universal over nitrocellulose lacquer?

5

58mark

I'm thinking of refinishing my bass in a sunburst. Traditionally this is done with nitrocellulose lacquer tints. I can get all of those for about $45, but I'm thinking of putting universal over it all instead of the lacquer clear.

would that cause any problems? lifting, ect?
 
Sunburst-can you show a picture of it? I'd bet you could do the whole job with modern materials. I don't think I'd UV clear over nitrocellulose lacquer but it might work if you shoot some intercoat clear over if first, might work...
 
No need for primer, that job would be easy as pie with modern materials-easier than with lacquer.

Clearcoat the bare wood with UV, three or four coats then sand. If the grain/pores is full and the surface is smooth you can then proceed to applying the color, shoot the black with regular black basecoat, get some amber colored candy concentrate from HOK, or SEM and mix it with intercoat clear-shoot your candy amber intercoat where it's needed then clear it with UV, sand, buff, done. I've done candy colored gun stocks-the grain shows through perfectly.
 
ok, I didn't know if clear would even stick to wood or not. thanks!
 
It works great! The candy concentrate is available in 4oz. sized bottles for airbrush work-you'll need an ounce probably. And if you didn't want to purchase intercoat clear you could mix the concentrate in UV and just add a little reducer so you can apply it in thin amounts-that will also work.
 
great! since I have the detail gun already, if seems silly to buy spray cans of anything.

thanks for the help. I'll try to find the 4 oz bottles. I knew I didn't want to buy quarts...
 
Vintage guitars were finished with nitrocellulose lacquer. Lacquer is more desireable, based on the theory that the lacquer allows the wood to "breathe". There is supposed to be a difference in tone. I'm a lacquer geek when it comes to guitars. Nothing cooler than a vintage strat in lacquer that is all dried out and checked, ala SRV.:cool:
 
this is a 79 t-40. Not exactly a priceless artifact, but still a nice vintage guitar. I play in a classic rock band, so the tone is certainly a factor of why I play this bass.

maybe in this case I should go ahead and get the nitro...
 
Thats a really nice guitar. Can you tell what the original finish was?
 
oh yeah... I actually have two bodies for it. the one that came with the guitar and is on it now, and then an extra natural ash body that I picked up on ebay with and extra pickguard, switches, and pots for $30. jsut the pots were worth that.

the body has some gouges in it, so I was going to play with it, sand some comfort contours into it, and practice with the sunburst. I'll set aside the body in good shape and mess with the one that is already a little nasty

P1050996.jpg


P1050998.jpg
 
I bet modern urethane won't change the tone of that guitar one bit, an old violin or acoustic might be a different story.
 
Probably not... I looked into the cost of all the colors, and it's more than i'm willing to pay to experiment on a junk body


That takes me back to the original question... if I tint and color with the spray candidate, can I clear with universal?

I have a little universal left from my car project. Guess it's time to experiment
 
58 Mark,
Let me know what you learn. I am interested in trying some guitar work for fun, at least at first for fun. I have a couple waiting to be done. I would like to find a source for paint dyes as I would like the grain to show. Please post results .

Thanks,
Brent
 
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