Custom finish in London

[negativezebra]

Hi all,

I’m considering to have my axe refinished. I don’t have the time, space and equipment so I won’t be able to do it myself even I’d love to. So I’d appreciate any suggestions in London, UK or anywhere close to SW London. I’m not looking for fancy graphics but would like to see options for Caparison style finishes if possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JimF]

I'm currently waiting to get my guitar back from Bow Finishing in Surrey. Its only a solid colour refinish but will put a thread up when it lands.

By Caparison finish do you mean the hand sponged two tone? I love that finish.

I wouldn't rule out sending your guitar by courier to someone further afield - that's what I did.

I researched UK finishers and found quite a lot are setup around spraying nitro finishes for people either wanting to restore vintage instruments or wanting to have their vintage guitar refinished in a different (but manufacturer standard) colour but done using period correct methods etc.
I went to Bow Finishing as I wanted a high gloss poly finish, sprayed by professionals, as I can do the 'nitro rattle can finishes' (offered by a lot of luthiers), myself at home.

Others worth a look at Sims, and Rexter guitars.

 

[Winspear]

+1 for Sims, worth a little travel/courier

 

[JimF]

At the end of the day couriers are generally fine, and if anything goes wrong that you might need to retrieve the guitar in person, I don't think any where in the UK is more than about 6 hours drive from anywhere else, its not like its being sent to Thailand
Sims did seem extremely good quality, but their standardised pricing was more than I was willing to pay for what I was having done (single gloss colour, no flake or anything). I was torn between vintage white and a metalflake gold (like the JP7s), and if I was having the latter I'd have probably gone to Sims.

 

[negativezebra]

Thanks Jim, this is really helpful. I have reached to Bow finishing and Chris responded to me. I have to call him to talk about the details but couldn’t have found the time since it’s close to year’s end and the work is hectic.

Yep I was referring to sponged/brushed finishes like the frozen sky. Not still sure about it though. This may result in devaluating the axe and I may instead sell it to buy something cheaper as I don’t have much time to play it anyways.

Again, it’s really appreciated. I may give Chris a call and driving to Surrey is not a big deal as I live quite close to him.

 

[JimF]

Chris is a nice guy. Helpful. He's busy spraying my guitar at the minute! I wouldn't be too concerned about devaluing the guitar. That said it's not cheap. I'm having the body and headstock painted vintage white, and that's working out about £450. If you have a guitar worth say £750, it might be worth selling it, saving a little, and getting a Caparison!

 

[foreright]

Chris is a nice guy. Helpful. He's busy spraying my guitar at the minute! I wouldn't be too concerned about devaluing the guitar. That said it's not cheap. I'm having the body and headstock painted vintage white, and that's working out about £450. If you have a guitar worth say £750, it might be worth selling it, saving a little, and getting a Caparison!

Yowser that's a lot more than I was expecting! They are disassembling / stripping old finish / repainting / reassembling for that cost presumably??

 

[JimF]

That's me sending a freshly made body in raw wood (no sealer or finish or anything), and a used condition neck, all hardware removed. Although I don't think I saved any money by stripping it down myself (hardware wise I mean, not finish)

 

[negativezebra]

I already have a Caparison but it has natural finish and I feel like a little bit bored of the appearance but not sure about the cost. I guess I'll wait for some time to see if a trade would be better.

 

[JimF]

I know you don't have the facilities, but that finish is probably one of the easiest guitar finishes to replicate yourself DIY, and then send it off to be lacquered.

 

[negativezebra]

That sounds like a good idea for mid spring maybe. I can utilise my garage with some DIY stuff. Thank you!

 

[pondman]

Re finishing., be prepared to have your pants pulled down wherever you go.

 

[JimF]

I can confirm!
If this build was a normal parts build, I would have done it myself. But this build was an alternative to buying a new guitar, so I wanted to have that whole "receiving a new guitar" experience when I opened the case for the first time.