Q&A for How to Custom Paint Your Electric Guitar

Yes, you can paint on a guitar. However, it’s not as simple as painting straight onto the existing surface of the guitar because the guitar is already painted and sealed, so these existing layers need to be removed first. To do this, you’ll need to use heat, a paint scraper and then smooth the whole area to be painted with a light sanding before you can proceed. It’s a big job but worth the effort if you want to customize the look of your guitar. The steps for preparing and then painting your guitar are outlined above.

Nitrocellulose paint is known as a lacquer, and it is a hard paint that has long been used on musical instruments. It’s a highly flammable paint, and contains hazardous solvents. And although these toxic ingredients evaporate a month or so after application, they’re active during application of the product, so special care must be taken to protect your health when using this paint. Its use on musical instruments remains popular, however, as it can be polished to a mirror finish, carries color beautifully and is considered by many owners of wooden instruments, including guitar owners, to "breathe." If you plan on using nitrocellulose paint, you’ll need a properly ventilated spray booth and all the safety gear to avoid breathing in the toxins during spraying.

Some artists have painted guitars with acrylic paint, especially for decorative work like images or designs. The usual guitar paints are lacquer paints (hard paints) made from polyester, polyurethane and nitrocellulose because these continue to cure over time, are durable and enhance the guitar’s sound. If you’re painting with acrylic paint, make sure it’s applied thinly, and add a proper finish, either the poly or nitrocellulose finishes, again nice and thinly. For cheaper guitars, acrylic paint should be fine but if you’re thinking about painting a more valuable guitar, it’s best to stick to the specialist guitar paints, or at least get advice from someone familiar with painting guitars if you want to add an acrylic paint design.

Anything added to the wood will affect its sound in some small way. However, since guitars have always had paint added to them, the starting point is that it’s usually not much of a change. The reason it’s important to remove the old paint layer before adding a new paint job to your guitar isn’t just about ensuring the new paint takes and stays on; it also ensures you’re not building up too many layers of paint. The rationale is that if the paintwork is thicker than what was originally on the guitar, then it may alter the guitar’s sound. By how much, and whether or not it’s noticeable though, depends on what paint has been used and how much has been layered on the guitar. If you follow the instructions above for removing the old, then carefully painting on a new thin layer of paint, the sound should stay sweet.

A professional job would cost you upwards of $300 depending on who you have do it. Doing it yourself would cost about $20.

For a neat finish, everything must me dismantled. It's more trouble than it's worth trying to mask all the fiddly bits. It would probably also take longer and cause more frustration than simply taking the parts off.

You can, but it will be a lot more work, and if you use a power sander, you'll have a much higher chance of sanding unwanted bumps, dips, and other flaws into your guitar.

You really shouldn't. Stripping the guitar down to the original wood grain first is the proper way to paint a guitar.

It could cost $300 or more, depending on where you go. The price of the paint job will depend on the type of guitar you have and the color that you want. Your best bet would be to contact the store and ask them for pricing information.

If you are painting a fresh wood body that has not been painted before, then yes, you should apply a sealer; otherwise the paint will just absorb into the wood. If the guitar body has previously been painted and you just stripped off the paint, a sealer should not be needed as the body should already be sealed. Just do a really good sanding job with light sanding paper down to 2000 grit, and make sure the body is smooth and clean before painting.

Only if you are painting the headstock. If you are just painting the body, remove the neck to ensure that no paint gets on it.

No. Painting over the frets on the guitar will affect the sound of your guitar and could ruin it.

Painting with a brush is generally not done, but you ought to use some medium-viscosity oil paint. Make sure it's not too thick.

The recommend brand on paint is totally dependent on the color, finish, and type of paint you want to use.

If following the other steps, then using a chemical paint remover works, too.

It would damage the wood unless you put a coat on underneath, because it would soak into the wood.

I personally would paint it, but pay attention to where the banding is so you can scrape it off with a razor blade later.

Polish and wax do different things. A polish is an abrasive compound used to polish out small imperfections on a microscopic level, whereas a wax is a protective substance. You can use either, but you shouldn't use one instead of the other.

Any number higher is good. It may take a smidge longer, especially when you get really high numbers. The lower the number, the more aggressive it is, and it may do more harm if not careful.

Mask off the fretboard with painter's tape, as well as the nut cavity if it is open. Then go for it, following the same procedures here.

It's not "necessary" but it'll improve longevity of your finish as well as adding a shine to it.

Yes, because temperature will affect the way the paint will cure. However, humidity will not affect your paint job.

Having a consistent temperature while it is being applied will help you obtain a smooth finish. Also, the type of paint you use will affect the finish.

Yes, the only difference is that a bass has thicker strings. There is no difference in the body.

That's not a good idea. It could damage the guitar.