve got the whole “applying thin coats” down. I always try to practice what I preach, and FIG 37 is the perfect example; here’s what the blue area looked like after the first thin coat of paint. It’s not necessary to spray the whole front of the guitar; I try to keep it concentrated just to the area that needs to be painted. I do this to avoid overspray (even though the body is entirely masked, I’m always cautious), and I like to conserve paint.

FIG 37

After three thin coats of paint, the area was a nice, solid blue. I let it sit overnight before removing the masked stars. You’re okay to leave the masking on overnight. If it’s really humid outside though, and you have your body hanging in the garage, bring it in overnight into a cooler temperature - possibly in a basement. IMPORTANT POINT: As you begin your budding career as a guitar painter (or just as a hobbiest), you will quickly learn to do ONE thing consistently over and over - that is, press down firmly on the masking tape! AND, where two pieces overlap each other, as the stripes will overlap the masking on the binding, take a fingernail and press the tape firmly into the masking lying underneath it. This will help get rid of the very small gap that exists when one piece of masking tape sits on top of another. Although it may seem too small for any paint to get into, IT’S NOT. Paint WILL get in there. It’s the difference between a nice, crisp line right to the edge and a line that has some overspray to it - the result of the masking not being pushed down tightly enough. I can’t stress this enough. Also, if you , I mentioned in previous guitar projects to press down on the masking tape just before you’re ready to spray a coat. You should really try hard not to do one without the other. It’ll make all the difference in the world, if you’re a stickler for detail.

17


STEP 8: UNMASKING AND REMASKING When the blue has dried overnight, or for at least 8 hours, it’s time to remove the masked stars. Now, you may be wondering, do they have to come off at this point? The answer is, not really. The tape claims to have a 14-day window where it won’t leave any residue. However, I personally like to take the masking off areas that are completed; if I can avoid any potential problems, I want to do it. So, to remove the masked stars, I use my X-Acto knife’s blade to carefully lift an edge up (FIG 38). Once lifted, I use my fingers to hold the star and gently pull it up while using my knife’s blade to carefully lift the rest of the star up. They should come up without too much of a problem. They come off easier when you’ve let the paint dry for 8+ hours. If you try pulling them up after an hour or so, you’ll run into a BIG problem, so don’t do it! Wait it out! (See Step 10: Touch-Ups!) When you’ve removed all of your stars, you can also remove the rest of the masking except for the masking on the binding and the areas that are to stay white - that masking stays on. See FIG 40 - the original masking of the cross is still in place.

FIG 38

FIG 39

FIG 40

When all of the masking is removed, you’re ready to cover up the blue area so that you can spray the red. I’m always very careful with masking over delicate areas such as this; the last thing I want is to re-mask the area and have the masking pull up

FIG 41

18


STEP 8: UNMASKING AND REMASKING edges of the stars and ruin all of my hard work. That’s where, once again, using paper masks comes into play. As you can see in FIG 41, I used long, straight strips of doubled-up paper cut to fit inside the blue area and secured them with the 1” 3M green masking tape. You want to protect the blue area from any red paint being sprayed. Make sure that there are no gaps and that the tape is pressed down firmly over the entire area. When your masking is done, you’re ready to spray the red. By the way, here are the paints that were used for this project: Krylon® - 2328 Red Pepper Krylon® - 1910 True Blue Gloss Krylon® - 1501 Glossy White Krylon® - 1301 Crystal Clear Gloss

19


STEP 9: SPRAYING THE RED Not much to explain here; once again, I sprayed thin coats using my typical spraying technique discussed in Projects ZW and EVH.

FIG 42

FIG 42 shows the red after the first coat. I let it dry for 30 minutes and then sprayed the second coat. I let that dry for 30 minutes and sprayed the third and final coat (FIG 44). As soon as I have a solid color, I stop spraying the paint. I don’t like to put on any more paint than I have to. I let the red dry for 8+ hours and then removed the masking. If you’ve followed these steps to a “T,” you should have a pretty darn accurate paint job. Sometimes, though, tricky masking requires some touch-ups. So, if you have some areas that need touching up, the next step explains how I handled a few of my own touch-ups.

FIG 43 FIG 44

20


STEP 10: TOUCH-UPS Even though I follow my own advice MOST of the time, in this instance I DID NOT!

FIG 45

Instead of waiting overnight to remove the masking of the stars, I removed a few after an hour or so. Guess what? BAD IDEA! As you can see in FIG 45, I ended up with some “less-than-perfect” edges on a couple of the stars. My own fault, though. However, I didn’t do this because I was impatient; I did it because I was trying to speed up the process of finishing this section of the book so I could get it in as soon as possible! Okay, so I learned a lesson - next time, I’ll wait... and hopefully you’ll wait, too.

FIG 46

FIG 47

So, how do I fix bad edges? With a combination of masking tape (in this case, I used electrical tape, although I suggest you use masking tape) and paper masking. In FIG 46, I isolated the edges that were bad by placing some tape along the edge that needed fixing. I created some areas that would get sprayed and then created paper masks that would fit over the area and shield the rest of the body from overspray.

FIG 48

FIG 47 and FIG 48 show the areas that were remasked to straighten the edges. I then prepared the paper masks that would reveal only the areas that would get sprayed, but would cover the entire top of the guitar (see FIG 49). For these touch-ups, I let the guitar sit horizontal on my workbench rather than holding it upright. No matter how you do this, you’re going to end up with blue paint that sits a little higher than the other blue paint. Not a prob-

21


STEP 10: TOUCH-UPS lem, though - with the right amount of clear coats and wetsanding, these touched up areas are virtually undetectable.

FIG 49

When the edges were completely filled with solid blue, I let the masking stay on for 8+ hours and then removed it. As you can see in FIG 51, the edge is nice and crisp again, however, you can clearly see the area that was masked and sprayed. If you end up having to do the same sort of thing, don’t worry about these touched up areas - they disappear when you’re evening out the clear coats with the wetsanding... I promise you.

FIG 50

FIG 51

If you’re spraying touch-ups, to always cover the entire guitar - to shield it from potential overspray. If you’re brushing on some touch-ups, you don’t have to do that. However, when brushing on some touch-ups, I always rest the palm of my hand on a sheet of paper I place on the body, rather than letting my hand rest on the actual body. I’m always careful not to get anything on the paint. Once you spray your clear and have anything on the paint, it’s impossible to fix, and you’ll just have to live with it. FIG 52 IMPORTANT POINT: I also had to touch up a few spots with the blue paint using a little paint brush. I found that the color that I dabbed onto the body was lighter than the sprayed color. You may notice this, too, when using a paint brush and dabbing on certain colors for touch-ups. There’s not really much you can do about that.

22


STEP 11: MORE TOUCH-UPS For this project I used a really beat up, old, 70’s Les Paul copy body. I did the best I could with prepping, but the binding was stained, and after removing the masking, I didn’t like the way it looked with the paint job.

FIG 53

So, I decided to mask up the body one more time and spray the binding white (FIG 54 and 55). Normally, this is not something you should have to do; however, the binding was in such rough shape that I just couldn’t do all this work and leave the binding looking like that. In FIG 55, I’ve indicated with yellow circles how bad the binding was. It was all hacked up with wood showing through. I was hoping that, with the spraying of the white and clear, I could clean this up and, hopefully, it would end up looking reasonably good. Well... we’ll soon find out! After the body was entirely masked up using a combination of paper masks and the 1” 3M green masking tape (FIG 56 and FIG 57), I sprayed the binding white - AaaAaahhH!

FIG 54

FIG 55

I should’ve sprayed it ivory! Stupid me! Oh well... still, it looks much better than it did. FIG 56 There’s an edge that gets created by spraying the binding like I’ve done. Once again, though, spraying the clear coats and doing the final wetsanding fixes all of that, as you’ll soon see.

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STEP 11: MORE TOUCH-UPS FIG 59 shows the paint job with all of the touch-ups completed. With all of the masking removed, it’s now on to spraying the clear coats. IMPORTANT POINT: You probably noticed that I used electrical tape for some masking in the last two steps. Although electrical tape has some drawbacks to using it (leaving a residue on the body if it’s left too long), I find it gives me REALLY crisp lines. Moreso than when I use the fine line tape or regular masking tape.

FIG 57

FIG 58

For these touch-ups, I worked fast, left no residue from the tape, and my lines turned out real well. As for recommending the use of electrical tape for some masking, I don’t recommend it if you’re new to painting. FIG 59 At times, I use it simply because I know how long certain things take me to do - like touch-ups. As you move along in your painting career, you may feel the desire to try using. At that point, I say, GO FOR IT.

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STEP 12: SPRAYING THE CLEAR COATS Spraying the clear coats is pretty standard stuff.

FIG 60

As I mentioned in Projects ZW and EVH, I go in one direction for one coat (back and forth) and the other direction for the next coat (up and down). I continue this way until I’ve finished all of the clear coats. I do all of the sides first, followed by the back and then the front. When I’m doing a guitar that has binding like this body, I spray around the edge of the guitar on the top of the binding before spraying the entire front. I do this to help build up the clear so that, when I wetsand the top, I’ve got extra clear on the binding, which will help to give me a nice, even surface as I wetsand. I recommend you do this, too. I’ve had people ask me whether I do any wetsanding at any point during the clear coating. The answer is, No.

FIG 61

I don’t think it’s necessary. Besides, because we have multiple colors on the body, it’s easy to go through to the color if you haven’t put on enough clear coats. So, why risk it? Even if I get a drip, which seldom happens, I don’t wetsand to try to fix it. I apply all of the clear coats, wait my two months to let the paint settle and cure, then wetsand. The drip will disappear easier when you’ve got all of your clear coats on than when you’ve only got half of them on. After waiting my two months for the paint to settle and cure, I’m ready to move onto wetsanding.

I spray in the yellow area before doing the entire front of the guitar to help build up the clear over the binding. Since there are several layers of color on the body and nothing on the binding, this helps to even it all out when it comes time to wetsand.

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STEP 13: WETSANDING As I was spraying the clear coats for this guitar, the page that I logged how many coats have been applied had disappeared. So, without ing exactly how many were already on there, I applied four more, just to be safe, and let that dry for the two-month settling period. When I was ready to begin wetsanding, I had all the usual suspects; a small wood block, a container of water, some paper towels, and some 220-grit as well as some 320-grit wet/dry sandpaper. I started with the 220-grit sandpaper wrapped around my small block. I just apply regular pressure when wetsanding. I work in circles and don’t stay in one area too long. Eventually, it all evened out rather nicely. However, because I wasn’t exactly sure how many coats of clear were applied, I was hesitant to go down any further than I had; I didn’t want to go through to the paint - that’s always difficult to fix, so I tried to avoid having to do that. FIG 63 and 64 show shiny spots around some of the stars and around some of the lines. I decided to leave the wetsanding there and apply more coats of clear. When they had settled for a while, I would THEN do my final wetsanding.

FIG 62

FIG 63

FIG 64

I was close to getting a nice, flat finish in FIG 63 and 64, but for a perfectly smooth finish, you have to get rid of all of the shiny spots, no matter how big or how small. It’s the difference between a “pretty good finish” and an “AWESOME finish.” After the additional clear coats had dried for a month, I finished the final wetsanding. Here’s what I did: I began with the 320-grit; I was already very close to having a nice, flat finish from my prior wetsanding, so I didn’t need

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STEP 13: WETSANDING to remove too much clear. When I got it to a point where there were no more shiny spots using the 320-grit, I moved to the 400-grit. After I’d gotten rid of all the shiny spots, there’s one other “surface test” I like to do to check how flat my finish is. I start by drying off my body so there’s no water on it. Then, without looking at what I’m touching, I rub my hand across it to FEEL if it’s flat. Shiny spots only tell part of the picture; the hand and touch NEVER lies. Try this yourself. When rubbing across the stars, can you feel an indent at all? Are there any areas that seem raised? These are all signs that your body still needs some work. But, by doing the extra work, it will DEFINITELY be worth it. So, after I performed my surface test, I resumed the wetsanding using the 400-grit, then the 600-grit. I was able to remove a lot of the scratches in the finish using these grits. After you’re done with the 600-grit, you’ll noticed that the body’s starting to get a dull shine to it. If you can find it, pick up some 1200-grit or 1500-grit sandpaper and finish up your wetsanding with that. It makes buffing so much easier, and you get a nicer, more scratch-free finish. I bought my 1200-grit from ACE Hardware, but I didn’t see any at Lowe’s or HOME Depot, so you may have to shop around. Specialty Auto Parts stores should have it. Also, if you’re able to pick up some 1200-grit sandpaper, you won’t need to get the 3M Perfect-It ll Fine Cut Rubbing Compound; you’ll be fine going straight to the Perfect-It ll Swirl Remover Finishing Compound to buff your finish. When you’ve gone over your entire body with the grits I just mentioned, and your surface test ed with flying colors, you’re ready to move onto the final buffing - get ready for a shine!

27


STEP 14: BUFFING YOUR FINAL FINISH Now that the guitar has been wetsanded to perfection (or close to it), we’re going to buff it up to a beautiful shine. If you were able to find a 1200 or 1500-grit wet/dry sandpaper to finish your wetsanding, you can jump right to the 3M Perfect-It ll’s Swirl Remover Compound.

FIG 65

If you only went as far with the 600grit, then you’re going to start with the 3M Perfect-It ll’s Rubbing Compound - Fine Cut. The difference between these two is that the fine cut rubbing compound FIG 66 gives you a nice shine, but you’ll see lots of surface scratches. When you’ve gotten the body to a nice, even shine all over, you’ll then switch to the swirl remover compound to remove the surface scratches. The more you buff and polish, the more the scratches disappear with the swirl remover compound. As I mentioned in Project ZW, I work in roughly 4” X 4” sections. I apply the compound to either the body or the cotton material and work it in in a circular motion. I tend to move around the body rather quickly. Buffing a body by hand is hard work. Most likely, it’ll take you close to two hours to do the entire body. It’s also likely that your hand will get tired and you’ll need to take a break... possibly several breaks. Just take them. Your hand will thank you. I personally have a love/hate relationship with buffing; on one hand, it’s exciting to see the project you’ve been working so hard on finally start to shine; but on the other, my fingers and hand really start to hurt after a while. Of course, this is where I take a break and write more of this book! By the way, to see me wetsanding and buffing this body, I’ve set up some video clips that you can watch. You need Apple’s free Quicktime 4 or higher to view (available at www.apple.com/quicktime.)

28


STEP 14: BUFFING YOUR FINAL FINISH Go to this page to view: http://www.paintyourownguitar.com/rebelbuff.html This will give you good idea of how much elbow grease is needed to get the beautiful shine that you see below. But - it’s ALL WORTH IT! FIG 67

FIG 68

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STEP 15: BOTTLE CAPS, ANYONE? At this point, you’re probably wondering: “Is he going to destroy the finish and hammer bottle caps into the top just like Zakk?”... HELL, NO! I just spent the last 3 months finishing this guitar - why would I do something crazy like that? (Maybe when the novelty wears off I’ll do it!) I had someone tell me that Zakk did what he did to that guitar because another guitar player - someone from an 80’s “Glam Hair Band” - had a guitar with the rebel flag painted on it. So, in his disgust, he tortured that Les Paul. If anyone can this or has more details, please email me I’d love to know more about it. Okay, since I’m NOT going to be destroying my finish by hammering bottle caps into the top, you may want to know how to do it yourself for the Rebel Flag Les Paul you plan on painting. So, here goes. Clamp your body down to a table or workbench so that it doesn’t move around. Then, take an electric sander and, without it touching the body yet, turn it on. Once it’s powered up, tilt it on an angle and hit the body with just the edge of the sander; don’t lay it flat and start sanding away; do small areas at a time. FIG 69

30


STEP 15: BOTTLE CAPS, ANYONE? If your goal is to MATCH Zakk’s destruction, doing little bits at a time will lead to a more accurate defacing! (I can’t believe I’m explaining how to ruin a finish.) Your goal is to sand to bare wood, so keep sanding until the paint is gone in the areas that need to be wood. - you’re sanding harsh paints which contain chemicals, so it’s best to be wearing goggles and a face mask when doing this. When you’ve defaced the guitar top and you’ve removed the areas that needed to be sanded away, it’s time to move on to scratching the rest of the design with a nail. Use FIG 69 as your guide. As you can see in that photo, Zakk has dug quite deep, so make sure you have a good grip on the nail when scratching. When you’ve scratched and sanded the top as much as needed, you’re FIG 70

31


STEP 15: BOTTLE CAPS, ANYONE? ready to move on to hammering in the bottle caps. (It looks like some of the guitar’s surface has been burned. I really don’t recommend you try this unless you have a lot of experience with fire... I sure don’t.) Use FIG 70 as a guide to which beer you’re going to have to buy and drink so that it can be an accurate replica to Zakk’s. Have all the caps on hand before you begin. I don’t think there’s any special technique you’re going to have to employ - just make sure your body is still clamped down when you begin to hammer away. It’s not like you have to worry about ruining your finish; you’ve already done that! It does look like the center of the bottle caps on Zakk’s guitar are knocked in while the edges of the cap seem intact. In other words, it looks like he was hitting the center of the cap rather than the edges of the cap. He may’ve used a ball peen hammer to knock them in. It may take you a few tries before you’ve got the right amount of force required to keep them in place. As always, take your time if you’re going to do this, try to do as accurate a job, and create as accurate a replica, as you can. When you’re done, snap a few pix and send them to me - I’d love to see your creation!

32


BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES Project REBEL - All parts were purchased on eBay Les Paul Copy Body and Neck - $110 Tailpiece - $13 Tune-O-Matic Bridge - $10 Mighty Mite Humbuckers (2) - $35 Pickup Covers (Black EMG-looking covers) - $6 Tuning Pegs - $15 Speed Knobs - $8 Rhythm/Treble Switch - $15 Screws - $8 Back Plates - $10 Pickup Rings - $10 Jack Plate - $9 Input Jack - $5 ---------TOTAL - $246 Average cost for paint and supplies for this guitar - $30 - $40

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