Three tone Tobacco Burst with StewMac nitro rattle spray cans

Part 3 in a guitar build series.
Building a Charvel / Suhr inspired guitar.
• How I achieved a three tone Tobacco Burst finish.
• You can do this too! Be patient!
Body: Sound Guitar Works - Swamp Ash Dinky Strat
StewMac: Tobacco Burst nitrocellulose finishing kit
Music by: Anaura
• Champion of the Moon
Like, Subscribe, and Click the notification bell for more videos!
This isn't a tutorial as much as it is me building a guitar and for your entertainment. Enjoy!

[@guitarsofold100]

Nice work, its a real addictive process, once you do one you will want to do another!

[@guitarsgoats]

Thanks John! I have a few more guitar build videos to finish and post. It takes a while for me to edit all of my videos. :) More to come!

[@Havanorange]

The end result looked nice.

[@user-pw6cl5db5k]

Good job I would have used gloss but beautiful

[@tanneryordan]

you can still "feel" the wood because you didn't do any grain filling. Fender started with grain filling and layers of amber to completely flatten the face of the guitar before the sunburst/color was added. I think the grain looks cool especially on a sunburst! nice job

[@guitarsgoats]

Thanks! I was going for the wood feel. :) I was surprised by how much the paint sucked into the ash. I can see how filling the grain would use less paint and lessen production time. I even had to order an additional can of clear to get an even final finish.

[@Havanorange]

The wood grain texture is nice, I'd prefer it. I watched another video recently by someone who does this as his actual job, using nitrocellulose laquer / paint and a paint gun. He said he'll sand it to 2000 grit, clean it, apply 3 coats of sanding sealer, sand any textured spots to 2000 grit, maybe repeat if the sanding went through the sealer. He then saturates it with a relatively heavy clear coat before starting the sunburst colors, to make like a barrier so that the colored paint itself won't shrink into the wood as it dries. The idea being that as a heavy clear coat seeps into the wood its surface smooths out to be relatively smooth and even. What I liked about this video is seeing effective application / spraying techniques using the aerosol cans.

[@clinchleatherwood1012]

Good job!

[@whittaboi]

Top job

[@jamesdilts277]

Getting ready to do an LP from stewmac using the same cans, you nailed it my friend.

[@walther9161]

Nice job!!!

[@pricedlx]

Great video! I it made approaching a build of this nature more realistic. Wood still hates me. But I may give it a whirl

[@garymontagano510]

Love it

[@JJawsyW]

I usually do 4 to 5 layers of clear then wet sand then buff with compound.

[@Nachtx1]

I always though that black was the last color used on a 3 tone sunburst. 😳

[@eazycheetah]

I’ve used many of the Stewmac burst aerosols and each spit like a cobra. That was after soaking the cans on warm to hot water for at least 20 min, shaking for at least 2 min before spraying. There’s too much pressure behind the spray with these aerosols.

[@guitarsgoats]

I agree. I soak my cans, shake them well, and spray away from the body before doing my passes. I edited out most of these steps in my video but they are crucial for fine paint particles and avoiding 'cobra spit'. Patience and preparation are key to a great finish!

[@Damian808]

I expected you to use the raised template method rather than freehand.

[@guitarsgoats]

After I did the black edge with the template, I felt as though I'd have more control creating the burst freehand. Especially how each subsequent color would 'blend' into the next. I let a lot of paint fall to the floor, spraying away the body, just 'kissing' where I wanted the paint to hit. I also made multiple passes inching into the burst as I proceeded. The other consideration was what it would look like when the nitro dried. I feel 'lucky' as this was my first burst but I did a lot of internet research and had to find a lot of zen moments. :)

[@Damian808]

@@guitarsgoats I'm planning on doing a burst explorer build after finishing up my first single colour finish on a tele. I gasped when I realised you were as nervous as I surely will be then eyeballed it. Props to you, looks ace and I actually feel more ready for it - template or not...

[@guitarsgoats]

@@Damian808 I rewatched the video, and you can really see how little of the nitro hits the guitar while doing the burst, especially on my initial passes. Almost like a practice run before committing. I got a little nervous just watching it! Hahaha! Good luck!