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a few months ago i painted one of my guitars using reranch's sherwood green nitro.

before deciding on that color, i looked at old fenders that used the same paint, and they were a really great dark/forest green color.

when i painted mine it turned out a lighter, more aqua colored green.

i'm assuming that the nitro will fade over time and turn into the desired darker green.

however, i don't want to wait til i'm 60 to have my guitar that color, so i'm wondering if there's any way to speed up the aging process.

if anyone has any insight i'd love to hear it. thanks.

Nitro tends to yellow as it ages, and also many old guitars probably ended up darker by playing in smokey bars for many years. That is thoroughly nasty, and think what it's doing to your lungs. Thank heavens I live in California, but I digress.
Here's a possibility - get some ReRanch neck amber, and spray some very light coats. It'll probably involve respraying with clear, resanding and rebuffing, but it may work. I'd spray super light coats, and remember to follow with clear after each one, so you'll see how it'll actually look. The most important thing I would recommend is to TEST ON SCRAP FIRST, and make sure you like the effect. Get a similar colored piece of wood, and spray the green and clear so it closely matches the guitar. You could also spray some thinned black nitro if you want to darken it, but I'd be very, very careful and test test test first. Or try a quality NGR (non-grain raising) stain like these: from : localhost/homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm diluted in denatured alcohol, sprayed lightly with a Preval sprayer. I used the blue and red mixed to get the purple for the guitar in my avatar. It took some serious trial and error, but I nailed it (contrary to what the Homestead guy says about combining them on his site). At the risk of overstating, test anything you do on scrap first. The only other thing I can think is to put the guitar in a smokehouse for a few months.

You could shoot the neck amber ove the green then do the clear coat again or you could simply leave it outside in the direct sunlight as often as possible...belive me UV rays will change a nitro finish quickly!

The darkening of the finish like that is ususally the clear coat ambering rather than the pigments changing colors.

Did you use a White primer? That color, tho opaque is fomulated to go on a white base coat. Not doing so could alter the pigmentation.

Just set it near the sunshine inside your house by a window. See what happens. I always thought they got a bit lighter for some reason.


Originally Posted by kmcguitarsDid you use a White primer? That color, tho opaque is fomulated to go on a white base coat. Not doing so could alter the pigmentation.

yup. used white.

i like the sunlight reccomendations. i was thinking/hoping that might work.

too bad i waited til the end of summer to ask about this.

Normally sun exposure makes colours go lighter, rather than darker. That's what happens with paper, books, etc, although it might make the nitro itself go darker. Good luck!

Aqua sounds like Surf or Seafoam green...I would try a dark grey primer for any dark colored paint refin...especially with lacquer.