Respraying a guitar over existing finish

[landwomble]

This might be a silly question but if you have a guitar with a good existing paint job, just an unpleasant colour - can you spray and laquer over the top, or is it still important to either sand back to bare wood or sand to get new paint to key?

[ezbass]

I'm sure the experts will add their own thoughts, but isn't this exactly what Fender used to do back in the day, as recreated in some of their Time Machine pieces?

[Manton Customs]

It depends, but usually the answer is yes you can just respray over the current finish. It actually has some benefits to doing so as the current paint job should be very flat and even, which gives you a head start.

Possible issues could be contaminates on the existing finish or if it's currently an oil finish (in which case it needs stripping). To deal with the contaminates it is good practice to lightly block sand with 600 paper (this also give a bit of a key) then wipe down with naphtha or similar. However if Silicone is present you'll have a nightmare removing it as it just seems to get spread around!

[Norris]

An alternative to naphtha (which I think is a USA name) is lighter fluid. White spirit is an option but some brands contain heavier hydrocarbon fractions that may not evaporate fully

Edited October 24, 2016 by Norris

[Manton Customs]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1477322600' post='3161402']
An alternative to naphtha (which I think is a USA name) is lighter fluid. White spirit is an option but some brands contain heavier hydrocarbon fractions that may not evaporate fully
[/quote]

Yep, I must be using too many US forums - Naphtha is basically lighter fluid over here, low odor White Spirit is often Hydrogenated Heavy Naphtha also.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Manton Customs

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1477323035' post='3161407']


...odor...
[/quote]

Definitely been frequenting too many US forums

[Manton Customs]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1478416913' post='3168877']
Definitely been frequenting too many US forums
[/quote]

Edited November 6, 2016 by Manton Customs

[hookys6stringbass]

I was going to ask this myself...
I have Yamaha BB 1200 in natural and want it resprayed in a translucent cherry red...is it better to strip back to the wood or can It spray as is...??

[JPJ]

This usually depends upon what type of finish is on already. Polys & Nitro's generally don't mix well. For me, I've always preferred stripping and re-doing the whole system in materials appropriate to your choice of finish.