HOW TO SPRAY A 1950S-STYLE CHERRY SUNBURST FINISH

I first stripped and refinished this guitar a decade ago. It’s a 1983 Greco Mint Collection made with a leftover Super Real neck that I bought as a husk back in the days when you could pick these up for about £300. It was my first attempt at a Burst-style refinish and, for a long time, I’ve felt that I could do a better job.

Having learnt a few new skills in the past few years, I’m going to take things a bit further. As I’ve had the opportunity to play numerous examples from the 1950s, my tastes have evolved. These days, I prefer tops with moderate curly figuring, and slim necks feel all wrong.

This time around, I’m veneering the top. The big challenge, though, is spraying a sunburst finish that looks closer to the Gibson examples of the 1950s. For this, I’ll be demonstrating how you can mix and spray your own lacquer without having to buy specialist equipment.

STRIP DOWN

We’re parachuting into this project at about the halfway point because I’ve covered many of these tasks before. In short, after stripping the finish using Nitromors, I remove.