Changing The Paint Job On A Guitar?

[Lateralus359]

I want to change the paint job on my guitar. I was advised to send it to a car shop to do it but dou you guys have any advice on how much it would cost and how,if i wanted, could i do it myself. I'd consider having a natural finish on it too. Would it be easy or what do do myself?

[scatcher]

Project Guitar :: Finishing and Refinishing Tips

However, if your guitar is very important to you (i.e. sentimental or very valuable) I would recommend getting in contact with a talented luthier with experience in this area. That means it won't be cheap.

My 28 year old baby is away being refinished as we speak. It'll cost more than the guitar cost originally.

[Lateralus359]

Hmm...I don't think i'll be able to do it on my own looking at this. And yes it is a quite expensive guitar. Spraying would be okay but if i had to take out all the electronics and stuff....Well let's just say that knid of thing isn't my strong point!
Would anyone be able to give me a ball park amount for how much ot would cost to get it done? Just some simple colour or for a natural finish. Surely that shouldn't cost much?

[scatcher]

Originally Posted by Lateralus359

Would anyone be able to give me a ball park amount for how much ot would cost to get it done? Just some simple colour or for a natural finish. Surely that shouldn't cost much?

If it's an expensive guitar, and you want the paint to last, it'll take 20 or more coats and at least three layers of lacquer, not to mention three sanding and prep stages.

I'd be surprised if you could get it done by a pro for under $1000.

If you want to auto-paint it, that's different, and cheaper - but much less durable and "stock"-looking.

Edit: So while the above was the "want it to be like new" answer, there seem to be lots of people who happily paint their guitars in only a few coats, so do what you will.

[garww]

What kind of body is it ?? I'm not a big fan of paint, much less the sealers they use nowadays.

[garageband]

but if i had to take out all the electronics and stuff...

If you aren't up to this level of dismantlement, under no circumstances should you proceed.

[garww]

I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any guitar for $19.95.

[Lateralus359]

Originally Posted by garww

What kind of body is it ?? I'm not a big fan of paint, much less the sealers they use nowadays.

It's an ibanez rg prestige. I was going to get it in this beautiful candy apple red but they weren't in stock. They had one in galaxy black and i decided to buy it because it has great pickups(dimarzio tone zone and air norton) and had my particular favourite binding around the neck! So i figured i'd get it in the black and then change the colour. For me it was about playability first,colour second. Yet in saying that colour is still important and i like natural finish on guitar and thought that mught work. Would it be cheaperjust to sand down to the original wood(basswood) and get the laquer and stuff on it? Obviously i wouldn't be doing it myself cause like garageband said doing it myself without any knowledge is stupidity of the highest order!

Here's a link for it.
Ibanez guitars | Electric Guitars 2009

[garww]

Oh, that looks like a killer neck !! WOW !!

The real problem is that we don't know what's under the paint. You may have to re-paint. I sanded two guitars way back - a cheapie and a '60s SG. The SG had good wood, but I put a couple light coats(brush) of gold metallic on it.

I've been thinking of doing the same to my cheap Turser SG, but I'm not finding time to consider it for a new project.

You might also consider Bike Painters. The body is about the size of a 3 gal. gas tank. But ya, all the hardware has to be stripped.

[Lateralus359]

Yeah it's pretty sweet! I'm going to ring around today and see if i can get a few prices. I'll post them up here so you guys can see them. And if i do get it done i'll post the pics here to so you can admire/ridicule the job!