gibson faded look?

[prolife]

it seems guitar finishing is pretty toxic. i'm really not going for that shiney look. i like that gibson faded look. i want to do a strat copy body i stripped down. i want a white onelike this:
www.zzounds.com/item--GIBSGF3
does anyone have an idea what to use. i've never done this before.

[andy]

Well, it's not the most resilient finish, but I did use Plasti-kote for a bass a while back. It has a matt finish, and would let the grain show through as with the faded Gibsons if applied correctly.

The website (http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/) appears to be from the UK, but I'm sure something similar is available your side too.

A can will certainly be enough to cover a guitar, and the colour seems to be very good too. In fact, I think I used the same one as the chair which is being sprayed on the homepage!

[prolife]

how many coats? and any varnish on top? i'm trying to keep healthy i am trying to do as little as possible. i actually am thinking of using low voc matt wood paint and varnish. i am not into building up a shine and having a full body suit and respirator! i think it may look kinda faded. i don't care for super profesional. i do feel a bit silly doing it this way as i will be using a paint brush!!! but i only care to have a vaguely uniform coat and can just paint over it with whatever and whenever i choose to change it. i suppose the only way is to try it out. if it's no good i'll keep it as an undercoat. if sanded with high grade sandpaper would it be any different from spray paint finished?

safety first!

[andy]

I think I did two or three coats, and no varnish. Varnish would give a gloss finish to things, so you're better without it for a 'faded' type finish. Varnish would of course be much tougher.

I sprayed the body outside, so the fumes weren't a huge issue. Being young and stupid (I've sorted the young part!) I just didn't breathe as I sprayed, though a simple dust mask should be sufficient to keep the stray paint from getting into your lungs. The thing about spray paint is that it is easier to get a nice finish- a paint brush makes it very hard to get an even coat without brush marks.

[mlrpa]

Another way to go would be putting a couple of shiney coats, then remove them with 600 grit sandpaper. For the final smoothing, use 2000 grit, then rottenstone. Use it with a few drops of mineral oil to achieve that matte look. (Rottenstone is ground pumice. USE A MASK!!!! It's a super fine powder that gets everywhere.) Good luck.