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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Sparkle Finish

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9/2/1999 7:15 AM
Jeff	Sparkle Finish Anyone know where I can get a groovy sparkle finish? I'm gonna get a Warmoth Tele body and would love for it to look similar to the Marty Stewart model. Thanks. ::Jeff

9/2/1999 12:45 PM

Have you asked the folks at Warmouth if they'd finish the body? As far as I know, the type of paint you're looking for isn't "ready made" in a spray can. Paint with flake or sparkle has to be custom mixed, and constantly stirred in the spray gun while applying (they make little air motor propellor cups for this purpose). Any body shop that does custom paint jobs for cars or motorcycles should be able to handle the job, but it can be rather expensive. These are multi-layer paint systems. After the primer, there may be a color base coat, then the flake mixed in clear, possibly a candy color coat, then many layers of clear on top of that to level the surface. One mistake, and you start all over.

9/2/1999 6:55 PM

Re: Sparkle Finish - Why not?

Hmm...

Ever mucked with that sparkly glitter stuff at parties?(Hey, look at me, I´m Mark Bolan!)

Can´t get the stuff out of anything, and you´ll be glittering for days...

But we can use that, maybe?

What if we spray basecoats and colour like Doc said, the a few clear coats as a buffer.

Directly after the last bufferlayer, sprinkle the guitar to taste with the glitterthingies. Because the paint isn´t completely dry (don´t use the ultra-fast curing kind, regular nitrocellulose should do it) the glitters will stick. Wait for the paint to dry, and carefully spray a coat to fixate the tiny metal flakes. Use a rich mixture with low pressure, to avoid blowing them off. Don´t worry about the finish not being perfectly smooth; Nitro dissolves itself, so the next couple of coats (regular mixture) will cure that.

Should you muck up and have a spot that has just too much, wait for the laquer to dry, and sand some off untill it´s either gone (start over on that spot after sealing the rest), or you have it just right (seal everything, done). Once again, don´t worry about scratches in the surface, the next layer(s) will (dis-)solve all that.

These glittery thingamajigs are available from toystores to decoration and advertising specialists for no money at all (well...), and in some quite crazy colours and sizes too.

If you don´t mind a LOT of laquer on your guitar, you could even have a spactacular 3D effect by using a LOT of layers (maybe separated by a couple off clear ones) with very few glitters a piece.

Anyone up for this?

9/6/1999 12:16 AM

Here's an idea - take the Gretsch way!

Gretsch used to use (and I'm sure the reissues do as well) plastic covering for their sparkle finishes. This is the same stuff that's commonly used for drum shells. The esiest way to do this (and I used it on one of my Teles) is to glue the stuff on the front, then bind the top edge. Finish the back cherry or dark mahogany and laquer the whole thing. The plastic stuff is MUCH easier than trying to paint your guitar metalflake. Search for "Drum Covering" in your local search engine. A piece big enough for a guitar top is not expensive at all.

Farrow

http://surf.to/pharaohamps

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