Manchester Guitar Tech
I’m often asked how to spray a butterscotch guitar body so thought I’d put together a bit of a tutorial. Please note that I do not offer a refinishing service. The body I’m using is by Guitar Build who offer a range of CNC machined guitar bodies. I’m very impressed with the accuracy of the shape, which …
This Stratocaster was built by one of the UK’s best makers of relic guitars. The owner, who’d had it from new, complained that the back of the neck felt sticky and so it did. I found that a good clean and polish helped matters a lot, but the owner wanted the neck de-glossed. Once I’d …
I’m putting a La Cabronita style guitar together for a customer in Italy. He has supplied all the parts but was unhappy with the “sonic blue” finish on the body. I’m therefore repainting it in Shell Pink. It’s going well so far. More soon when the lacquer is hard. Next job, make some pickguards and …
Rob Granville kindly sent me some pictures of the Fender Mustang he recently refinished using my lacquers. I think you’ll agree its a brilliant job!
Here’s another Gibson Les Paul headstock repair, the second within the space of two days! The owner of this guitar had left it in his rehearsal room and come back to find it broken. It was pretty clear from the break and other damage on the body that someone had taken the guitar out of its …
When painting a guitar, preparation is critical to success. At every stage, it’s important that you get the body as smooth as you can. A bit of work early on saves a lot of work later. Open-pored woods such as ash must be grain filled before lacquer is applied otherwise the lacquer will sink into the …
Preparing to paint Unless you have a purpose-built spray booth, paint outdoors. Lacquer fumes are toxic and explosive. Even if you are outdoors you should wear a dust mask to avoid breathing the spray. The Saga kit bodies are already sealed with a coat of polyurethane sealer which gives a good surface for your top coats. …
Shaping the headstock Because the Telecaster headstock shape is a trademark of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. (FMIC) then all modern kits come with a blank or “paddle” headstock from which you can cut your own design. Any similarity to a Fender Telecaster headstock on this page is purely coincidental! The first job is to decide …
Finish Repair A customer had had an accident with his Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5-string bass. He had dropped it and knocked a large piece of the finish off the lower edge of the guitar. I filled the damage with matching lacquer so that the damage was no longer noticeable. Sunburst Gibson L6-S finish repair …
This was also refinished by a customer. It’s a mid 90s Mexican Fender DuoSonic re-issue with a 22″ short scale neck. David writes: “Results are great! Again I thank you for the paint – clearly excellent quality, and for the advice both on your web site and via email – invaluable. There is no way …