telecaster

here's my first guitar refinish project backed in early 2000 for a friend.

telecaster
after stripping out the old coating and logo, start with a few layers of clear lacquer, the custom logo was printed on waterslide decal on a laser printer (should've use inkjet for a more solid colour).  decal was trimmed to the edge of the print.

telecaster
ok, thesee picture were from 10+ years ago, i guess i didn't document everything at the time.  more fitting.   mainly to show my friend if he's happy with the placement ..  

telecaster
more fitting ....      sorry 

telecaster
done ...   

well, here's the basic process.  after the decal had been apply, in the first few days, a thin coat of clear was sprayed for 2-3 times a day to make sure the decals are fully covered by the coat.  after that, each day i sprayed a thicker layer and repeated for around 7 days.  the goal was to make sure the clear coat gets thicker than the decal so we can start sanding.  

sanding with sand paper, from fine(600grit) to ultrafine (2000grit), and buff with rubbling compound to get the shine.

one critical thing that i did wrong was that i should've waited longer(2-3weeks at least) to make sure the clear coats are cured inside out before sanding.  ended up you could have press onto the coat and see your fingerprint being left on ..  haha ..  well, lesson learnt

this is a old fun time, i miss those crt computer monitors at the back there ...  i think i was using windows me at that time .. .