nitro over poly?

[Stratelejazzuar]

So, um, yeah, might be silly of me to ask, but has anyone ever taken a poly paint body, then sprayed nitro clearcoat overtop to get that aged/yellowed look over time?

is this even possible?

[FenderBob]

I believe it is possible -  but I am far from being an expert on paint.

[RumorsOFsurF]

That's a good question.  I've wondered that myself....

[dain]

i once did nitro over poly and it crackled like paint does in the sun.  a little too extreme and impossible to control, most of it just flaked off...

[uvacom]

AFAIK this is exactly how most AVRI fenders are done today, also the Edwards "Lacquer Taste" guitars and some others. A  nitro top coat over a poly base coat is very common.

Now, as to the results you would get just shooting nitro clear over an already finished body...I couldn't say and I'd imagine adhesion might be a problem unless you know what you're doing.

[DB]

According to ReRanch solid color nitro over poly is acceptable, and I'm doing Dapne Blue this way right now with good results.

From ReRanch:

" Preparation

(Note: If the old finish is a polyurethane finish you will have a difficult time completely stripping the finish back to raw wood. It is acceptable with poly finishes to sand the old finish with #220 dry and use the old finish as the base. If that is to be your direction skip ahead to the section on priming). "

Read it in context here:  http://home.flash.net/~guitars/solids.html

DB

[greyman]

I have been thinking about doing this to my Baritone Jaguar.  Just spraying OLY White over the sunburst. 
I love the way arm wear and dings look when sunburst finishes are under the solid color.

[glimmertwin]

AFAIK this is exactly how most AVRI fenders are done today

...in all fairness, I believe only the sealer coat is a plasticizer and the color and clear coats are all nitro.  There is a big difference in the hardness of the finish due to thickness added when more poly coats are used for color coats or clear coats vs. it's use as a sealer only.  All Fenders from the mid 60s onwards(I have heard it used as early as 63) used fullerplast which isn't Poly per se, but a type of plasticizer that was applied very thin to help expedite the wood preparation.

[guitartist65]

It can be done.  As a matter of fact, I've heard of people taking the guitars into a tanning salon to get the UV rays to yellow it out.  Just make sure you rough up your poly before you shoot the clear.  This will give it some tooth to grab onto.

[Stratelejazzuar]

It can be done.  As a matter of fact, I've heard of people taking the guitars into a tanning salon to get the UV rays to yellow it out.  Just make sure you rough up your poly before you shoot the clear.  This will give it some tooth to grab onto.

awesome, thanks for the replies and insight.

i've been thinking about how a RI lake placid blue would look if i scuffed up the clearcoat real good, then applied some nitro clearcoat and let it age (tanning booth, etc, haha). that way i could get that nice vintage greened out metallic blue colour without paying out the ass.

[DB]

I don't know firsthand, but I've heard metallics are a bit more particular about the prep than solid colors.  When I had my Reissue Bass VI done in Ice Blue Metallic, the shop that did it (in poly paint) required that it be stripped (by them luckily, for only $50).

DB

[Stratelejazzuar]

yeha, my other scheme was to get a RI mustang in daphne blue, do the scuff-up, nitro clear coat, then get it yellowed up to get that greenish hue that's