Project Guitar :: Guitar Project

The first thing you will need to do once you have stripped the head stock of it's old color or prepared a new head stock is to mask around the outside edge making sure your tape is right up against the top edge and allowing it to over hang at the bottom. Do not cover up the tuner holes.
	Now apply at least two thin coats of the desired main head stock color using spray can or gun and avoiding those nasty runs.
If you have any wood grain raising up now is the time to take care of it using 320 wet/dry paper in it's dry state and either a wooden block or a rubber one.
	As you can see from the photo on the left I took off very little paint. I also decided just to be sure everything was smooth as possible to use 600 grit since it was handy.
Now that you have your base coat dry and free from dust and also as smooth as needed it is time to remove your original masking tape from around the edges. Inspect to make sure you have no bleed through from where the tape was and if so sand it off gently.
	While I'm using a vinyl decal here you may have a water soluble one if your doing a stratocaster or some other type of refinish. On the vinyl decals it is necessary to burnish them down in order to get them to adhere properly.
Carefully peal away the top backer from the decal. If necessary place it back down and burnish some more. For those of you using wet slide decals be sure to position your decal as soon as possible at this point and also blot off any excess water using a dry clean paper towel.
	Small tip when spraying a neck head stock, use newspaper to wrap it up that way you won't drive yourself crazy tapping off everything. At this point you should start out with 2-3 fine coats of clear. The first being a mist coat only so that the decal is sealed along it's edge's. Then move on to more heavy coats and allow to dry (if your using lacquer wait at least 3 days before moving on).
Gently wet/sand once more this time using your sand paper in the wet state and a 600 grit or finer. Your only trying to knock off the clear coat on the top of the decal if you used a vinyl decal at this point. Otherwise use 800-1200 grit wet/dry and begin the polishing process. If yours was a vinyl now apply 3-4 more coats and let dry . Repeat as needed till your head stock is smooth and the edge's of the decals have disappeared.
	After you have let it dry buff it out using fine polishing compounds and your good to go!