Refinishing an ‘05 SG STANDARD- paint recommendations Canada?

[CL1981]

Hey all I’m refinishing an ‘05 SG STANDARD. The previous owner has completely stripped and sanded it but never got around to repainting it.

I’ve never refinished a guitar before. I’ve been doing my research but there are so many conflicting opinions on this stuff. I’m hoping this forum can offer an SG specific opinion.

My plan is bring it back to its original ebony black finish on the body and leave the neck unfinished.

I’m going to get my Dad to help me paint. He used to paint cars for a living and has the air compressor and spray gun equipment. He’s really talented. I don’t think he’s ever worked with nitro, more poly and acrylic.

a few questions:

- Would either of these (Poly or acrylic) be good options for an opaque high gloss finish?

- paint recommendations available in Canada?

- since this would have had grain filler at the factory do we need to do it again?

- Primer: yes or no?

- should I “finish” the neck in TruOil or something?

- the headstock looks like it’s been poorly sanded think I can polish this back to its original shine?

Thanks guys!

 

[cerebral gasket]

Poly and Acrylic make for a durable hard finish from my experience. I've never cared about tradition or historic correctness in regard to that only nitro should be used.

I'm not a fan of unfinished necks as they are a lot of maintenance. Sticky Neck Syndrome is not an issue with acrylic and poly finishes, as it can be with some necks having a nitro finish.

Both of the Gibsons pictured below were sent out to shops for refinishes.

Flying V refinished in clear acrylic.

SG Special Faded stripped, grain filled and refinished with poly.

 

[Von Trapp]

Welcome! If your dad used to paint cars this should be the smoothest paint job in history.

A) Most definitely

B) No

C) Yes, in any case it won't hurt and you'll be sorry if you discover you should have

D) Optional. I've used both but make sure you don't end up with the kind that feels rubbery. (I did...had to take it off again)

E) No, that will look silly. (opinion) If you don't like the result then sand it with some fine grain or one of those sanding things that are like a scotch brite without the sponge, the red one I believe.

F) Yes, it looks like sh!t. I'ts most likely a plastic overlay that they sanded. Try sanding it proper and put a drop of water on it to see what color it turns.
If not black then your options are a) new overlay b) masking and spraying black. c ) Paint over it and put a new logo on. Obviously a is the simplest, b is tricky and c is really a sh!t option if you want a pearloid logo.

If you don't post pics of the process we'll find you and steal the guitar. Good luck!

 

[CL1981]

If you don't post pics of the process we'll find you and steal the guitar.

LOL Ok you got it!

Thank you all for your thoughts, opinions and suggestions. helps a lot!

 

[Von Trapp]

LOL Ok you got it!

Thank you all for your thoughts, opinions and suggestions. helps a lot!

Great. But if dad used to paint cars, why settle for a black SG? The world has enough of those anyway! Do a metallic orange, an unusual burst, racing stripes or any flag of your choice. Sh1t, the mind boils over with possibilities!

 

[CL1981]

NM / I’ve decided to go with a hand wired harness

 

[Jack Hammer]

Sure looks like there is a finish on that body. That's not the color of raw mahogany. If there's any nitro left on the body, I would be very wary putting poly over it. Nitro will expand and contract with the temps and humidity. Poly will catalyze once it dries. On the other hand, nitro over poly shouldn't cause any issues, but I digress. Aside from those Gotohs, What's wrong with the looks of it like it is? You could just shoot a few coats of clear nitro over it, fine sanding between each coat. There are several websites dedicated to guitar finishing such as guitarreranch.

Now, the headstock looks like more of a challenge. From the pics, it looks like some of the black has been sanded off exposing the bare wood in places. If that's the case, I would mask off the inlays the best I could, recoat it with black, and then take an x-acto to scrape the edges of the inlays. You're shooting for a uniform black finish at this point. Don't worry about the texture. Several coats of clearcoating, and sanding, and buffing will take care of the rest. Stew Mac supplies some excellent polishing compounds and foam buffing pads that fit hand drills.

Above all, be patient and enjoy the process. You're in it for the long haul and you will be rewarded.

 

[Zman28]

I would go with the darker wood grain tone on the 60s reissues. Paint the headstock black and change to a black pickguard. Lose the chicken head knobs . Not sure of final finish. Dont know enough about poly vs Nitro interactions. But i have had experience with new "sticky" nitro necks. So maybe poly would be best.

 

[Kristopher]

I feel the need to chime in.
A few years back, I Ebonized my strat with India Ink. It worked really well.
The ink gets absorbed into the wood, allowing the grain to show. It is the blackest "stain" one can get, w/o using stain. Regular black stain can come off near black.

I need to mention, the strat body I worked on was Alder. I have never refinished mahogany. Research india ink and mahogany. Also, you gotta SAND. Get down to bare wood. Poly leaves a "glue" that won't allow your choice of paint/stain/Ink to bond. To know if you're on bare wood, test with a bit of water. If its not bare, the water will run off the wood.

I sealed the body with Tru Oil. Bought from a local gun shop. It too allows the wood grain to show. And it looks and feels like nitro. From what people tell me, its stronger than nitro.
As for the neck, I sanded my beautiful 2013 Gibson SG 50's tribute (p90's). The nitro was way too sticky. Its nearly naked. The mahogany grain has original black paint deep in it. And i haven't had to tru oil it yet. It's wonderfully smooth. Perhaps if it starts to look dirty. I sanded the strat neck, and tru oiled it. It's the smoothest neck in town.
Anyway, if black wood is what you want. Try the ink method. I bought 2 small containers of Speed Ball ink from Michaels. It goes on fast. Great reaults.
I'll add some close ups of the wood grain. (Alder not Mahogany)

 

[CL1981]

View attachment 41269 I feel the need to chime in.
A few years back, I Ebonized my strat with India Ink. It worked really well.
The ink gets absorbed into the wood, allowing the grain to show. It is the blackest "stain" one can get, w/o using stain. Regular black stain can come off near black.

I need to mention, the strat body I worked on was Alder. I have never refinished mahogany. Research india ink and mahogany. Also, you gotta SAND. Get down to bare wood. Poly leaves a "glue" that won't allow your choice of paint/stain/Ink to bond. To know if you're on bare wood, test with a bit of water. If its not bare, the water will run off the wood.

I sealed the body with Tru Oil. Bought from a local gun shop. It too allows the wood grain to show. And it looks and feels like nitro. From what people tell me, its stronger than nitro.
As for the neck, I sanded my beautiful 2013 Gibson SG 50's tribute (p90's). The nitro was way too sticky. Its nearly naked. The mahogany grain has original black paint deep in it. And i haven't had to tru oil it yet. It's wonderfully smooth. Perhaps if it starts to look dirty. I sanded the strat neck, and tru oiled it. It's the smoothest neck in town.
Anyway, if black wood is what you want. Try the ink method. I bought 2 small containers of Speed Ball ink from Michaels. It goes on fast. Great reaults.
I'll add some close ups of the wood grain. (Alder not Mahogany)

This is super cool thank you for sharing!

I have a couple bottles of black leather dye. I wonder if it would work as a substitute for India ink?

 

[Udonitron]

- Would either of these (Poly or acrylic) be good options for an opaque high gloss finish?

Yes but I would use good lacquer if you have the goods to spray it.

- paint recommendations available in Canada?

Watco Lacquer - bought at Home Depot, awesome stuff.

- since this would have had grain filler at the factory do we need to do it again?

Nope, if the current finish on the guitar is off (bare wood) then a few coats of lacquer and sanding in between will grain fill easily.

- Primer: yes or no?

Not unless you are doing a solid colour as primer tends to help your final colour pop more. Like spraying a trans silver over white etc.

- should I “finish” the neck in TruOil or something?

If you want an oil finish, use Tung Oil. Buffs to a gloss, wears nicely, and can be applied later to patch up.

- the headstock looks like it’s been poorly sanded think I can polish this back to its original shine?

Sand it back lightly with 1500 till smooth and uniform and re-coat with a few coats of lacquer.

I refinish a lot of guitars, poly encases/entombs guitars for an eternity.
Everything should age with time and lacquer allows this.
Just my opinion.

 

[Von Trapp]

I have no experience of the methods described by others here, I've only finished with nitro, but since it sounds as if it's worked for them it's probably sound advice. Some observations though, I'm 99% sure that headstock is a sanded plastic overlay, I don't believe Gibson has ever finished in poly and it looks like your guitar is finished with some kind of oil. So see if that can be sanded away before you do anything. Do a test on the back of the guitar with whatever you feel like finishing it with and let it sit over night just to make sure.

Also, it absolutely won't hurt to grainfill, I for one wouldn't want to chance it.

 

[Von Trapp]

[/COLOR]

and whatever that is there behind the bridge it looks damn awesome! Nice guitar!

 

[CL1981]

I'm 99% sure that headstock is a sanded plastic overlay

A few people have mentioned this. I figured the previous owner just messed up the clear coat, but was hoping I could buff it back to a nice shiny finish. Is that hopeless?

 

[Udonitron]

and whatever that is there behind the bridge it looks damn awesome! Nice guitar!

Thanks man!
I took a basic trapeze, extended it, and gave it some mojo.
Had to make a string retainer as the break angle was too shallow and caused the strings to pop off the bridge.

 

[pancake81]

****, that’s a cool job man. Really, tip of the hat

I have no experience of the methods described by others here, I've only finished with nitro, but since it sounds as if it's worked for them it's probably sound advice. Some observations though, I'm 99% sure that headstock is a sanded plastic overlay, I don't believe Gibson has ever finished in poly and it looks like your guitar is finished with some kind of oil. So see if that can be sanded away before you do anything. Do a test on the back of the guitar with whatever you feel like finishing it with and let it sit over night just to make sure.

Also, it absolutely won't hurt to grainfill, I for one wouldn't want to chance it.

 

[cerebral gasket]

I don't believe Gibson has ever finished in poly...

1998 Gibson Les Paul Special SL (sans lacquer)

 

[sazista]

Great. But if dad used to paint cars, why settle for a black SG? The world has enough of those anyway! Do a metallic orange, an unusual burst, racing stripes or any flag of your choice. Sh1t, the mind boils over with possibilities!

YES PLEASE, MORE color in SGs. The factory colors are not very creative.

 

[sazista]

- Would either of these (Poly or acrylic) be good options for an opaque high gloss finish?

Yes but I would use good lacquer if you have the goods to spray it.

- paint recommendations available in Canada?

Watco Lacquer - bought at Home Depot, awesome stuff.

- since this would have had grain filler at the factory do we need to do it again?

Nope, if the current finish on the guitar is off (bare wood) then a few coats of lacquer and sanding in between will grain fill easily.

- Primer: yes or no?

Not unless you are doing a solid colour as primer tends to help your final colour pop more. Like spraying a trans silver over white etc.

- should I “finish” the neck in TruOil or something?

If you want an oil finish, use Tung Oil. Buffs to a gloss, wears nicely, and can be applied later to patch up.

- the headstock looks like it’s been poorly sanded think I can polish this back to its original shine?

Sand it back lightly with 1500 till smooth and uniform and re-coat with a few coats of lacquer.

I refinish a lot of guitars, poly encases/entombs guitars for an eternity.
Everything should age with time and lacquer allows this.
Just my opinion.

Looks like Clint Eastwood's guitar.

 

[Von Trapp]

Looks like Clint Eastwood's guitar.

Haha, spot on!

Thanks man!
I took a basic trapeze, extended it, and gave it some mojo.
Had to make a string retainer as the break angle was too shallow and caused the strings to pop off the bridge.

and it SO works! To me the retainer is what does it.