Spray Painted Scratchplates...yes or no?

[Golats]

Has anybody ever spray-painted the scratchplate on their guitar. If so did it look good? Or horrendous?

I'm thinking of customising one of mine so the plan is to abrade the hell out of it (for adhesion) and then apply a spray paint, normally used for Warhammer figures.

Tips and recipes for success/disaster welcome.

Edited July 10, 2018 by gary mac

[BrunoBass]

I painted the scratch plate on ‘51 style bass I was modifying. It was black and I wanted white. I couldn’t find a white one that wasn’t a stupid price so I spray painted it with aerosol craft paint. I roughed the scratchplate with 2000 grit paper and built up light coats. No issues whatsoever. I doubt it would stand up to much abuse before scratching through, but it’s been ok so far.

[Golats]

That looks great @BrunoBass I'm trying to do the opposite - I have a white scratchplate and want to paint it black. The prices are daft!

[fleabag]

Lemon squeezy !

And of course, if they get scratches, whip it off, respray, hammer it back on - job done.  No brainer !

[bartelby]

From this:

 

to this:

 

with a few coats of Halfords finest black...

It's heard up really well over the last couple of years too..

[kodiakblair]

Get some black Fablon type material. Goes on in a one'r,no drying time and no smell. I picked up a 2M roll of white for £3.99 in Lidl, so far it's done 3 scratchplates with plenty left.

[Golats]

11 minutes ago, bartelby said:

From this:

 

to this:

 

with a few coats of Halfords finest black...

It's heard up really well over the last couple of years too..

That looks great @bartelbyIs it satin finish?

[Golats]

Great idea @kodiakblair. How do you manage to get in on so smoothly? I thought air bubbles would be a problem?

 

[bartelby]

3 minutes ago, Golats said:

That looks great @bartelbyIs it satin finish?

The can says gloss, but the scratch plate turned out satin. 

 

[Roger2611]

41 minutes ago, bartelby said:

The can says gloss, but the scratch plate turned out satin. 

 

You really need to put a clear lacquer coat over the colour coat and then polish it back to get the shine and the strength in the finish, the colour coat alone is not very durable it is the clear lacquer that gives the strength

[steantval]

Painting it will eventually wear through, scratch plates are usually colour impregnated plastic for this reason.

Find a workshop that does car wrapping, they may be able to do a colour change on a scratch plate at a minimal cost.

[fleabag]

1 hour ago, Golats said:

Great idea @kodiakblair. How do you manage to get in on so smoothly? I thought air bubbles would be a problem?

 

I was thinking the same.  I bought fablon to cover a camping table and it was a nightmare, and gave up. Perhaps its a lot easier on a small surface

[tonyquipment]

Yep cheap spray paint will do it. Couple of passes of it. I usually do it to cheapo guitars. Just adds something else to it. 

[kodiakblair]

@Golats @fleabag

It recommends spraying a little water,creates a barrier so you can push any bubbles to the outside. Same idea as a mobile phone screen protector,only it uses an oil.

Bubble-free close-up😎 The brand name was Melinera.

 

[Norris]

I used to work for a company that did vinyl signage. They used to spray with a very weak solution of detergent i.e. washing up liquid, then squeegee it once in place. A soft cloth would do the same. Start from one side, holding the vinyl up slightly as you apply it. If there are any bubbles you can prick it with a pin then use a cloth to smooth it down

[BassBunny]

I've done the vinyl way a couple of times. Pal of mine does vinyl signage for Tesco etc. He advises a light spray of water or washing up solution and use an old credit card to keep pressure on when applying.