Les Paul re-spray.

Skywalker

Hi everyone.

I own 2 Epiphone Zakk Wylde les pauls. The guitars are great and I am a huge fan of Zakk Wylde,however, I'm not the biggest fan of the yellow and black "bullseye" design(although I was initially-the novelty has worn off). I would like to know if anyone knows of a reputable person in the Cape Town area who specializes in respraying instruments. Would respraying the guitars have an effect on how the guitar sounds? I'm not too worried about resale value as I won't be selling them any time soon.

Thanks

LMinnie

What do you want done Sky?

Iam about to commence a respray of my Epiphone..Maybe I can do it for you...
Depends on what you want done..

Manfred-Klose

Depends what you want to pay for for it?

Here is voster van der merwe's details:
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/contacts/guitar-tech-electric-setup/

Skywalker

Not too sure. Mite just want it re-sprayed black-real simple,no fancy designs or anything. Have you got any pics of work you've done before by any chance?

I've taken my guitars to Foster before aswell - forgot he does spray work. I'll look into that too 8)

MoJo-JoJoe

AlanRatcliffe

Skywalker wrote: I would like to know if anyone knows of a reputable person in the Cape Town area who specializes in respraying instruments.

No-one specialises, but there are a few who do good jobs. Foster van der Merwe at 021 939 5259.

[EDIT] Manfred beat me to it...

Would respraying the guitars have an effect on how the guitar sounds?

Depends on the original finish. If it originally had a thick poly finish and is properly resprayed, you can expect the tone to darken a little and the guitar will become more resonant. It'll brighten up again over six months or so as the finish gets harder. Less so with a heavy guitar like an LP than a Strat, but the difference will be there. Also, it may be possible to simply refinish the top and leave back, sides and neck alone, in which case it will also make less of a difference.

Skywalker

Hmmm. Starting to sound like it's going to be more of a mission and cost more to do than I expected. I would have gone for a normal LP std originally but I prefer the maple neck on the ZW.

Would it be "easier" to just strip the original paint off and give it a few coats of clear laquer(even maybe a stain or something-depending on the wood underneath) giving it a natural wood finish. Once again, will this dramatically change how the guitar sounds? Also, does anyone know exactly what woods are used on these Epi models? I wouldnt want to go and try this and find out that the wood underneath looks shite and HAVE end up re-spraying anyway. :-\ I think it would look sweet with a natural wood finish-depending of course what the actual wood looks like under the finish. Check out this link 8)

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les-pauls/38506-natural-finish.html

AlanRatcliffe

Stripping off the old finish is the hardest part, IMO - especially with a set neck joint. Chances are that the wood underneath is not the best looking either - the better looking woods tend to get cherry-picked for the clear finish guitars.

Did you see Spykes Epi LP special refinish thread? http://www.guitarforum.co.za/setup-mods-and-repair/epiphone-special-refinish-thread/

Spyke

Yup, the stripping is the hardest part and the preparing the most painful. It takes time and I can't imagine it being half as easy as the Special refinish due to the set neck as Alan said.

In hindsight I should either have left it alone or saved up to have it done by someone experienced - but that said, I now have a little experience myself - can't buy that.