Refinishing a guitar - Mary Kaye style white.

Jayhell

Hi, I'm thinking of re-finishing a guitar in Transparent White, you know that Mary Kaye type vibe. I have googled it, but I get to many different stories and ideas. This will need to be done as simple as possible.

Also what is the best way to remove the current finish, once again to many options to little experience. This will be the first step. Sanding will probably be the best bet, but I always struggle to get it factory smooth.

How would you go about it?

V8

Something like this?

I had a SG project that I wanted to try a antique trans white finish on - I bailed when I realized the amount of pore filling (mahogony) it would have needed to get the finish babybum smooth.

Still curious how to get that trans white finish though.

domhatch

that looks eerily similar (i'm talking about the finish only) to a highway one. it was a thin nitro finish, designed to wear and look worn with much less use than your average (normal) finish. look at the upper bout, for instance; where your arm would've rested on that guitar is practically down to the body wood.

so you have two things to consider - your body wood (they had alder) and the finish material (the nitrocellulose and how it's applied - yours to figure out).

in terms of getting an 'antique white' finish, i dunno whether this helps...

have fun!
dh|

morph

That looks like it is whitewashed.

Normally done to with an enamel or latex white paint,, often diluted with water, painted on and then wiped off with a rag so that the grain shines through. You repeat this exercise until you are happy with the balance of colour vs grain shining through. Then it is covered in a water based sealant to protect it, a matt sheen would be awesome to me. There are ready mixed products available to Builders Warehous

Google it.

Jayhell

V8 wrote: Something like this?

I had a SG project that I wanted to try a antique trans white finish on - I bailed when I realized the amount of pore filling (mahogony) it would have needed to get the finish babybum smooth.

Still curious how to get that trans white finish though.

Yip, that is the one! I'll have to do a lot more research before I start attempting this.

It can easily come out badly.

V8

Jayhell wrote: Yip, that is the one! I'll have to do a lot more research before I start attempting this.

It can easily come out badly.

I like Greg's idea of latex paint. I've used a similar product (water based) before and it was real easy to use. Also used a proper whitewash decor product and it came out awful.

Get some offcuts and try it out.