DIY Guitar Pedals

guitarboy2828

It has been awhile since I last posted on the forum, have been looking in from time to time though.

I've tried my hand at some DIY guitar pedals. The electronic side of things has gone rather smoothly and my pedals sound relatively good. it's the enclosures I'm struggling to get right.

So, the blue one was cleaned, primed by Rustoleum Primer Spray paint. It was then coated several time with blue Rustoleon spray paint. That all went cool. Then I hand painted with acrylic paint the lettering.

The SA flag came pre painted. I then used acrylic paints and painted the flags.

The PROBLEM is the clear coats. I tried Rustoleum gloss clear coat, put about 5 coats on today. It just seems to disappear. Not sure if I need to put lots more coats on? Should I be looking to use Epoxy, enamel, possibly polyurethane?

Some guru's on here must have some help for me? I've googled a bunch, but not found much help ☹

AlanRatcliffe

Understand that spray paints go on pretty thin - most of the liquid is carrier/solvent which evaporates. So if you have an uneven surface, don't expect a few coats to level it out. Anyway, the finish builds up on the ridges of the unevenness too - that's why most of the work involved with "piano" style finishing (i.e. ending up with a flat surface) is sanding. First getting the surface perfectly flat before finish is applied and then sanding out unevenness in the finish between coats.

So I'd say that 3-6 coats is enough to seal your colour finishes if you leave them uneven. If you want a flat finish, I'd say move on to a thinner paint (like a lacquer) for lettering or hand painting, etc. - one that you can then layer 9-12 coats of clear over the top, sanding lightly after every three coats.

Chocklit_Thunda

Mind if I ask we're you got those enclosures?

guitarboy2828

Thanks for the info Alan. If I were to go the non-spray route, what would you suggest? What is a good paint to paint on. I've seen videos of guys using Epoxy to seal stuff and it looks awesome, leaves a thick glossy layer. However, the only epoxy I can find is Adhesive epoxy, is it the same stuff?

Chocklit, I got them from http://za.rs-online.com/web/ Actually got to that place from Alan's links on his building page. They sell all the different sizes. The actual hammond (which are the most well known brand for pedals) are quite expensive. However, the RS brand are pretty well priced, those are the one's I went for.

AlanRatcliffe

Polyester epoxy paints are sometimes referred to as "twin pack" or "catalysed" paints locally by sales staff. Brands... Plascon Glatex 8 springs to mind, but I have seen others too. Epoxy adhesives are a different thing.

More often than not, they are meant to be sprayed on, but you can brush on anything meant to be sprayed - you just don't thin it as much and end up with a thicker, more uneven finish.

guitarboy2828

As always, thanks so much Alan!!

Johnny-B

Paul, why don't you try painting your design on paper, board or anything else, scanning it and printing on waterslide decal paper? You can then apply a couple of thin clear layers over the decal.
I'm no artist so I haven't used fancy designs but have used water slide decal paper on all my pedals. Here are a couple of examples.

guitarboy2828

Thanks for the tip Johnny. Your pedals look awesome! What tap tremolo is that?

When I decided to start making pedals, my know how was pretty limited, I just knew a basic understanding of electronics (my dad is an electronic technician, so phoned him a lot). So, I got the pedals going quickly, the enclosures have been a STEEP learning curve. So, I have purchased some waterslide decals (where did you find yours?) online, but they only just arrived. I have also found a local place that does powder coating extremely cheap R10 a box. So, I'll probably go that route from now on, get em powdercoated, waterslide decals, 2-3 layers of clear coating.

What paint method did you use? What clear coat did you use?

Norman86

Hmmm, is your ZA flag upside down?

studmissile

Norman86 wrote: Hmmm, is your ZA flag upside down?

No it's right.

Norman86

Paul E wrote: The SA flag came pre painted. I then used acrylic paints and painted the flags.

But the big holes are for the footswitches?
That would make it upside down if they are..

studmissile

Sorry, now you right.!

guitarboy2828

Haha, yup, Norman, you're correct. My girlfriend actually started painting this and she didn't realise that the big holes were the bottom. So, she painted it upside down. Oh well. ?

Johnny-B

Paul E wrote: Thanks for the tip Johnny. Your pedals look awesome! What tap tremolo is that?

When I decided to start making pedals, my know how was pretty limited, I just knew a basic understanding of electronics (my dad is an electronic technician, so phoned him a lot). So, I got the pedals going quickly, the enclosures have been a STEEP learning curve. So, I have purchased some waterslide decals (where did you find yours?) online, but they only just arrived. I have also found a local place that does powder coating extremely cheap R10 a box. So, I'll probably go that route from now on, get em powdercoated, waterslide decals, 2-3 layers of clear coating.

What paint method did you use? What clear coat did you use?

The pedal is a tap tempo tremolo built with a board and pre-programmed microprocessor from Musicpcb. I don't think any tremolo has more functionality and it has a pure analogue signal path.
I bought my waterslide decal paper on Ebay from UK. I have sheets left if you need some.
I used spray cans from Builder's Warehouse - primer, white gloss coat, apply decal, multiple coats of clear gloss. It's best to keep the coats thin and then cut back with burnishing compound. Make sure you have a flat surface on the enclosure to start with by abrading with wet and dry paper.
Hope this helps.

guitarboy2828

Johnny B wrote:
Paul E wrote: Thanks for the tip Johnny. Your pedals look awesome! What tap tremolo is that?

When I decided to start making pedals, my know how was pretty limited, I just knew a basic understanding of electronics (my dad is an electronic technician, so phoned him a lot). So, I got the pedals going quickly, the enclosures have been a STEEP learning curve. So, I have purchased some waterslide decals (where did you find yours?) online, but they only just arrived. I have also found a local place that does powder coating extremely cheap R10 a box. So, I'll probably go that route from now on, get em powdercoated, waterslide decals, 2-3 layers of clear coating.

What paint method did you use? What clear coat did you use?
The pedal is a tap tempo tremolo built with a board and pre-programmed microprocessor from Musicpcb. I don't think any tremolo has more functionality and it has a pure analogue signal path.
I bought my waterslide decal paper on Ebay from UK. I have sheets left if you need some.
I used spray cans from Builder's Warehouse - primer, white gloss coat, apply decal, multiple coats of clear gloss. It's best to keep the coats thin and then cut back with burnishing compound. Make sure you have a flat surface on the enclosure to start with by abrading with wet and dry paper.
Hope this helps.

Wow, that's awesome. Does musicpcb ship to SA? If you're not using those waterslide decals and would like to sell one to me, that'd be awesome!

That definitely helps. Hopefully my next build will go a little better! ?

Johnny-B

Paul E wrote:
Johnny B wrote:
Paul E wrote: Thanks for the tip Johnny. Your pedals look awesome! What tap tremolo is that?

When I decided to start making pedals, my know how was pretty limited, I just knew a basic understanding of electronics (my dad is an electronic technician, so phoned him a lot). So, I got the pedals going quickly, the enclosures have been a STEEP learning curve. So, I have purchased some waterslide decals (where did you find yours?) online, but they only just arrived. I have also found a local place that does powder coating extremely cheap R10 a box. So, I'll probably go that route from now on, get em powdercoated, waterslide decals, 2-3 layers of clear coating.

What paint method did you use? What clear coat did you use?
The pedal is a tap tempo tremolo built with a board and pre-programmed microprocessor from Musicpcb. I don't think any tremolo has more functionality and it has a pure analogue signal path.
I bought my waterslide decal paper on Ebay from UK. I have sheets left if you need some.
I used spray cans from Builder's Warehouse - primer, white gloss coat, apply decal, multiple coats of clear gloss. It's best to keep the coats thin and then cut back with burnishing compound. Make sure you have a flat surface on the enclosure to start with by abrading with wet and dry paper.
Hope this helps.
Wow, that's awesome. Does musicpcb ship to SA? If you're not using those waterslide decals and would like to sell one to me, that'd be awesome!

That definitely helps. Hopefully my next build will go a little better! ?

Yes Taylor does ship to SA although I had one shipment lost in the post during SA postal strike, but he reshipped at his cost. PM me your postal address and I'll send you a couple of sheets of clear inkjet waterslide decal paper.