Painting A Bass?

[morfiend]

M
US military uses water based on aircraft as well.

 Cool,I did not know that!


  Seriously skorpx if you want to do it yourself,get some fine sandpaper,use a solid color,these fancy colors in spray cans can turn out aweful if you don't know what you're doing. If you can do it with 1 can get a couple in case you develop a run and have to sand again!

  your best off using many coats,just enough to cover and that's it,then build the finish up with the layers of coats. If you use a solid color to start you can fix little mistakes and just do another coat.

  Sometimes those fancy paints need a certain color primer and even a base in silver or white or some other color to bring out the finish,atleast with these you can practice with the base coats and then lay a nice top coat!

   If you want to see what a nice paint job can look like,check out Stampf's resto thread!  He managed to get black paint to lay down almost perfect,ask him how much work that was!



   I still think you should go ahead and do it,get project to start on and learn,you can always sand it down and stain it if all goes bad!!



   

[Bizman]

I do agree your basic latex pain likely wouldn't be a good idea but I did say it depends on how you want the finish to look.

There used to be a nice natural solid pine body Italian EKO in a local guitar shop. Nice playing with separate on-off switches for each of the three single coil mics. Somehow it didn't sell, maybe because it didn't look Hard Rocking enough... So the guy in the shop spread military grey latex with black flakes on it. Later I found out that an acquintance of mine had bought the guitar from the ending sale of that shop, getting it very cheap because the surface was ruined... He peeled the latex off with a plastic ice scrape too soft for its original purpose 
 

  You don't even need a compressor either,you can get compressed air in a can at the hobby shop to `power` the airbrush but I use a small compressor.

Back when I was a teenager I read that automotive tires would give a solid pressure for an airbrush. I suppose they meant the inner tubes, but I can't figure out why a tubeless spare on its rim wouldn't work. They can be inflated up to about 5-6 psi, the max pressure being printed on the tire. For driving the pressures usually are around 2.5.

As for the moistened sheets I figure a moistened tent on the yard would work as well. In direct sunlight it would even naturally become negatively pressurized, forcing all incoming air to come filtered through the moist fabric. Some kind of a diving mask and snorkel with an extension tube to the outside world would be advisable during the initial painting.

[Zacherof]

Just dip it in a bucket of house paint already!

[Bizman]

Just dip it in a bucket of house paint already!

Preferably to the old skool oil paint, which would take forever to dry and when it eventually will, the layer will break into brittles. 

[LCADolby]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WC6EbRQmJ0

 

[DREDIOCK]

I knew that was going to be asked.

Not the fish, the instrument.

Like this one?

[VonMessa]

It depends on how you want it to look!

  I would prep it much like painting a car,strip it down,tape up any areas you don't want paint on and then sand and prime and sand some more them prime some more then sand,etc.  you can get an ok finish with a spray paint can if you know what your doing but I would suggest an airbrush.

 As for what type of paint,any kind will work if you prep it right.  You could get a nice automotive paint and do a base/clear to get a real nice finish.


   It's actually a nice project to learn to paint,small enough that if you mess up just do it all over again.



    

This.

The better the prep work, the better the finish.

You can use spray paint.  Heat the can GENTLY with a hair dryer for better flow and less chance of boogers coming out of the nozzle.  Many light coats are better than fewer thick ones.  Allow plenty of time for coats to dry.  Sand with 400 grit between coats.  Go progressively finer with sanding grit as you approach final coat, up to 1500 grit.  Wet sand using a drop of dish soap in your water for lubrication.  Hand buff with a polishing compound to remove hairline scratches.  If using a spray enamel, keep in mind that it could take a week or two to fully cure so wait a few weeks to wax.

Leave the neck alone unless you are really confident.  You won't be happy if your hand skids along the neck, rather than slides.

If you have access to an air sprayer, you can do wonders with some rust-oleum, a catalyst hardener and some patience.  Thin with acetone for fast flash.