The clear coat on my guitar

Question

im painting my guitar and im at the last stages of the process can i use Krylon's crystal clear finish as the laquer on the guitar

Answer 1

I used one stage car paint with a airbrush color and shine all in one.

Answer 2

You can but make sure it doesn't react to the paint finish.

Answer 3

Is this a solid body electric guitar? Then almost any finish will do, but the industry, and my personal, favorite is still, 80-some years later, nitro-cellulose lacquer. It is easy to apply, it can be polished to a brilliant gloss and is able to provide a protective film of finish over the guitar without deadening it, which is exactly what a lot of the other, more modern finishes will do.

Most factory made guitars today have some kind of polyurethane finish which goes on very heavy and which feels like the guitar have been laminated in plastic like your driver's license.

If this is an acoustic guitar, then please, by all means, do a good lacquer finish. You can buy the stuff in spray cans (expensive and you give up some control that you would have with a spray gun).

If you're painting an electric guitar with color, then do you really need the clear coat? Maybe you have some shading? or sun burst? or other special decorative treatment? Get the real lacquer - here's a couple of links:

This stuff is great, but you need a spray gun (not available in spray cans): http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_su...

I have used this brand for over thirty-some years and it's excellent, if not the best: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_su...

Here's a decent nitro-cellulose lacquer in spray cans: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_su...

Answer 4

Youre gonna want  a clear gloss nitrocellulose lacquer, which can be baught in aerosol form from manufacturers like stewart-macdonald. Nitrocellulose breathes better and will withstand the test of time much better than any other form of lacquer. You will need to put at least 10-20 coats on, approximately 4 per day, scuff-sanding every morning to make the finish level. Before buffing it out, you will want to "wet-sand" at 1000 grit to make a beautiful result.