I applied a couple coats of clear lacquer to the headstock, and now it’s time for lettering!

I laid out the area where the “Les Paul” goes using blue tape and a photo of a ’58 headstock as a reference.

Next I enlisted the wife to use her cursive skills and a silver paint pen to write Less Paul (punny, right?)

Now it’s time to apply a punny sticker I had made.

All done and ready for some sealer.

I want to color the back of the neck, and the back of the body red. I needed to mask off the top so I wouldn’t screw it up. I also made a handle to hold it by. The handle is mounted in the bridge pickup hole.

After I masked it off, I sprayed the back cherry red

After letting the burst dry for a bit, i determined I wanted to do a bit more…

1. I wanted the perimeter a bit darker red.
2. I wanted to fix the dark spots near the controls

I sanded the dark spots a bit and took care of them pretty much. Then I sprayed more red. I got the edge looking like I wanted to, but I added a couple more “apprentice marks” that add character (as the wife calls it). I’m still happy with the results. Remember I’ve never painted a guitar before, let alone sprayed a burst.

The ugly spot is near the 3-way switch, and there are a couple dots here and there.

It looks less orange in person.

Today is the day to spray the burst. I was super nervous about it looking shitty. Spoiler, it came out pretty good.

The paint I bought is a cherry red sunburst finishing kit from stewmac.

I wanted to spray the top first, so I masked off the sides with blue tape.

Then I sprayed the top amber.

Next came the cherry red.

I tried the ber and red lacquer put on a piece of maple I had. It looks pretty cool!

I sprayed all the wood parts that will be painted with sanding sealer. This fills the grain up with a thick coat of stuff that can be sanded off level. This makes a good base to paint on and prevents a ton of lacquer from absorbing into the wood.

I found another gap in the headstock that needed to be filled with epoxy and sawdust.