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I'm embarking on an electric guitar build, and am planing on doing a guitar similar to the Fender Custom Shop Danny Gatton model:
http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/ ... rost-gold/

The gold on this one is different than on the Les Pauls of old, and I am wondering
a) how to spray a gold finish, and
b) exactly what is different about the two finishes?

Are there different colored base coats or subsequent coats that are used to do these finishes? How is the metallic property achieved?
I'm sure there is a "lot" to it, so I thought I would ask for advice.

Thanks...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

For a bright metallic like that Fender gold, I always shot a couple coats of white - then the gold. Buried it in clear.

No one ever asked me to do a Gibson gold top style, so I never researched it.

Not part of your question, but I see Fender is using Lawrence units instead of Bardens. Cost saving measure?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

The vintage Gibson finish is done with a metallic power in clear gloss lacquer. I suspect the Fender finishes are basecoat/clearcoat metallics in synthetic.

From the Finish section of the guide I am editing, here is the formula for Gibson gold tops in lacquer:



From my experience, it is very likely that the first time through, the gun will spit or a gnat will fly by, and there will be a very small, minor imperfection. I would suggest you do not try to touch up, as a drop fill is impossible. The better approach is to sand level and reshoot the final coat.

We use a dedicated Harbor Freight jamb gun for the color coats, as there is no way to clean the gun well enough to clear all of the metal dust. We wet sand and are very diligent about clean-up to keep any bronze powder out of other finishes.

The shot below is an older refinish - I don't have access to good shots of the most recent refinish we did, but the results were similar.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

I heard that was the case, although I can't say for sure. Sounds like there was a definite split between JB and F, and F had Bill Lawrence make a close approximation to the JB's for this. It used to have the Barden's on there a number of years ago. Also, apparently Fender decided to put Cubic Zirconia side fret marker dots on the neck, which have a habit of falling out. I saw where one guy on a forum used the term "Epic Fail" to describe it...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Wow... thanks for the great info!
I can verify from some reading that the finish on that Fender is a polyester, but as to the process your guess is as good as mine...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Frost gold appears to be a proprietary Fender color as I can find no PPG or Dupont color codes for that particular color. Other golds used by fender are Firemist Gold Poly PPG#22422 (poly as in poly-chromatic) & Aztec Gold PPG# 21949

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I didn't even realize they used PPG paints...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

PPG is some good stuff...though I am rather annoyed they apparently did away with DCA468 (acrylic lacquer that is water clear and a very nice choice for use on furniture because of it's elasticity)...will have to hoard that 1/2 gallon I have left for the day when I decide it's time to refinish my flamed maple kitchen table (which will be after I get the *edited* out of this house and away from the cats that have destroyed it...good thing it's 7/8" thick!)

Woodie, that's a gorgeous job on that LP !
Looks like you have that down to an art form.

This metallic powder... available readily, and in different colors I assume? What would the color be?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I might get a chance to so the color coats on one of these repairs, but right now, the boss does them and I get to sand a lot! Thanks, though - nice of you.

CresLite #255 'Extra Brilliant Deep Gold' and #256 'Extra Brilliant Green Gold' are the powders we have in the shop. They are available from a range of suppliers, so best to Google or Bing and find a supplier that carries 1/2 pound lots unless you need to stockpile it. Our last purchase was a full pound of #256 (which looks more like an aged, slightly ambered Gold Top for about $80 (not that bad, considering there's a couple dozen refinishes in that container). The other color - #255 - has less of a green cast, so it looks more like a factory-fresh guitar.

Thee are several sellers on Ebay selling #255 and #256 for good prices - $21 plus shipping per pound.

This is a good approach for a traditional Gibson gold top finish, but it is a lot of work when newer paints colored with something other than metal dust give a similar look. There's nothing else that we've found that look more like an old Gold Top, but for a Fender, it might be good enough to shoot something easier to prep and spray.

If you cannot find find the powder, please PM and I'll see if we can get some to you.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Thanks Woodie!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Don,
I would go to Michaels or another art supply store and look at the gold flakes. Get a jar that looks right and dump some into your nitro lacquer. Spray it over a very finely finished surface. If need be, use sealer or even white. I don't use white though. You should get the look you are after by spraying an even coat. If you need to fix a spot, don't. wait and spray again with a full surface coat. Spray over that with clear nitro with a dry coat to seal it in. Then a few top coats, 6 or so to build depth. Rub out and buff.
edit: you can tint with vintage amber toner or yellow to get the color you want also. Do this after you seal in the flecks.

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Ken

Mr. Williams:

A third option is to go with a Taylor gold top finish...I've linked to directions to do that type of treatment, as for some reason the boss just does not seem interested in that sort of work. Given my craft background, I can suggest Michael's as the source for the needed rhinestones, faux silver and gold paints and surface treatments, and the BeDazzaler! (tm) kit to make up the matching strap. Michael's also have those darling plastic jewels that work in the BeDazzler! (tm) tool to spell out the owner's name.

I am certain Mr. Gatton would have loved this finish, and gone completely gaga over the matching strap.



https://youtu.be/lHw38NCeYq4

I hope this provide some additional options for your consideration. Good luck with the project!

_________________
A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

ROFLOL...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I sprayed this with Michael's gold Fleck.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Ken

...but not BeDazzled(tm)?

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Nice job Ken! I'm really hoping to get the same look as the Fender Frost Gold, and that doesn't seem that far from that.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Don, that is why I say go to the store and look at the flecks with your own eyes. My gold fleck was brighter in the jar but I imagined spraying some yellow toner over it and I could tell it would work. I bought some of the crescent fleck that others are recommending and after opening the jar I immediately could tell it was wrong.

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Ken

by the way, regarding the green tint. I see a lot of different shades in pictures. The lighting is going to effect the photo and it is really hard to tell from a photo if the color matches what you want. But Woodies picture is close to the DG color in pics I have seen. He used Crescent 256 which has that green in it.

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Ken

Gibson apparently used both #255 and #256 for gold tops up through the switch to modern synthetics. The #256 is def greener - with some ambered topcoat, it shows the green-gold appearance, which was what that customer was looking for on his refinish. The #255 is definitely brighter and lacks the green notes - to me, it just looks brighter and fresher - maybe closer to Mr. McKay's example.

As long as you stay away from rhinestones, I think you'll be OK

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

So, the problem is, I'm somewhat color blind, and when you guys say you see green, I have no clue how you're seeing green. I just see gold!
So here's a picture of the Frost Gold on the Fender Tele for you to chime in on...What do you see in this? :

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

For Gibson Gold Top, Guitar Reranch is the place. http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/blacwhitandg.html

We strongly prefer working with spray systems applied finishes, but in addition to ReRanch, Gracey (Madison Music Store) has a range of rattle-can metallics that work pretty well for spray bombs. We've done some one-off metallics where it was just not worth sourcing the paint due to cost sensitivity. Gracey has Gold Top (close to the new Gold Top...#255 Creslite...not the greener #256), Firemist, and Shoreline golds.

Recently, one of our long-time customers asked for some help on a Strat build-up with prefinished neck and body, and we got a look at what happens when commercial body makers don't spend the time on prep and sealing...really important for get the surface perfectly leveled, contoured at the edges, and sealed well. Proof that a small shop can do as good or better than a large commercial operation provided care is taken in prep and application. This would be a pretty nice finish, but for the sanding scratches under the gold coats and the lack of interest in getting a nice, smooth edge radius.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

So after a little more research, it turns out that Danny Gatton had Fender spray his guitar as close to an old Gibson gold as they could get, based on an ES 295, or so the story goes. Sounds like the Gibson gold was knocked-off by Fender, but of course they couldn't call it "Gibson Gold" or anything like that...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."