Sully's Guitar Garage - Les Paul Studio renovation - part 7

[DustinAndNatasha]

I like a sanded neck myself. I think about doing this.

[jsullysix]

@DustinAndNatasha Keep watchin! :)

[jsullysix]

@ZeroGaugeBass That's nitro.

[jsullysix]

@ZeroGaugeBass depends on what you're shooting, really. Nitro, I'd do 3 coats  a day for 3 days and let it sit at least 4 weeks before wetsanding and buffing. Urethane, 3 coats, sand flat in 24 hours, then 3 coats within 24 hours. Then you can wetsand and buff it out.

[GibsyTheFlyingDog]

@jaysullysix hey, im fixing up an old guitar and its time for paint... the downside, I live in canada and you can't ship reranch up north. what would be my next best option

[jsullysix]

@GibsyTheFlyingDog Not sure, as I'm not familiar with what's available up there. Can you get Deft products there? That's nitro.

[TwainHarteFam]

How long did you wait after you but down the black nitrocelluose to wet sand.

[jsullysix]

@TwainHarteFam don't really recall, I'm sorry. Maybe a day or two.

[Boyneedsgames]

Hey sully quick question, what do you do to keep the dust from sticking to the paint after you spray it? I would think you wet sand between the coats but wont the make for a bad end finish?

[jsullysix]

@Boyneedsgames wipe it down with a tack rag, and hope for the best after you've sprayed stuff on. If dust and whatnot gets on there (and it will), you can often remove it with gentle sanding or SUPER careful use of tweezers when the paint is still wet.

[DeBuraInc01]

"...good times..."

Yo...does the smell from the spray ever seep into you house? bcuz it seems like it should be really concentrated with that garage door closed...

[jsullysix]

@DeBuraInc01 nah, not too much. the entrance to the house from the garage goes through the laundry room, and there's an exhaust fan in there, so that helps. normally, after i spray something and things have settled, i open up the garage door, too.

[ht448]

just a tip i thought i would tell you, well you proply know but anyway always heat up your work before spraying you dont have to but you get a much better result i also heat my paint when im not youin a spray gun but i use boilding water and wait for the bottem's of the cans to bobble or bop out a little

[jsullysix]

@ht448 Yep, I do that often. Good way to go!

[ninjaman1777]

HI, great video man! I have a les paul as well, and i want to spray paint over the headstock with a black gloss finish, over the orignal, would this be save for the guitar? and if i use that same spray paint your using will it look glossy after its dried? thanks a bunch man! looks like you know your stuff.

Ninjaman1777.

[jsullysix]

@ninjaman1777 Why do you want to do that? Are you going to save the logo? Anyway, sand flat, shoot color, sand flat, shoot clear, sand flat, buff to shine. :)

[ninjaman1777]

@jsullysix Because its an Epiphone LesPaul :P, and do i have to sand it down first? what will happen if i dont? thanks!

[jsullysix]

@ninjaman1777 yes, you need to have a perfecly flat surface before (during and after) painting or it will look bad. Is it damaged? If you're only repainting it because it's an Epiphone, it's still going to be one after the headstock is repainted. ;)

[ninjaman1777]

@jsullysix its not damaged at all, iam trying to replicate the gibson for a project, and just want to repaint the headstock black over the epiphone logo, and put my offical Gibson vinyls onto it once the headstock is repainted over. But your sayng i should still sand it down instead of just spraypainting right over the gloss paint thats on there from when i bought it

[jsullysix]

@ninjaman1777 Ah, I see. I know that this is going to come across as unhelpful, but I can't advocate putting fake logos on guitars. I can't contribute further advice, although it's not all that difficult to find.

[ninjaman1777]

@jsullysix ahh i see..well thanks anyway!

[ht448]

Im building a gibson explorer check out my channle if you wont but i need you help... im going to get a proffcinal car painter to do it and i was wondering what you think about car paint all i know is lots of people do it and some are britty good sound wise and looking ect thanks

[jsullysix]

@ht448 Most major manufacturers use the same stuff that goes on cars. The only suggestion I have for you is that painting guitars isn't the same as cars, especially when it comes to wetsanding. With a guitar, you have to be very careful not to get water in all of the little holes and cavities; water will get in there and swell up the wood and crack the finish.

[blasphemmy]

indeed good tip.. i have to paint my own car black so XD

[jsullysix]

Don't paint your car with rattle cans!!!!!

[jks2]

thanks for the warm water tip! i will keep that in mind.

[jsullysix]

happy to help!

[willeandjakeg]

for the wetsanding

[jsullysix]

For color, 600-800 or so. For clear, 1000-2500.

[willeandjakeg]

what grit sand paper did you use

[74LesPaul]

I use a high dollar spray gun. . unless I am stuck with using a period correct Fender color. Then I have to use a rattle can from Re-ranch. They seem to be the only place I can find exact Fender colors and their rattle cans shoot very well.  Nice work!

[jsullysix]

In a previous house, I was set up for spray guns. I miss using them.

[MrNoobGuitarist]

Hey can i still get a great smooth clear finish using an air brush with polyurethane clear gloss? Its going to go on a clean alder body

[jsullysix]

you're most likely not going to be able to get enough pressure to push the clear through an airbrush. airbrushes are okay for spraying color bursts, but imo, that's even pushing it.

[MrNoobGuitarist]

Ok well that clear that you were using, do they give you a nice shiny kind of glass like coating? This is my first time refinishing a guitar

[jsullysix]

yep. check out the later videos, you'll see. :)

[polkadotvguitar]

how many cans of black did you need to paint the les paul? i'm doing almost the same as you did,  a cheap epiphone version of the les paul studio, but painting it white. and how cans of clear?

[jsullysix]

Y'know, I think I got 3 cans of black, and 3 of clear, but I used it for other things as well. Better to buy more than you need, as you shouldn't use a whole can anyway.

[jsullysix]

Hey, I deleted your comment by accident, sorry. But as far as gluing the neck into the pocket, I really wouldn't bother, as you're not going to notice a tonal difference. The other issue is that if you glue it in, and it's off, you're screwed. But yeah, Titebond will work.

[polkadotvguitar]

i was only doing it for the looks,  thanks.

[NIMHFS]

dude, your vids are badass, very thorough. but i have a couple questions (sorry). i just bought a jackson rr that's a real fixer-upper and I've never done anything like that before. first i'm going to repaint the body, but I haven't found an extremely thorough tutorial yet, i can't afford to mess this up. can you point me in the right direction? all be using all reranch products, i specifically want to avoid the orange peel look. also, i live in a very humid place, is that a major factor?

[jsullysix]

I guess my first question is about the guitar itself. Are we talking US Jackson fixer-upper or import fixer-upper? If you have a US made Rhoads, and you've never done it before, I'd strongly recommend starting out with something a little lower on the value chain. Reranch is a great place to get stuff and info from. Read the refinishing 101 on there, and that will alleviate your fears of orange peel. You sand all that stuff out, so no worries.

[jsullysix]

Oh, and as far as humidity goes, it absolutely is a factor. I'd almost recommend befriending someone that paints cars and use automotive urethanes.

[NIMHFS]

the guitar is a 90's ps3t with two EMG 81's, it's japanese made, not the korean or indonesian models, it was only 200 bucks so i figured it was a pretty good deal. actually, I've read everything on reranch, a lot of stuff off of project guitar but i guess i'm still a little sketchy about painting it. also, can i just stick a dehumidifier in my garage? i was planning on using nitro. do i need to wait weeks after clear coat before buffing? thanks for your help, peace out!

[jsullysix]

Not too sure about the dehumidifier, but you may wanna ask the Reranch guys. Their forum is pretty helpful. You absolutely will need to wait at least a month before you wetsand and buff it out.

[NIMHFS]

hey, i've got couple other questions i'm having trouble finding answers to. first, i'm buying a new jackon model neck from mighty might but i'm not sure about the heel width. it's 22 frets so shouldn't it be the same width as the 22 fret neck that's already on there? I have a feeling that's a dangerous assertion. second, I want to apply a jackson decal, do i need to strip the headstock or can i apply it to the already finished headstock and just lacquer it over? haha, i appreciate the help.

[jsullysix]

The Mighty Mite neck will most likely have a narrower heel than a Jackson neck. As far as the logo goes, sorry man, you're on your own; I'm not a fan of fakes.

[mclovinpage]

man

whats the green thing over the guitar neck??

[jsullysix]

painter's masking tape.

[theraytex]

get an AIR FED MASK,RESPIRATOR , that type of paint kills people .A respirator is a lot cheaper than a coffin .

there is a acrylic water based version that's not as toxic ,

[jsullysix]

yeah. i got it. okay?

[matt420740]

Don't you just hate all these "Safety Police". Let the man work. Shut up already. He didn't put his videos here for you guys to try and be OSHA.

[jsullysix]

Well, to be fair, they both have a very valid point. I think that if anything the all caps got on my nerves. I understand that while not intending to make a how-to video, someone could see my videos and follow a process that may not be super safe (no mask wearing).

[mathaskins]

Dude--what the hell are you doing? You seem like a nice guy but this is a bad "how to video." Nicro is crazy bad for you. You're going to kill your brain. Get a resirator. Anyone watching this be warned you absolutely need a respirator when shooting nitrocellulose lacquer. It doesn't matter how nice your guitar looks if you have an IQ of 14. Bewarned.

[jsullysix]

Certainly not intended to be any kind of a how to video; if it was, it'd be way more in depth, and certain things like protection would be covered. That aside, I absolutely agree with you that proper masks, etc, is very important and not using the one that I have sets a lousy example. For that, I apologize.

[xtrustmeimaliar]

Awesome vids man

i'm gonna subscribe cause i wanna see how this turns out

this coming friday i'm getting a set of LP blueprints and i'm building my own custom LP from scratch, watch your videos are giving me some good ideas

[jsullysix]

thanks man! i can tell you that there's a great les paul forum that has a very talented group of people that build lps from scratch. if you watch episode 8, i mention the site and the url is listed in the video. youtube doesn't let you post a link in comments, so message me if you need it. also, if you got the plans from stewmac, they're not completely accurate. but the forum i found has a more accurate body and headstock plan that you can print off.

[xtrustmeimaliar]

Oh no, thats a bummer

I've already ordered those set of plans the other day, i should be getting them any day now

and a link to that site sounds pretty good, i would appreciate it

but as long as the stewmac plan's are pretty close i should fair pretty well.. my father is pretty experienced with instrument building and repair like yourself

[pspallone]

"So, lets get cracken" lol

[jsullysix]

7.1 is the most recent update. the guitar is not done yet; i'm adding updates as i go.

[blackandwhitebeauty]

hey do you have a picture of what the guitar looked like in the end? as i am thinking about buying a black studio innedd of cosmetic restoration! I am tryign to decide whether its worth it!

[fmcnally]

:) been waiting for this vid....

[samy6]

Cool !