Forums · Aoi's custom guitar painting tutorial!
well hello boys, it's been a while :D
this time we (aka you) are going to learn how to custom paint your guitars. yesh, as you heard, you can do it in a few (tons) simple (not so simple) steps.
OK!
step number 1: get a guitar.
If you want you can try to paint your favorite guitar but if you can afford to buy a cheap stratocaster then do it, maybe you don't like te results so you don't have to screw your fav guitar.
this is my guitar, a cruiser stratocaster. first of all, you need to take away every single piece of your guitar, so get a set of screwdrivers (one is ok) and save all the items in small bags so you don't lose any screws, springs, or any part that you take from your guitar. btw, when you take the pickguard off, you'll notice there are 3 wires that connect some pieces like the plug input but they're connected through the wood, that means you'll have to cut the wire and you'll have to solder it later on, don't worry, just make sure you put a mark on the wires to remember where was it attached to :P and this is the result:
OK!
step number 2: sanding.
Yup, you'll need 3 pieces of sandpaper, a rough one, a middle one and the finest one. you'll need to use the rough one first so you can take the transparent cover off your guitar, so you'll have to spend a little time in this step. in this step, you'll see this white dust coming off your guitar. sanding your guitar body is easy, just try to sand all the guitar in one way (vertical or horizontal). a bery good trick on sanding is to get a piece of wood and wrap the paper on it, now use your new sanding er... "tool", this will help you to do it faster 'cause the sandpaper heats pretty much. keep sanding untill the white dust comes off, in this case, my guitar is (was) blue, after sanding the white dust the blue paint was coming off, so stop sanding that part and continue with another part of the guitar.
after getting rid of the white dust cover, use the middle sand paper, and get al the painting off, at this point you'll be able to see your guitar's natural color, so don't sand too much or you'll start wearing off your guitar body. after there's no track of paint on your guitar, us the last sanding paper, the finest one.
now, you'll use this last sanding paper to get rid of any scracthes left on your guitar body, so sand strongly in one way only if there are deep makrs on the guitar, and when there are no big or deep marks sand as soft as you can, just to get the wood as smooth as you can. congrats, you're done on sanding. :o results:
OK!
step number 3: Painting.
So! we've finally got ou guitar totally naked, we need to buy some paint... for good (and cheap) results, i recommend to use car spray cans, they dry pretty fast and you can buy metalic colors, they look pretty LOL. ok, you can paint your guitar as you wish, one color only or... why not? maybe a custom design!
:P that's not my guitar, i just wane to show how to get this sort of paintings done. you need to paint your guitar one color only, then tape your guitar so you can paint it again later on, after the second painting, take the tape off and the result will be like that. ok now, how to paint your guitar: you'll need a place big enough and in the outside so you don't get high with the paint smell and this also allows a quick drying. and also a hint, the guitar has a hole in the part where the 4 screws that attach the arm to the guitar, you can hang the guitar body from there, that way you'll be able to paint it both sides at the same time.
well, in my case... i have only painted my guitar once, so this is what i got:
after i tape it and get the next paint colors i'll be completing this tutorial and taking new pics. untill then, cya! 8)
this time we (aka you) are going to learn how to custom paint your guitars. yesh, as you heard, you can do it in a few (tons) simple (not so simple) steps.
OK!
step number 1: get a guitar.
If you want you can try to paint your favorite guitar but if you can afford to buy a cheap stratocaster then do it, maybe you don't like te results so you don't have to screw your fav guitar.
this is my guitar, a cruiser stratocaster. first of all, you need to take away every single piece of your guitar, so get a set of screwdrivers (one is ok) and save all the items in small bags so you don't lose any screws, springs, or any part that you take from your guitar. btw, when you take the pickguard off, you'll notice there are 3 wires that connect some pieces like the plug input but they're connected through the wood, that means you'll have to cut the wire and you'll have to solder it later on, don't worry, just make sure you put a mark on the wires to remember where was it attached to :P and this is the result:
OK!
step number 2: sanding.
Yup, you'll need 3 pieces of sandpaper, a rough one, a middle one and the finest one. you'll need to use the rough one first so you can take the transparent cover off your guitar, so you'll have to spend a little time in this step. in this step, you'll see this white dust coming off your guitar. sanding your guitar body is easy, just try to sand all the guitar in one way (vertical or horizontal). a bery good trick on sanding is to get a piece of wood and wrap the paper on it, now use your new sanding er... "tool", this will help you to do it faster 'cause the sandpaper heats pretty much. keep sanding untill the white dust comes off, in this case, my guitar is (was) blue, after sanding the white dust the blue paint was coming off, so stop sanding that part and continue with another part of the guitar.
after getting rid of the white dust cover, use the middle sand paper, and get al the painting off, at this point you'll be able to see your guitar's natural color, so don't sand too much or you'll start wearing off your guitar body. after there's no track of paint on your guitar, us the last sanding paper, the finest one.
now, you'll use this last sanding paper to get rid of any scracthes left on your guitar body, so sand strongly in one way only if there are deep makrs on the guitar, and when there are no big or deep marks sand as soft as you can, just to get the wood as smooth as you can. congrats, you're done on sanding. :o results:
OK!
step number 3: Painting.
So! we've finally got ou guitar totally naked, we need to buy some paint... for good (and cheap) results, i recommend to use car spray cans, they dry pretty fast and you can buy metalic colors, they look pretty LOL. ok, you can paint your guitar as you wish, one color only or... why not? maybe a custom design!
:P that's not my guitar, i just wane to show how to get this sort of paintings done. you need to paint your guitar one color only, then tape your guitar so you can paint it again later on, after the second painting, take the tape off and the result will be like that. ok now, how to paint your guitar: you'll need a place big enough and in the outside so you don't get high with the paint smell and this also allows a quick drying. and also a hint, the guitar has a hole in the part where the 4 screws that attach the arm to the guitar, you can hang the guitar body from there, that way you'll be able to paint it both sides at the same time.
well, in my case... i have only painted my guitar once, so this is what i got:
after i tape it and get the next paint colors i'll be completing this tutorial and taking new pics. untill then, cya! 8)