Guitar painting

[bassist4life2004]

Hey, im in the process of building my own Les Paul style guitar (please dont sue me Gibson, im not selling them)

Anyway. I dont have much cash, and I either want to make it look like a tremonti tribal style guitar, or a charcoal burst. I was wondering what kind of paint would be the best to use, and if anyone could give me some tips on how to do the charcoal bursting effect, it would be greatly appreciated.

[MOONDOGGY]

I found that for colored stains, there is one thing that works really good. You can buy colored stains from Stewmac.com and Allparts.com, but to use them you have to boil water and put in a powder solution and do some sort of special process. My secret is much simpler- food coloring. It is water based, so if you get it too dark, you can dilute it. The color will fade after a few weeks or months unless you put a clear coat on it. It is very easy to use. Just apply it to a rag or small sponge and spread on the guitar bare wood. I haven't got a chance to attempt a burst finish or multi-color finish, but I intend to.

This is only if you are doing it on bare wood. If there is already some sort of finish on it, it will need to be sanded off.

Oh...and make sure you wear latex gloves or find away to protect your skin from getting stained too!

[bassist4life2004]

Damn, food color. Never thought of that. That would definitly work tho. Thanks man.