software

I've got an old Peavey Fury (from back when they were USA-made P-bass copies) with an abosolutel wasted finish (that started off as a kinda crappy flat red anyway...) and I was thinking it might be fun to redo it in Shell Pink or Surf Green.

Any of y'all gone down that road? How difficult was the travelling?

I'm not sure what the term quot;reranchedquot; means, but I'm taking it to mean refinished. I've done a few guitars myself. It's no big thing. Especially not with a Peavey. Go for it!

ReRanch is the name of (probbaly the most well known) online supplier of guitar refinishing stuff, including a number of colors pre-loaded into fancy aerosol cans, so as to avoid having to purchase sprayers. They also offer fairly detailed instructions on their site: from : localhost/www.reranch.com/

Sorry, guess it's been awhile, but every other instrument that I've refinished (an SG, couple of Strats), I just did with normal lacquer or spray paint. Rustoleum works well!


Originally Posted by St_GenesiusAny of y'all gone down that road? How difficult was the travelling?

Do you mind sanding? Lotta wet sanding. That's the idea behind a
Nitro finish, build it up then knock it down. Spray your coats, Let it cure
for a few days (the longer the better) Than wet sand out the orange peel.
Repeat untill final coat. Rub it out. It's a long road, But not to difficult if you
have paticants and attn. to detail? If you want instant grad? rustolium will
do the job. But IMHO Nitro Lacquer done RIGHT! adds a certain Mojo to
your Instrument.

I used a spray can of their clear satin nitro on the USACG neck I got for my strat project. It was very easy to use, and turned out great.

I don't mind letting the project last a long time, but I have a question about the orange peeling you mention. The way ReRanch descirbes it, this only happens when you screw up and is not automatically a part of the process. Obviously, the spray--gt;sand---gt;dry---gt;repeat thing is exactly what they describe, but fixing orange peeling is mentioned as a seperate thing, and something that effectively takes you back a step in the process because of the more intense sanding it requires.

Has your experience been that it is an unavoidable part of the experience?Originally Posted by kmcguitarsDo you mind sanding? Lotta wet sanding. That's the idea behind a
Nitro finish, build it up then knock it down. Spray your coats, Let it cure
for a few days (the longer the better) Than wet sand out the orange peel.
Repeat untill final coat. Rub it out. It's a long road, But not to difficult if you
have paticants and attn. to detail? If you want instant grad? rustolium will
do the job. But IMHO Nitro Lacquer done RIGHT! adds a certain Mojo to
your Instrument.

Originally Posted by St_GenesiusHas your experience been that it is an unavoidable part of the experience?

Well, It's fair to say paint from a spray can to a high end HVLP gun is never
gonna lay down perfectly smooth (Glass Like) That's why all the sanding.
That said... If you spray to heavy you will get a orange peel effect. Hence,
more sanding to get it smooth. That's why it's recomended you spray light
coats to avoid orange peel. But even with light coats you get overspray.
again this has to be sanded out.

I used to think reranch was the greatest thing. Easy to use supplies, free tutorials, what's not to like?

Then I tried ordering from them. Their online store wouldn't work for me on any computer I tried. It kept telling me my cart was empty. I tried calling several times and either got no answer or a busy signal. I ended up buying stuff from stewmac but still following the reranch tutorials. My finish didn't really come out that great - acceptable but not great. I've since spoken to a guy who does guitar refinishing for a living who told me that a) the cure time that reranch gives isn't necessarily long enough, and b) all that nonsense about sanding up from 600 isn't necessary. He showed me some stuff he did that looked better than any factory job I had ever seen, and said the only sanding he did before buffing was 1500 and 2000.

Assuming that a) their products are fundamentally sound and b) I'm actually able to place an order, do you know of a better set of tutorials online or could I simply adjust ReRanch's by extending the drying times (and possibly some of the sanding, despending on, I would imagine, the condition of the finish after each coat)?Originally Posted by mnbaseball91I used to think reranch was the greatest thing. Easy to use supplies, free tutorials, what's not to like?

Then I tried ordering from them. Their online store wouldn't work for me on any computer I tried. It kept telling me my cart was empty. I tried calling several times and either got no answer or a busy signal. I ended up buying stuff from stewmac but still following the reranch tutorials. My finish didn't really come out that great - acceptable but not great. I've since spoken to a guy who does guitar refinishing for a living who told me that a) the cure time that reranch gives isn't necessarily long enough, and b) all that nonsense about sanding up from 600 isn't necessary. He showed me some stuff he did that looked better than any factory job I had ever seen, and said the only sanding he did before buffing was 1500 and 2000.
Question: does ReRanch only deal in nitrocellulose? I was looking to do my next Strat body in black polyurethane.

I'd still say go ahead and order from them. Most of the mistakes I made could easily have been corrected for if I had even marginal experience. The other route to go would be using duplicolor car paints and clearcoating over those. They're available at places like NAPA and I think they're considerably cheaper than reranch. Not positive though.

I've 'reranched.' Great stuff. My only problem was finding a place to spray paint out of the wind.

I've finished two guitars with ReRanch products so far, and they both turned out great. I waited about a month after the last coats before sanding. After sanding through 2000, I buffed using a power drill and Stew-Mac's drill buffing wheels and compounds. You have to keep trying to get through to make a phone order, but it's worth it. The best advice I can give is try everything on a small piece of scrap wood first. Saved me a lot of headache. Orange peel seems to happen if you spray your coats too thick. You're better off spraying too light than too heavy - spray light and build up over time. And yes, ReRanch only does nitro. You can find poly at pretty much any hardware store, if you really want to ruin your guitar.


Originally Posted by MikeRockerAnd yes, ReRanch only does nitro. You can find poly at pretty much any hardware store, if you really want to ruin your guitar.

Call me an idiot, but I like my finishes to last more than a month or two. I have no interest in the quot;relicedquot; look. I also don't buy the whole quot;nitro sounds betterquot; thing. On an acoustic or a hollow-body electric, maybe, but not on a Strat body.

The knee-jerk quot;nitro is betterquot; response has always struck me as vintage snobbery anyway. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the impression I've always had.

from : localhost/www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-NITROCELLULOSE.html
^ That link doesn't seem to be working for me here ... anyone else?


Originally Posted by ratherdashingCall me an idiot, but I like my finishes to last more than a month or two. I have no interest in the quot;relicedquot; look. I also don't buy the whole quot;nitro sounds betterquot; thing. On an acoustic or a hollow-body electric, maybe, but not on a Strat body.

The knee-jerk quot;nitro is betterquot; response has always struck me as vintage snobbery anyway. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the impression I've always had.

100

I really dont think anybody could tell the difference in a blindfold test. The whole paint argument is already getting into the ridiculous Eric Johnson territory of tone thinking-have you guys heard about his theory that ungrounded amps sound better?

Soon snobs will start to assign colors and paint schemes with tone-black is a real dark, smooth tone, sunburst is gentle and a bit grainy in the upper mids, olympic white is a bit chimey and bright, but gentle in the bass frequencies....

The advantage of nitro is that the final resulting finish is much less thick than poly, which many people feel allows the wood to resonate better. Plus, as nitro is an evaporative finish, it contiues to get thinner over the years. This is what the early Fenders have, and why many believe they sound so good. If you ever get to see an authentic 50s Fender guitar, the finish is ultra thin. Polyurethane is heavy and dense, and while it won't dent or mar as easy as nitro, it doesn't allow as thin a finish. Why pay to get a great piece of wood, then spray a heavy, thick bowling ball finish on it? To each his own, I'm just one of the ones that believes that Leo pretty much got most of it right the first time.


Originally Posted by ratherdashingCall me an idiot, but I like my finishes to last more than a month or two. I have no interest in the quot;relicedquot; look.

Some of those vintage Fenders are over 50 years old, and still have a finish. I have finished two guitars with nitro, and neither has the relic look, both are glass smooth and glossy.