Dartfords Nitrocellulose Guitar Lacquer - Aerosol Spray Cans & Bottles

Finishing your guitar body in a colour rather than clear finish can dramatically change the personality of the guitar. Often, though, the grain of the guitar's wood is too pretty to hide, which is where our nitrocellulose lacquers are ideal. Our vivid, colour-fast dye tinted nitrocellulose guitar lacquers are available in over 25 colours including natural browns, classic sunburst tones and contemporary shades so whatever effect you're going for we've likely got a colour to suit.

Noteworthy Colours

Some of the colours have been developed for specific purposes:

• Gibson Cherry is Heritage Cherry Red sprayed onto a mahogany neck & body
• Gibson Mahogany is Dark Rich Mahogany sprayed onto a mahogany neck & body
• Candy Apple Red can be made by spraying Tomato Red over Inca Silver or Aztec Gold Metallic Cellulose Paint
• Gretsch Orange is Light Orange
• Ageing finishes and parts can be done using Lightest Brown
• 50s Sunburst is made with Dark Yellow, Light Red and Tint Black
• 60s Sunburst is Dark Yellow with two of our Pigmented Nitrocellulose Guitar Lacquers, Strong Cherry Red and Solid Black
• Lemon Burst is Light Yellow with Amber around the outside

Colour Representation

Every effort has been made to accurately represent these tinted colours, but really the swatches shown should only be used as approximate guidelines. The swatches themselves are all made in the same way:

• 6x6" square of Swamp Ash, filled with our Neutral Thixotropic Grain Filler
• 3 coats of our Clear Cellulose Sanding Sealer
• 2 coats of the colour lacquer
• Allowed to dry overnight before photographing

We have shown some colours, for example the Dark Rich Mahogany and Heritage Cherry Red, applied to Mahogany as well as Swamp Ash, as these colours are often used on Mahogany bodied guitars.

The final colour you achieve will vary from these swatches due to:

• Variations in how computers and mobile devices display colours
• The colour of the wood to which the lacquer is applied
• How many coats are applied
• The thickness of each coat

What is the process for using these lacquers?

Starting with bare wood, the finishing process is:

• Sand wood to 320 grit
• Apply grain filler if the wood is porous (e.g. Swamp Ash or Mahogany), sand to 320 grit
• Apply Cellulose Sanding Sealer, sand to 600 grit
• Apply your choice of tinted Nitrocellulose Guitar Lacquer, do not sand
• Finish with Clear Nitrocellulose Lacquer top coat
• Polish

How much is needed to spray a guitar body?

On average we would recommend either:

• 1 Aerosol Spray Can, or
• 1 250ml Bottle (and you'll usually have about 100ml left)

If you're also spraying the neck and headstock, as is often the case for set-neck guitars, you will likely need 2 Aerosols.

Which base coat should be used underneath?

If you are spraying onto a porous wood such as Swamp Ash or Mahogany, you will first need to use a grain filler such as dartfords Thixotropic Grain Filler.

For all of our nitrocellulose lacquers we recommend using dartfords Clear Cellulose Sanding Sealer as the base coat.

How many coats?

This tinted lacquer is purely for look rather than building up the finish, so you only need to spray as many coats as you need to achieve the strength of colour that you want. The more coats you apply, the more intense the colour will be.

Does it need a top coat?

Yes. These tinted nitrocellulose lacquers are not top coats, and should not be polished directly. We recommend using dartfords Clear Nitrocellulose Guitar Lacquer.

Can this lacquer be polished?

We don't recommend it. This lacquer is see-through, and the colour you see depends to a degree on the film thickness of the finish. As part of polishing you are sanding back and removing some of the finish - if this is done at all unevenly the result will be a patchy, variable colour finish. Without a top coat, as the lacquer wears through use this will also cause the film thickness - and therefore the colour - to change. As such, it's best to put a few coats of clear lacquer on top so that all polishing and wear only affects the clear top coat, and won't change the appearance of the guitar. Using a clear top coat will also allow you to achieve different sheen levels such as matt, satin and gloss, to your preference.

Can this lacquer be sprayed over metallic paints?

Yes! We urge you to do this as the results are absolutely stunning. The most famous example of this in the guitar world is Candy Apply Red, which is a see-through red lacquer sprayed over a metallic silver or gold (from our range use Tomato Red over either Inca Silver or Aztec Gold Metallic Cellulose Paint). The beauty of this type of finish is not just in the colours themselves, but in that layering. Unlike a straight colour metallic finish, using a see-through colour over the top of the metallic changes the way that light reflects and bounces around the body, giving greater depth and richness to the finished effect. This isn't limited to just Tomato Red, though - if you fancy trying something outside of traditional then consider trying our yellows, ambers, blues, gr.. well, any of them. They're amazing.

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