Manchester Guitar Tech
Ozzy Lister – guitar and bass repair
This genuine 1957 Stratocaster body was bought by a strat collector and formed the base for a rebuild using original parts.
This 1964 Burns Nu-Sonic was brought to me as a box of bits. The owner said that it had been painted in “B&Q polyurethane spray paint” and it was a nasty grey-green colour.
My task was to restore it to its former glory. It took a lot of hard work and a pickup rewind but I think it was worth it.
The images and text below show you how easy it is to get a great sunburst effect using my nitrocellulose lacquer aerosols.
The guitar here is a SAGA HT-10 kit.
The first step is to mask off the top and the “faux binding” then to spray the back. Once dry, carefully scrape the edge of the binding with a sharp blade to give a clean line. This is pretty much the same process as for the gold top body elsewhere on my site.
Now mask off the sides. There is no need to be too accurate because the outer colour will cover the edges. Spray several thin even coats. Spraying too thickly will cause unsightly runs which are very difficult to correct on transparent finishes.
Here I have sprayed my base coat. I am aiming for a honeyburst so have used a deep yellow shade (my Clear Amber.) Before going any further, leave the base coat several hours and ideally overnight to harden. Be patient!
I removed the masking and then remasked for the brown burst, using my Clear Medium Brown. Again, I haven’t been too accurate with the masking as the binding will be scraped to give a nice clean line.
I reccommend that you spray “inside out”, i.e. angle your aerosol so that you spray from the centre of the guitar body towards the edge. This gives you better control over the edge of the darker colour and lessens the chance of overspray in the centre.
I sprayed freehand without using any masking in the centre. Also, ignoring my own advice, I sprayed from the edge to the centre! Maybe experiment and see what works best for you.
Note that my aersols are normally supplied with an elliptical nozzle. A round spray pattern is better for sunbursts, please let me know if you’d prefer a round nozzle when you buy.
Here the binding has been scraped back ready for the clear coat. Once the binding has been scraped and you are happy with the colour you can spray the final clear coat. This will cover the whole body including the “faux binding” and the top.
You’ll find that the clearcoat will help soften the sunburst, blending everything in nicely.
