finishing question: masking for hardware tan lines

[ReWind James]

I'm going for the look of a butterscotch blond blackguard, with light areas under the hardware where the nitro didn't darken and yellow over time.

Can I just use double-sided Scotch tape to secure these cardboard cutouts to my body mid-paint?

How long do I leave the masks on after spraying the lacquer over them?

Right now, the body has only a light coat of tinted clear over a translucent white color. It's been drying for about 5 days. I want to mask it off then shoot a little more amber tinted clear to darken it up to its final color.

I'm finishing in Behlen Qualalacq nitro.
Thanks!

 

[ReWind James]

This is the look I'm after. Maybe just a little lighter:

 

[ARandall]

Id remove them almost straight away. Id guess you would screw them in place, as that way you are not having to peel them off - which involves possible damage to the clear in trying to get something under an edge - but maybe add some king of raised block on top of each bit so it can be lifted straight off with no sliding.

And I'd do some light bit of sanding to that finish too before the tan lines.

 

[ReWind James]

Thanks, man.

Do you think I would be better off using the actual hardware, then cleaning the lacquer off of it after? The cardboard is a little thin and I think if I screw it down it may twist/bind/bunch.

The chrome stuff would be easy to clean. I have a bakelite and modern plastic pickguard, though. Acetone would probably melt them.

 

[ARandall]

I'd try and make a thin mdf template....or ply.
I mean you could use the hardware, but if you have a template then you can do it multiple times....and the pickguard one could be used to make a pickguard instead of buying a premade one.

 

[ReWind James]

Thanks, again! I ended up just using hardware, since I had it around and wanted to move forward. So far so good.

The colors are pretty much what I wanted on both guitars. My lighting in the paint shop is a little blue so there's the paper towel roll for white reference.

If I had a late 50's Strat body hanging around right now, I could make a mean Mary Kay with the rest of my white mix.


Next, I plan to spray several coats of clear which is a more honest clear with almost no color.

 

[free2rock]

Looks great! I did one last year and just wrapped the hardware with masking tape before screwing it on.

 

[ReWind James]

That's sort of what I did but I mainly used the masking tape to make handles to pull the hardware straight up/off the guitar.

The lacquer peeled right off the pickguard in mostly one sheet. That was nice.

 

[The Thruth]

great thread mate

 

[Skyjerk]

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of doing this .

I'm not a fan of relicing myself, but at least there i understand the intent. Making places you'll never see a different shade? The purpose is lost on me

 

[pshupe]

I can see the purpose but not sure this process is the best?? If the difference is more than a few layers of tinted lacquer, isn't there going to be a ridge of lacquer along the edge of that area?

Does fading similar to an LP not work? High intensity sun exposure for a number of hours?

Looks great BTW. Unlike skyjerk, ;-), teles are much more appealing than the strat shape to me! Good luck.

Cheers Peter

 

[Skyjerk]

I can see the purpose

It must be a double-secret purpose then, since you say you can see it but didnt actually say what it is

 

[pshupe]

I could tell you but then I'd have ... ;-)

I basically took him at his word. He wants it lighter underneath to be the same as older / vintage guitars? I assume there would be a couple different ways of doing this. One would be to use the more contemporary finish process that uses tinted lacquers and pigments that would not change based on exposure to UV, which I assume is what he has chosen to do. He would then have to darken the areas that are not covered. This is the process he has chosen.

The other method would be use a finish that would darken with exposure to UV or other external forces and either let it naturally occur over a number of years, or decades, or speed it up somehow to have it happen much quicker to obtain the desired effect now.

Cheers Peter.

 

[ARandall]

I can see the purpose but not sure this process is the best?? If the difference is more than a few layers of tinted lacquer, isn't there going to be a ridge of lacquer along the edge of that area?

Does fading similar to an LP not work? High intensity sun exposure for a number of hours?

Looks great BTW. Unlike skyjerk, ;-), teles are much more appealing than the strat shape to me! Good luck.

Cheers Peter

Well, its not the last coats. He has ALL the clear to stick on over the top. Just like scraping binding then building the coats on over the top you get back to level again with the use of a commonly used product called wet/dry sandpaper.

And he's adding yellow/amber, not removing it. If its not obvious, fading doesn't add intensity, nor does it significantly UV tint the clear.

And just like every guitar built where it is faded then the ambered effect is added to the clear to mimic an aged finish, you want it to look a certain way NOW.

 

[Skyjerk]

Well, its not the last coats. He has ALL the clear to stick on over the top. Just like scraping binding then building the coats on over the top you get back to level again with the use of a commonly used product called wet/dry sandpaper.

And he's adding yellow/amber, not removing it. If its not obvious, fading doesn't add intensity, nor does it significantly UV tint the clear.

And just like every guitar built where it is faded then the ambered effect is added to the clear to mimic an aged finish, you want it to look a certain way NOW.

My point is what's the point? I get why one would want an aged appearance where you can see, but why bother where you can't see?

I can think of a couple reasons for this.

1. So you can just "know" that it's a different color under the pickguard where you and nobody else will ever see it.

2. deliberately mislead someone as to its age.

3. ?

Hoping for a 3rd

 

[ARandall]

The same way that faded LP's have the fade marks under the hardware. Its just one of those things that make that look complete for some people.

 

[Open_Book]

My point is what's the point? I get why one would want an aged appearance where you can see, but why bother where you can't see?

I can think of a couple reasons for this.

1. So you can just "know" that it's a different color under the pickguard where you and nobody else will ever see it.

2. deliberately mislead someone as to its age.

3. ?

Hoping for a 3rd

Well, the answer is: it bothers some. Thats the point. Bothers 'em to the point of going the extra mile to make it appear as old as they'd like you or I to think it should/could be. Authentic ageing...

Why do people do quirky things, because they can. Its also another buying point, to some - if you sell.

People are fickle - like Les Paul plastic parts, Hide Glue, etc... Does it have the un-aged lacquer under the guard and hardware Mr. If it does my panties are going to be moist-er than a Florida swamp...

 

[b_rogers]

I did this to an olympic white strat body.. I think the point is if you are gonna do a vintage/relic build, why not make it look good, like the real thing. Similar to the authentic look of the OP's amazing PAF replicas that he builds..

 

[socialhero]

Jeez I consider myself super lucky to own a badass set of ReWind tele pickups.

Now I need a ReWind tele!!

 

[ReWind James]

lol! You guys.

Nobody is going to take these for vintage just because I did an aged lacquer paint job on them.

I'm doing it to learn a finishing technique. The point of these builds (besides having a couple more guitars for myself) is to learn finishing.

So, part of the UV shadow from where the ashtray once lived on the bridge IS often plainly visible on early Teles. It's like a light halo around the bridge. Think of it like the hang-tag shadow on Knopfler's Burst. It's as much a part of the look/vibe as the faded-clear-turned-butterscotch or a skunk stripe. I happen to like that look and wanted to have a go at it. At that point, why not mask for the rest, too? Here's the part I mean:

I am using aniline dyes and UV reactive lacquer, btw. I just don't have 65 years to wait for the full color I'm after. If they yellow up a little bit more over the years, I'm ok with that.

So I did have a very slight ledge around the masked areas where the nitro was built up a bit but I didn't see dealing with that as being any different than spraying and sanding over a decal or any hard-lined paint design. I laid a couple light coats of thinned clear over the color, then a heavier coat of further thinned clear (I'd have probably tried adding some retarder too, if I had any) with body suspended flat. It flowed out very nice and laid flat. I'll do a few more building coats, then let them hang a while before wet sanding. I think I'm doing alright for my first time shooting nitro, especially in the cold. I know it's not a perfect job, but it's the experience I'm after.


btw - I'm going to use black, yellow, and white cloth insulated wire for the electronics. I may even use some vintage caps. Please try to accept my attention to unseen areas.