Painting a Guitar Top (Taylor)?

[GuitarFundi]

If I had a beat up old Taylor that I wanted to have some fun with and paint the top with some designs... how would I go about that? Do I need to strip the finish? What type of paint should I use? What type of finish should I apply over the paint? Experience or ideas?

[Brucebubs]

Forget the painting, tell us about the 'Taylor 314CE (Built by Ren Ferguson)' in your sig.

[Wade Hampton]

There are some artists who specialize in that, or at least do it as a sideline. Since I've never painted any instruments myself, I have zero experience in that realm. But it seems to me that you can probably leave the original finish in place and paint on top of it.

If I was to undertake that project, my own inclination would be to use acrylic paints. They dry quickly, you can thin them out with water and use them like watercolors if you like, or keep them thicker and use them like oil paint (but without the noxious fumes of the thinners you have to use with oil paints.) I've worked with all three - watercolors, acrylics and oils - and always found acrylics to be the easiest to work with.

But this is just speculation on my part, so take what I suggest with a grain of salt. Hopefully some folks with more hands-on experience with painting guitars will chime in on this thread.

One person you might want to contact is Neil Harpe, who's both a great painter and a superb guitarist. Neil is the greatest living authority on Stella guitars, and has written a couple of books about them. He's got a book with accompanying CD where he plays all the guitars pictured in the book, and plays them all dazzlingly well.

Here's his art:

http://www.neilharpe.com/


Here's his guitar website:

http://www.stellaguitars.com/


He's a friendly guy and might be able to give you some good suggestions.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Mandobart]

I would only paint an instrument if I absolutely didn't care at all what it sounded like. The finish of any stringed instrument is a major component of its sound.

[JayBee1404]

Peter Cree has done a lot of superb artwork on guitars. Here's a video of some of his work - https://youtu.be/3_-_q6xesjU

Scroll down and check out the video 'Art and the Acoustic Finish' here on Peter's website for the technical details - https://www.creestudios.com/art-guitars

[ManyMartinMan]

I would abrade the finish so the new paint would adhere and paint away. You've already clarified that you have an old Taylor that you "want to have some fun with" - so have fun. If you have questions about the paint specifically - ask the art store where you plan to purchase the paint and they'll give you paint-handling advice. Then, of course, post photos of the before and after for us to experience the fun also.

[THart]

Acrylic doesn't adhere well to non porous surfaces, it could wear off easily. You might try adding Golden's GAC200 for non porous surfaces or you could use an enamel paint like One Shot sign paint or even those little bottles of Testors model paint. Enamels adhere well to non porous surfaces & are pretty tough. Oil base paint markers would probably work well too.

[vindibona1]

I say just leave it alone and tell people it's new and it's from Taylor's new "relic" line and they're just copying Martin.

[archerscreek]

Based on personal experience, I would do it in a way so that the “art” could easily be removed. I would not sand into the finish unless I was absolutely positive I wanted the design to be permanent.

I went through a “creative” phase (aka destructive phase) in my guitar playing career and ended up permanently altering a wine red Les Paul Studio I grew tired of looking at. The guitar sounded great. I just didn’t like the complete wine red look. So I sanded away.

Now the guitar reminds me of that Snickers commercial with the guy getting the “No Regerts” tattoo.

[jwing]

Start with an oil-based primer; follow the directions on the can.

[Earl49]

It will be very difficult to remove the Taylor UV cured polyurethane finish, short of sanding it all away. It is resistant to any solvent that you night want to handle at home. I also cannot help with paint advice, as I have never tried painting any guitar. If you really want to do something graphic, perhaps a vinyl wrap like is used for advertising on cars could be done - and would likely be removable later. Just a thought.....

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Forget the painting, tell us about the 'Taylor 314CE (Built by Ren Ferguson)' in your sig.

Sharp eye Brucebubs!

Indeed, tell us more about this one.

[GuitarFundi]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Forget the painting, tell us about the 'Taylor 314CE (Built by Ren Ferguson)' in your sig.

One of my best friends is good friends with Ren. He bought a beat up, DRIED out, cracks top an back, fret sprouted guitar (Taylor 314CE) from a pro guitarist that had left it wintering for who knows how long in a garage in Bozeman. So, he called his good buddy Ren an said, "can you fix this for me?:roll eyes:

Ren said, "sure" and removed top finish, he fixed all the cracks, worked the frets and re-poly'd the top like brand new. The guitar IIRC is a 2001. The Expression system is still wonky. The guitar sounds AMAZING!!!!! I've never had anyone pro or otherwise not comment on how good the tone sounds! I have to admit my tweak to the mix was using Jon Pearse PB Mediums which do change the tonal character significantly from the Elixirs Nanoweb Lights. The guitar is named Sally for The Nighmare Before Christmas's Frankenstein character, Sally

Most people's first comment is they have never seen a Taylor top so yellow and dark

The Jon Pearse PB mediums (mediums approved after a phone call to Taylor) give Sally some guts and mojo to her tone in addition to the secret Gibson soul under her top.

So, that is how I have a Taylor guitar built by Ren that sounds awesome

She is still holding together pretty good. Two wonky frets that aren't terrible, one worn out fret not too terrible, no pugging her in though.

[GuitarFundi]

Not wanting to go hog wild on this one with paint, but thought since the cosmetics are shot that I'd add some Spiritual Worship images to her to just personalize a bit and dress her up some while I can't play for a few months.

[fazool]

So the famous Gibsonite Ren Ferguson didn't actually build a Taylor guitar, but he repaired it.