Conference napalm::guitar

    Physiologicaly, 
    yer eyes have cones and rods,
    I forget which but the one that works in the dark
    can only see black and white.(Red will look black.	Pink? how pink?)
    So White, from a physical view, will stand out the best.
    
    Being what I am, If I were to play out know I would use
    the guitar which works, and if more than one available, 
    The Best Sounding.
    
     The Emporer

    Greg, Greg, Greg.....
    
    Coolness increases with natural wear and tear!  Let those wear spots
    grow, let those dark marks on that maple neck stay!  Blow 'em away with
    yer chops, not pretty colors!  Besides, yer axe is gonna look different
    in every club you play, unless they all use the same lighting.
    
    But, if you insist on having a pretty axe, white is the most neutral
    and consistent under lighting...black will always look black, but it's
    not my fav.  My Les Paul is wine red, and tends to look very dark under
    colored lighting.
    
    FWIW...Steve  8)

    Black or white looks best under colored lights as they reflect them.
    The right White is cool, as it will change to the color if the light!
    Maple necks also reflect light.  My maple neck frequently catches pink
    lights.

    Sorry, but this discussion is of no value what so ever....
    
    Just play the damn thing!

    I also prefer white, but some of the custom finishes are so tempting.
    
    Mike

    
    I like natural finishes.  I paid for the wood, I wanna see it.
    
    							Brian

>     I like natural finishes.  I paid for the wood, I wanna see it.
    
    One of the guitar companies I'm interested in offer "see through"
    finishes in red and blue.  I've seen the red version in person and its
    cool.
    
    It is sort of like a wood stain, that allows you to see the grain, only
    you get red or blue.
    
    Mike

    
    
    
    	Well, Brian, ya wanna tell 'em about your green P-Bass? :-)
    
    

    	I think it would be real classy to have it deep stained, like oak. 
    It would match the living room furniture.
    
    --mikie--

    re: .4
    
    >Sorry, but this discussion is of no value what so ever....
    
    Why does someone always have to come in and add a worthless note if
    they don't like a topic?  Are you trying to start some kind of a fight? 
    Why don't you just use the "Next Unseen" command and skip it if you
    don't want to read it?
    
    This discussion has value to me, I have a guitar that has apparently
    been dropped a few times by a previous owner, damaging it's finish.  I
    don't like the color anyway and I am planning on refinishing it and am
    deliberating on what color to use.
    
    Where do you get off making a statement like that?!
    
    Greg

    Probably the nicest color git I seen so far was Jeff Beck's "Auqua
    Green" strat that he used recently at the Centrum.
    
    cheers/mike

    No that I think bout it,
    I'd pay more attention to a Playboy centerfold pasted on a white guitar
    than a white guitar.
    
    Maybe you could get a radical Artwork photo on yer ax.

    Greg,
    
    Are you gonna do the work yourself?  I was curious about what a
    refinish job would cost when done by a "pro".  Have you got any quotes
    that you're willing to share in "public"?
    
    Steve

    re: Steve
    
    I'm going to do most of it myself, at least the stripping and wood prep
    work.  I have a friend that's a graphic artist that wants to airbrush a
    custom design on it for me.
    
    Sorry, I don't know what it's going for professionally.  I'd considered
    looking into auto body shops to find out how much they'd charge me to
    shoot the base coat and subsequent clear cover coats.  If it's too
    much, I may opt to buy a little compressor and do it myself.  I may do
    this anyway, because I have two guitars that I'd eventually like to do
    and then I'd have the thing for other projects when I'm done.
    
    I noticed that Stuart-McDonalds has a smally hobby size spray setup as
    a new item in their most recent catalog.  It includes two sized
    airbrushes and a small compressor.  They say it's a reasonable size for
    doing most guitar work.  I don't remember the price right off hand.
    
    Greg

    <<    Why does someone always have to come in and add a worthless note if
    <<    they don't like a topic?  
    
    This just struck me as a non-topic.  Like someone in the crowd is gonna 
    care right!?
    
    << Are you trying to start some kind of a fight? 
    
    Not really.  perhaps you're the one resorting to violence.
        
    <<    Why don't you just use the "Next Unseen" command and skip it if you
    <<    don't want to read it?
    
    You're right.  
	    
    << This discussion has value to me, I have a guitar that has apparently
    << been dropped a few times by a previous owner, damaging it's finish.  I
    << don't like the color anyway and I am planning on refinishing it and am
    << deliberating on what color to use.
    
    Didn't think in those terms..    and still...
    
    << Where do you get off making a statement like that?!
    
    Well, matter of fact, I usually don't.. and this is why...
    Someones bound to start jumping up and down and yelling foul!
    
    
    

    
    Re: .6., .7
    
    Actually, Mike, one of my basses is like that, a transparent green. 
    When I bought it, I thought it was sick but the price was ridiculously
    cheap, so I figure I could always have it stripped.  
    
    Then I started getting a lot of compliments about it, and since I've
    never seen another in that color, it's certainly distinctive.  Anyway,
    now I love it.

    re: .15
    
    You in a bad mood today?

    Strippers are wicked hazardous to your health. Having something
    stripped professionally would probably only cost $25.  As for spraying
    lacquers, again, toxic city.  Be real careful if you attempt it
    yourself, ventilate and wear a NIOSH rated cartridge in a breathing
    mask.  If its a real still day (not windy) the fumes can hang around
    your house for hours. Not good for children, pets and other living
    things.
    
    Also, they have clear finishes that have radical refractive indices,
    ie, they make real pretty colors like oil on water when viewed at
    various angles.  Definitly eye catching.  I'd take natural wood
    finish any day though jt

    << re: .15
    << You in a bad mood today?

    	I wasn't... let me rephrase that,,,
    
    No..     :)
    
    If i've offended anyone, my apologies.   :(
    
    After all this is a friendly conference...
    

    I like Ibanez colors... The hot-pinks, and greens...
    
    But I really like airbrushed stuff too, like a Jackson I saw one
    day that was painted like a battle ship side with baricles and
    everything...and had a torpedo hole and torn metal...Very nice paint
    and very expensive... But unique.
    
    jc

    I laquered my cabs and got off for a while, definite fumes!
    
    Now Greg, why don't you just get some cheap paint or
    Stew-Mac can and spray it in Fun stripes or patterns like
    Eddie Van Halen!  Why go to town? 
    
    Get a paint gun that shoots those bullet things at it!
    Do something outrageous, everybody, myself at times,
    is so freaking serious at times  MyGAWD!

    I still say Zion's Pickasso paint job has to be seen to be appreciated.
    Check out the ad in the new issue of Guitar World.
    
    Mike

    I kinda like the Ibanez black floral ......  8^)
    
    
                                                    
    				Scary                             
    
    (who's got a picture of one on the fridge ... worked with the GP-8)

    
     If you want to see an awesome airbrushed guitar, check out page 74
    of new issue of Guitar World (Has EVH on cover with 3 guitars).
    It is an ESP ad with George Lynch holding the most incredibly awesome
    design on his axe. Has to be seen to be believed.       
    
    
    
                                                               R.C.
    

    That is the same G.W. issue I've been talking about.  Check out the
    "Pickasso" in the Zion ad.
    
    Mike

    I like *BOTH* types of finishes, Natural and sunburst !!!
    
    But seriously folks, not everyone is into aesthetics but there are 
    many people that are. Same goes for cars, etc.  I am of the believe
    that a guitar should play well, sound good, AND look good as well.
    Considering how much we pay for them, they better look good, at least
    in the eyes of the owner.
    
    During the late fifties/early sixties the guitar trends began to
    reflect the trends in the auto world, flashy colors, lots of chrome,
    etc. A Ferrari red strat has always been a real looker to me,
    although boring ole me would rather have a nice 'burst any day.
    I would be the first to admit that sunburst finishes are lost on
    stage, unless they are layed down over a highly figured top, and
    pull towards the honey-reddish color, as apposed to black.
    
	My cousin had some black and white photos taken for a promo
    package. The photographer suggested he use a white guitar, even if
    it meant borrowing one. He managed to borrow a white strat from a
    friend, and the pictures came out looking great. He was photographed
    with a black tux, white shirt, a top hat, and the white strat.
    
    I have found that instruments that look great on stage generally
    look gaudy close up, and instruments that look beautiful close up
    look boring on stage. Has anyone seen the Modulus 6 string bass that
    Phil Lesh uses ? The pickgaurd is done in a swirly satin-steel finish
    similar to the stuff they use to put on Chevy dashboards. Looks totally
    herendous up close, but looks great on stage at the Dead shows.
    
    As far as painting an instrument goes, I would do the spray job myself.
    It would probably be best to wait until Spring and do it in a garage
    or other well ventilated area, though. The kit that Stewart Mac is
    selling goes for about $125. I'm not so sure that is a great deal.
    
    I am considering having the finish on my Telecaster changed. I
    refinished it myself years ago, and it still looks great, but I 
    would really prefer a sunburst finish, with white binding like Fender
    used on the Custom Esquires/Telecasters. I would probably be better
    off keeping it as is, and buy another Tele with this finish.
    
    Mark
    

    Here are some addl. color/finish comments:
    
    I had made prrevious mention that a natural maple fingerboard catches
    most red tones, make that apply for natural maple bodies as well! That
    nuclear-yellow you've seen of late (most noteably on the  Ibanez gits)
    looks white under a yellow light, but turns a weird, vivid blue-green
    under a blue light!  They ten to look more yellow in red tones.

    > looks white under a yellow light...
    
    Here's why... Something that appears yellow actually reflects only yellow
    light. If the only light available is yellow, then the axe will reflect
    all the light and look white. A light blue guitar would look white
    under blue light by the same token...
    
    If appearance is important to you, judge it under operating conditions.
    
    Edd          

    re: .18
    
    >Also, they have clear finishes that have radical refractive indices,
    >ie, they make real pretty colors like oil on water when viewed at
    >various angles.  Definitly eye catching. 
    
    Could you give some more information about these finishs?  This sounds
    very interesting.  What keywords would one look for when trying to
    locate such a finish?  Do you know of any brand names?
    
    Reb Beach (from Winger) had a Kramer that had a finish that might have
    been like this on it that I thought was absolutely beautiful.  From one
    angle it appeared a deep blue, but from other angles, purple or red.
    
    Thanks,                                               
    Greg

    One of my teachers other students has an axe finished that way.
    I'll ask him about it and try to get better information.  But, I
    think the basic principle is this.  You start with a base coat,
    probably white or silver or something nice and reflective. Then,
    you apply a **VERY** thin clear coat.  The refractive index of this
    clear coat has to be pretty different than air.  You probably have
    to thin the stuff big time and differences in the thickness of the
    clear coat will result in an visual color pattern.  You could probably
    rub it out to be uniform or purposely make some wild pattern.  Anyway,
    I'll try to find out more information.
    
    BTW, how about laminating a hologram onto the pickguard? Like maybe
    a big eye or something.  jt

    For best effect you would probably want to light it with a white
    spot, ie, no gels.  I'd imagine in a big time concert a follow spot
    might even be used.  The higher the intensity of the spot the brighter
    the apparent color.  jt

    re: .30
    
    Thanks!  I've been a little leary of the spray cans, but it might be
    worth a try.  I guess I'd like to be sure I don't have to do it more
    then once...  :-)
    
    re: .31
    
    I'd appreciate any info you can get on it, sounds very appealing.
    
    Greg
        

	One way to get a pick-guard any color that you want is to make
	it out of clear plexiglass (get ready to use a coping saw and
	lots of sandpaper & files), then spray paint the back of it
	your color choice. if you have pickups that will supported from
	the pick-guard, then after the paint dries, glue a small piece
	of heavy paper on the backside (over the paint), covering the
	hole that the pick-up screws will go thru. This is to keep
	the springs from scratching the paint as you adjust the pickup.

	I've seen some veneers used in this same way (instead of paint),
	so you could easily have a birds eye maple, rosewood or walnut
	pick-guard.

	If you just opt for paint, you can do some slick stuff with
	masking tape and multiple colors. You could even back-light it
	if you were so inclined.

	If you've never worked plexiglass before, keep in mind that is
	very easy to crack while cutting or drilling holes. Take your
	time & use a drill press when you can (wiggling a power drill
	might cause you to have to start over again). A fine sandpaper will
	be needed to get a good edge. Leave the paper on both sides until
	you are finished shaping everything and are ready for painting or
	installing.

	You might find that the plexiglass lets the natural wood grain
	show thru & find that it looks quite nice. Also, if you are
	careful, you can bend plexiglass over your kitchen stove. so
	you can re-shape things as needed (paint after you've bent the
	plexiglass).

							Jens

    The Kramer company has offered in the past ( maybe still do )
    Flip-flop white, FF red, FF blue. This is what the Winger's guitarist
    must have had. I liked it when I saw it down at Mr. C's myself.
    
    If you go the spray-can route, still lemme get in a plug for
    Nitrocellular laquer. I still only have 2 coats on my speaker cabs
    and the stuff is outrageous, really reflects the light.
    
    I have to get some of things the Amp sits on when I can find some,
    it does tend to be smooth.

      I agree that looks are important, but playability and sound comes
    first. SO - with all the choices of axes out there a buyer should
    have no problem satisfying his talents, and keep the aesthetics.
      My main six shooter is my BC Rich STIII handbuilt neckthru! It's
    just a damn great strat. I custom ordered it so I got the color
    I wanted: Thunder Blue! It's a deep blue with hints of glitter in
    it, really fine particles though, so it don't look like Metalflake.
    All hardware is black and the inlays are lightning bolts. Also the
    headstock was color matched to the body.
      Axe 2 is a showcase edition Les Paul (like a Standard). It came
    set up with EMG pick-ups, black hardware, and a killer gray-burst
    finish. The Gray-burst is black around the sides and fade to a light
    gray near the middle of the top.
      If I get another axe it might have some kind of graphics. I have
    a friend here that can me anything I want in that area!
    							- BOOM
    

	Asked my teach 2 lessons ago to find out more info. As of 1
    lesson ago he had forgotten to ask the owner of the flashy guitar
    in question. My next lesson is tomorrow, maybe he'll have
    remembered. I'll let you know Wednesday.  He did describe the look
    to me further: seems the instrument looked mostly red, but would
    change to bluish or purplish at various angles.  This sounds like
    the Winger guitarist you mentioned.  
    
    	I also called Dupont Corp. and tried to track down a finish that 
    would do what he described. After explaining that I worked for DEC and 
    that I was doing basic research regarding the effect of laser induced
    philosophical juxtaposition on ultrasonic microholography, 8^), they 
    finally let me talk to someone in customer service in the fabrics and 
    finishes  department.  The guru I needed to talk to was out at the time
    and we've been playing telephone tag ever since. Soooooooo to make a
    long story shorter.  I dunno anything more than I did 2 weeks ago.  Oh 
    well. I'll keep trying, jt
    
    BTW, You might try calling Kramer and giving them some kinda meaningful
    story that ends with you needing to know what kind of goop they
    used on the guitar you saw. It'd be worth a try.

    Wow, sounds like you did a lot of legwork!  Thanks!
    
    Greg

    the flipflop goop is simple
    coat or 2 of pnk cerise see-thru laquer
    some clear
    coat of white see-thru 
    some clear, enough to rub down, alot
    
    put the first coats on with a brush 
    Don't try this at home.

    I have seen flip-flop paint jobs on numerous cars, and motorcycles.
    The flip-flop finishes I've seen have all been pearl white over a
    bass coat of either blue, red, or gold. The bass coat is usually
    an opaque candy apple paint. Only the top coat should be translucient.
    I have a friend with a 1963 Corvette coupe painted pearl white over
    blue flip-flop. I looks hot !!! The effect looks a lot like the
    inside of a sea-shell, sort of like mother-of-pearl. 
    
    Mark Jacques
    

    
    
    	You guys have probably already seen this but yestyerday I saw a
    black fender bass with (how do I describe it..) yellow accents.  The
    guy had like "drooled" the yellow all over the body.. it was actually
    raised... I know this sounds awful, but it looked really cool.  Kind of
    like a pop art canvas.

    last night I was considering if a chrome guitar would look best.
    
    How do you chrome=plate wood?  And no silver, PLEAAASE

    
    Check out the Velleno guitars that Pete Haycock of Climax Blues Band
    used to use.  I think the damn thing was made out of aluminum.  
    
    							Brian

    
    I *think* Rod Argent and his bass player had fenders with custom chrome 
    (or maybe aluminum) extended pick guards.  I saw it on Don Kirschner's
    Rock Concert - way cool.
    
    -pat	

    Mark Farner of Grand Funk used to play one of those jobs too, looked
    great when hit with a colored spot light !
    
    
    				Scary

    Sorry for the long wait but I've basically struck out.  Anyway,
    the 'flip flop' paint job sounds like what I was describing.  Also,
    yes, you can chrome plate an electric solid body guitar.  You can
    electroless plate nickel onto a polyimide PC board so you could
    almost certainly plate it onto a polyurethane varnished axe.  Once
    you get the nickel on, you can plate chrome over that.  It'd never
    stay stuck though, chrome is real hard and brittle and wood is too
    spongy, one ding and it'd crack.   jt

    The cover of GPFTPM  has a pic of Satch with a chrome - ish Ibeniz. 

    I was just thinking about this topic a couple of days ago and thought
    I'd put something in here.
    
    I have an Ibanez RG560 that's a light blue metallic color (kind of an
    ice blue, not sure what Ibanez called that color).  To look at it in
    normal light, it's really pretty boring, but under colored lights it
    comes alive!  It changes color with the lights and looks great.  I
    played at a party a couple of weekends ago and had red and purple
    lights around and was really pleased with how this guitar looked.
    
    I didn't think I'd like that color when I first got the guitar (got it
    used, so I didn't have a choice on the color) and seriously considered
    refinishing the guitar because of it, but it's really grown on me and
    now I love it!
    
    Anyone else had an experience like this?
    
    Greg

    Re: .48
    
    Yeah, I bought a P-bass that was a factory close out, the store had 25
    of them *all* of them were transparent green (same as the Fender candy
    green minus the metallic undercoat).  Pretty ugly at first view, but
    the price was right so I grabbed one.  Six years later I love the
    color, lots of people have made positive comments on it.  It's
    certainly not a common Fender color, in fact, they don't make it
    anymore.
    
    						Brian

    I dunno about colors but have ay of you guys tried that Bright Stuff
    guitar polish. It's pricy ($11 or so) but it really works. After about
    three coats it's very difficult to leave finger smudges on the finish!
    And it's very very high gloss...my ESP looks the balls now and even my
    toxic sweat doesn't leave alot of fingerprints anymore...
    
    this stuff is cool, kinda like unix :-)
    
    dbii