Best Nitro Refinishers?

[Singlebladepickup]

Currently I have a guitar getting refinished at Rowyco and it's taking quite a bit of time.

Stike emailed recently when I asked about painting, and he said he's been preoccupied with building a house and a new workshop. He'll probably quicken the pace when his new shop is complete, not that that is helpful to you.

[hamletpowpowpow]

Yeah, I'm pretty sold on GuitarMill for the body. Not totally sure where I'm gonna get the neck yet. I have an EGC bolt-on coming, I might just save the body for that. With that four-month wait on the paint job, I kinda suspect they'll show up around the same time.

I'm gonna start asking around LA, I bet you're right. There has to be someone around here who can do a nitro finish. Of course, this city is a total ghost town right now.

If there are any LA folk reading this, and you have some suggestions, I'm all ears.

Went on this quest fairly recently (not necessarily a refin, but looking to have a new JM body finished or purchase a body/finish from someone). Guitar Mill was what I ended up going with. Lay's and RS Guitarworks also seem to get pretty good reviews, but the lead times are a couple months still (RS Guitarworks also quoted me a price quite a bit higher than Lay's or Guitar mill). I tried contacting Rowyco Kustoms and Marty Bell as well, but they have both stopped doing nitro finishes. You might have better luck finding someone local in LA (I feel like I see other people's projects here who get good nitro finishes locally from some people)?

For what it's worth, I ended up going with Guitar Mill over MJT for the same concerns you had. I've assembled two MJT partscasters in the past, but had problems with all of them being too fragile in terms of flaking off in weird ways (although these were all metallic finishes, I've heard his transparent and clear ones are a little more durable?). This is my third body (two JM builds and a Tele build) that I've bought and had finished by Guitar Mill and the quality of the work has been excellent and exactly what I was looking for each time (again, all metallic finishes/colors). You're right that the lead time is quite long though...the last two times, it has been a fair bit longer than the quoted lead time as well (I think I waited a little over 5 months for this most recent one). Been worth it in the end each time though.

[hamletpowpowpow]

Okay. I pretty much reached out to every Nitro (and a few Poly) refinishers I could find.

First, MJT confirmed to me that their finishes are intentionally more fragile and designed to induce aging. They were really nice to deal with though, quality people.

Guitar Mill does amazing work at a very reasonable price, but their turnaround is 4 months, which I'm just not patient enough for.

I decided to go with Starr Guitars based out of Florida. They get top-notch reviews, and their customer service has been AMAZING, even with the world being shut down. Price is reasonable, and the turnaround is six weeks which is great. When all is said and done, I'll post photos.

[FenderBob]

Regarding Starr Guitars, I am a bit confused, they have a big disclaimer on their webpage that makes it sound like they don't do refins.

Refinishing Options
We are no longer accepting refinish work except for the following:
Vintage guitars needing restoration
Gibson Historic needing a fresh look
NOTHING ELSE WILL BE ENTERTAINED!
We have become far too busy with production that even these two exceptions will take a long time to turnaround. We cannot entertain anything else.

guessing they only paint bare wood bodies?

[hamletpowpowpow]

Sorry, my bad. I'm having a new guitar made - so the guitar is being finished, not re-finished.

Regarding Starr Guitars, I am a bit confused, they have a big disclaimer on their webpage that makes it sound like they don't do refins.

Refinishing Options
We are no longer accepting refinish work except for the following:
Vintage guitars needing restoration
Gibson Historic needing a fresh look
NOTHING ELSE WILL BE ENTERTAINED!
We have become far too busy with production that even these two exceptions will take a long time to turnaround. We cannot entertain anything else.

guessing they only paint bare wood bodies?

[cmatthes]

Looking at the Starr Guitars website, I was instantly put off by the fact that they don't give prices up front.

I'll pass...

[FenderBob]

Really like the target burst that starr offers, haven't seen it offered by others.

[hamletpowpowpow]

Yr call, no skin off my nose - but having just gone through this process, the only Nitro finishers I could find that give pricing upfront is Guitar Mill and MJT. Everyone else is smaller and I had to e-mail for quotes. I didn't find that offputting or shady in the slightest.

I found Starr via Best Guitar Parts / Sound Guitar Works, and when I researched them, lots of people across multiple web boards recommended them. The email correspondence has been awesome, the price on par with MJT and Guitar Mill, and the turnaround time is reasonable.

Looking at the Starr Guitars website, I was instantly put off by the fact that they don't give prices up front.

I'll pass...

[Singlebladepickup]

Definitely interested in Starr Guitars, but their website doesn't really show many examples of their work to go by. I'd wanna know if they can match a color reasonably well in Nitro, and how much does a NOS finish cost.

[hamletpowpowpow]

Just to follow up on this.

I ended up having my guitar mill body finished by Starr guitars, and they did excellent work for a VERY fair price and speedy turnaround (1.5 months?). I had them do a NOS finish for me, but they'll also relic for you, if that's yr thing.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend them. I know the economy is bust, and we're all broke, but these are some good people. If you're looking to get a Nitro finish, I'd put these guys at the top of your list.

If I can figure out how to post images on here, I'll post pics.

[JVG]

Please do - we all love seeing pics here

That sunburst one above is beautiful.

Cheers.

[caivs]

Bumping this thread to see the results. Just go to https://imgur.com/ click the +New Post button in the top left and drag and drop your photos there and then copy the link here, probably the easiest way to share photos.

[hamletpowpowpow]

Alright. let's give this a shot:

https://imgur.com/D0rNUQY
https://imgur.com/IhVKKoD
https://imgur.com/Eag5NaB


I know black doesn't look all that fancy - but it actually reveals flaws and imperfections more than any other color. This is flawless. The finish is spot on. No swirls, drips, runs, bubbles, grit, nothing. I couldn't be happier. The turnaround time was about a month and change, the price was reasonable, and the customer service was second to none!

It's being paired with a black anodized aluminum neck from EGC. I'll post pictures when it's all finished.

Bumping this thread to see the results. Just go to https://imgur.com/ click the +New Post button in the top left and drag and drop your photos there and then copy the link here, probably the easiest way to share photos.

[patski]

That looks FANTASTIC!!!

[Deed_Poll]

They did a lovely job! I know how unforgiving black is - I had Spectrum guitar finishes take care of my Customaster and that was likewise a perfect job, but the guy running the operation sadly died a couple of years ago. There's something magical about a flawless black finish that can never come across in photos. Congrats!





P.S. if you click once more on the image on imgr then click the little 'share' icon, it will copy a link to your clipboard with a ".jpg" suffix; then if you put

[ IMG ]your image URL[ /IMG ]

it will show the images directly on your post