I’m often asked to demo spraying a sunburst so here it is. My starting point is a GuitarBuild body. It’s two piece swamp ash and very light at 3lb 4oz (<1.5kg). My first step was to sand the body well to eliminate any scratches then grain fill thoroughly. There is more on grain filling in …

I often get asked how to spray a TV Yellow finish and have been meaning for a while to demonstrate the process, so here it is. I think it’s unlikely that TV Yellow guitars left the factory as yellow as they are today. As with “butterscotch” Telecasters the colour has become more yellow over the …

50s 2 tone strat replica

Tony is another regular customer who has produced some superb guitars painted using my nitrocellulose lacquer. I think he has excelled himself with this superb tribute to an early Fender Stratocaster using neck and body from Musikraft. Take a look at Tony’s post on TDPRI where he shows how be sprayed the sunburst and aged the …

Clear lacquer applied over decal

Before spraying I sanded the neck again, checking that everything was clean and wiped over with a tack cloth to remove any dust. I then sprayed another couple of coats of Clear Gloss lacquer to seal before moving on to the tinted coat. You can spray with the neck hanging vertically, but I like to …

Preparing the neck by sanding and sealing with clear lacquer

I thought I’d demonstrate fretting a neck and finishing it with nitrocellulose lacquer. The neck I used was very nicely made, with a compound radius fretboard which progresses up the board from 7¼” to 10″ radius. The back is a nice soft V at the first fret, rounding out towards the heel. A compound radius isn’t …

Richard Gold Top Lacquer

I thought I’d share some photos of a Goldtop finish that a customer has sprayed with my Gold top lacquer. Here is what he said: “I must say that Goldtop Lacquer was incredible, quite possibly even better and more in keeping with the original 50’s Goldtop than gibson now spay their guitars with, it came …

Surf Green Stratocaster finished

Marty sent me some pictures of his Mexican Strat refinish that he’d done. Marty wrote: “Thought I would share my before, during and after pix of my lefty strat. I must say the paint and advice was spot on – has a beautiful almost factory finish that I’m now reluctant to relic! Thanks again for …

Butterscotch Telecaster with Joe Barden pickups

I put this guitar together today for a customer. The body is from guitarbuild.co.uk and the owner finished it using my Butterscotch nitrocellulose lacquer. I fitted the Joe Barden pickups, with the bridge mounted to the body, G E Smith style. There is a 4-way switch fitted, giving in-series as well as in-parallel pickup combinations, …

Finished lemondrop refinish

The owner of the Vintage Lemondrop guitar that I upgraded some time back asked me to refinish the top. Thinking that the finish would be thin and strip easily, I agreed. I discovered however that the finish is thick, tough and difficult to remove. I stripped the top over a couple of weeks and probably …

Knot fill sanded smooth

I’m building myself a “La Cabronita” style guitar in black, with a very nice one-piece alder body from Phil at GuitarBuild.co.uk. I can’t stress enough the need for thorough preparation for a guitar finish to turn out well. Black lacquer is very reflective and shows every defect, so it is especially important here. Sanding sealer …