Official Luthiers Forum!

I am painting the table (front surface) of a Gibson LP studio in faded cherry with satin clear coat. How many coats do I need of paint from a can and how many clear coats?

thank you in advance for advice offered!

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drugstoredir2014.com

Color coats should be applied until you get complete coverage. Clear coats depends. What are you spraying? Will you be sanding and/or polishing?

I am trying to get a faded, matt, satin finish, not shiny or polished. I bought clear satin nitro for that purpose. Cheers!

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drugstoredir2014.com

Well, there is no set number of coats. Way too many variables. Apply coats until you get the effect or thickness that you want.

many thanks!

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drugstoredir2014.com

Piling on coat after coat does not trump sanding the high spots off each coat until the surface is level. My own technique is to apply a wet cross-coat. sand it level after it dries and don't cut through to bare wood. Repeat until surface is level and smooth and and pores are filled. How many coats? As many as needed.
A good finish is much more the product of taking finish off, not so much from putting it on.

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Peter Havriluk

Doc, a couple of quick comments. The LP Studio has a maple top with no binding. The factory finish was nitrocellulose lacquer. That means if you decide to shoot lacquer over the factory finish it should melt in and be fine (not necessarily true with many of the modern finishes). If you decide to remove the factory finish down to bare wood you will not need to pore fill the top before you start your finishing.

The number of coats depends on a whole lot of things - exactly what "faded cherry" means (is it translucent so that you can see the wood thru it, solid but somehow looking aged, some sort of 'burst getting lighter towards the center)? Clear is usually put over the color to give it some depth and gloss. In both cases, color and clear, you need to just shoot as much as it takes to satisfy your goals.

The cardinal rule of any finishing operation is to practice on scrap. Get some maple and keep working with it until you are satisfied, then go to the guitar. I'll also add that it is very difficult for a home finisher to come anywhere close to a factory finish and in most cases refinishing greatly devalues the instrument. (I'm trying to discourage you).

Message to all....

how long a time gap should I leave between the cherry colour paint and the clear lacquer?

It is nitro!

I have already stripped back the finish to bare wood and sanded right up to 1200 grit paper, wood has started to shine! THIS IS NOT A GLOSS FINISH guitar, it is matt/satin! My clear coat will be matt/satin (not gloss). I am used to spraying car panels and body kits! I had to do this because the front surface/table was pretty messed up when I bought it secondhand, the rest is OK as a worn, used, patina, relic effect, has a nice warm used feel to it.

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drugstoredir2014.com