Swirl Painting my Guitar (Black, White, Yellow)

[Winterhe4rt]

this is a nice idea. but the result is pretty nasty tbh. ^^ think the colors dont match really good and it was not swirled enough..

[alcmiller1]

@Winterhe4rt Hey thanks a lot for the opinion mate. It didn't come out how I wanted to be frank, you can hear my slight distaste at the end of the clip =P The lack of borax made the swirl come out more lumpy than swirly. The other swirl on my channel turned out much better though!

[maki2391]

OMFG!! AAAAAAAAAA!!! THIS SHIT IS SO COOOOL!!!! :D IT"S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!! "D

[alcmiller1]

@maki2391 XD thanks a lot man =)

[gveltaine]

dude, this is fucking amazing. thank you soo much for showing this!

[alcmiller1]

@gveltaine Thanks a lot for checking out my video man, I really appreciate it!

[whitbyjet65]

How wet does the water need to be? Also I don't own a hood. If I don't wear one, will I still be able to do this?

[alcmiller1]

@whitbyjet65 Well.. the water needs to be decently wet. Hoods aren't required though, so don't worry.

[Delek9124]

Thank you! I respect you!

[alcmiller1]

@Delek9124 Thanks a lot and you too. Good luck!

[Delek9124]

sorry(^^;;

I'm japanese(´Д` )

What is the name of this paint?

[alcmiller1]

@Delek9124 No problem! It's rustoleum paints from Lowe's. Any oil based paint would work.

[Delek9124]

This is what I paint it?

[alcmiller1]

@Delek9124 ??

[Sebi255]

@alcmiller1 OK Thanks. I think I can put your advice into action. I thank you very much. If I will have problems with the painting, I sign up!

Ah.. One further question: Do you know how I can paint the single-coils as well?

Bye Buddy

[alcmiller1]

@Sebi255 The only way you could paint them is if the casing comes off of the rest of the pickup. If you're going to swirl paint them like this, or spray paint them, I think it's kind of obvious that you dont want to dip the entire pickup into water or spray paint the pickup.

Try taking the outside casing off and painting that!

[HomiciideZxPRG]

@alcmiller1 your welcome man

[Sebi255]

OMG it's great work! Would love to do the same with my Stratocaster, but have no idea which kind of colors do I have to use. I'm from Germany and to be honest, my english is not the best so I don't understand the complete describtion. So which kind of color did you use? Oil based? And what is with the water temperature? Which paint did you use to protect the swirl-paint?

Would be great to hear from you soon.. guitar buddy!

Sebi

[toyracer38]

@Sebi255 check out this site. should help ya out. Look up, "TheSwirling"

[alcmiller1]

@toyracer38 I can attest to the greatness of that site, it's where I learned a lot of the technique that I use now in swirling. A lot of great information there. Check it out!!

[alcmiller1]

@Sebi255 Hey sebi, I used oil paints on water, try to get around 80 degrees in the water. After the swirl I suggest painting with a clear coat that is NOT oil based. And check out the swirling like toyracer suggested!

I'll be happy to help with anything else!

[aaaaasssss22]

SICK SWIRL

[alcmiller1]

@aaaaasssss22 Thanks a lot! I appreciate it =D

[nancas13]

COOL!

[alcmiller1]

@nancas13 Thanks for checking out my video!

[MRNINJA098]

did you sand it down or anything or just put it straight in pm me? GREAT dude

[marco696975]

that is bad ass bro awesome

[alcmiller1]

@marco696975 Thanks a lot man, I appreciate it.

[oFIRESoHURTo]

man that looks unreal :P

[alcmiller1]

@oFIRESoHURTo Thanks a lot man- I appreciate it!

[oFIRESoHURTo]

@alcmiller1 I wish I could do that to my telecaster

[LSBroseph777]

@kancherito33 do not use polyurethane. It has a horrible effect on tone. Have a pro use nitrocellulose lacquer if you want it to sound good.

[diablobrigido69]

FAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL.

[alcmiller1]

@diablobrigido69 You are certainly entitled to that opinion. Sorry you don't like it. The other swirl I do on my channel turned out a lot more "standard" than this one if you want to check that one out.

[HomiciideZxPRG]

THAT LOOKS BEAST

[alcmiller1]

@HomiciideZxPRG thanks a ton man!! =D

[diablobrigido69]

un verdadero desastre lol xD

[alcmiller1]

@diablobrigido69 Pero me encanta!

[xXMeTalZXx]

BAD!!! .... ASS!!!

[alcmiller1]

@xXMeTalZXx ^_^ Thanks mate! check out the other swirl on my channel, you might like that one more

[kancherito33]

Do you have to put a layer of varnish on it after finishing it? I mean so it has the same effect as if it was new

[alcmiller1]

@kancherito33 I do just to give it that shiny new feeling after it's done. I use a clear coat polyurethane spray on it afterwards for that. I know of some people that have left just the oil paints sit but then you get rubbing problems with the paint coming off and the smell stays longer.

Whatever you prefer though really.. it's paint!

[kancherito33]

@alcmiller1 Thanks!

[AmericanMetalGuitar]

thats pretty sick

[alcmiller1]

@AmericanMetalGuitar Hey thanks a lot!

[aicfan41390]

Doesn't look bad. What did you have to do to finish it?

[alcmiller1]

@aicfan41390 do you mean after the swirl? I just put on a few layers of clear coat.

[Tetasha]

it's not thaaat bad

[alcmiller1]

@Tetasha +1 XD

[D1vid3By0]

hey, i think you got some scrambled eggs on your guitar bro!

[alcmiller1]

@D1vid3By0 Damnit! I knew I messed up >.< lol

[mcdimarco]

wicked. =]

fyi, cockroach poison =99.99%Borax (powdered form) ... if that helps (technically goes by boric acid)

[alcmiller1]

@mcdimarco O_o thank you for letting me know dude. Scary shit.

[JacobCain86]

@alcmiller1 Boric acid is also used to clean dog's eyes. a cockroach's exoskeleton is made up of bacteria that boric acid eats. not so scary. although anything could be considered a poison given the right/wrong circumstance/s.

[trumpetgod2010]

Hey, did you clear coat it and everything. If so, did you have any problem with the runs? My guitar I did black and dark red with borax at about 72 degrees and rustoleum paint, it didn't really disperse very well and it still ran, so should i just start over?

[alcmiller1]

@trumpetgod2010 Hey there, I did end up clear coating. I actually found out (the hard way) that you don't want to use an oil enamel based clear coat... it re wets the paint and makes it chip and stuff, get a polyeurothane based one. And the runs don't matter all that much, I've swirled two guitars and cleared both, they both had runs and came out fine. Just depends on if you like the runs or not.

[JJengineering]

borax! :)

[alcmiller1]

@JJengineering I'm gonna be doing another swirl job here in a couple of weeks. Dark green and black. Will be adding borax with it ;D

[JJengineering]

@alcmiller1

:) well to be honest,I live in kuxemburg, and here there's now real like "20muleteamborax" and the only way i got some was (still very hard) over an internet shop in germany.

And i WANTED it to work without borax :P but the paint just didnt disperse and after pulling it out,the paint ran of because it was too thick :P

I'm looking forward to seeing your swirl WITH borax :)

and i still can't decide for my first swirl ,green &black or warfare or or or ;)

greetings and respect JJ

[alcmiller1]

@JJengineering That totally describes my experience without the borax. Let me know what colors you decide to use. I love green & black swirls ;)

[JJengineering]

@alcmiller1

I'll make a white,black,light&dark blue,gray something :P

i love those too man! but there are so damn many!

[ThePowerFromTheEvil]

is it just water and some coulers?

[alcmiller1]

@ThePowerFromTheEvil Yup- water at 80 degrees and rustoleum paints. That's it. I'm going to do another swirl in about a month using borax so the paint spreads out more. But I like this particular design.

[shadowbot09]

Well, I think some chemicals in the paints spread out because the surface tension on the water is reduced by the borax? Its only a guess though

[alcmiller1]

@shadowbot09 I have a hunch that you are correct. I will try again eventually with borax to see what goes down.

Thanks!

[deadheadsg]

I tied also many times for testing. My experience is that they dont spread well, if i have swirled more than 2 times in the same water (of course with the same borax inside)..

[alcmiller1]

@deadheadsg Hey thanks for checking it out man. Yeah, I only did one test in this water set before the guitar dip. I also did two separate tests i a smalled scenario and they didn't spread as well either. I might try again later with borax and paint thinners.

Thanks again!