# How to swirl paint a guitar



## Mattmc74 (Apr 28, 2009)

This guy has this listed on ebay on how to swirl paint a guitar. You can learn how to do it from projectguitar.com for free! I hope nobody buys this.

INFO: How to Paint Swirl Guitar 2, Steve Vai Jem Ibanez - eBay (item 290313482759 end time May-01-09 06:41:36 PDT)


Video Clip added below.


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## ChrisPcritter (Apr 29, 2009)

good tip thanks...


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 29, 2009)

hell yea. thanks for the heads up. 

you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.


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## Mattmc74 (Apr 29, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> hell yea. thanks for the heads up.
> 
> you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.


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## Mattmc74 (Apr 30, 2009)

Here is the link from Projectguitar.com - Enjoy

Project Guitar :: Swirling a Guitar Body


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## Mattmc74 (Apr 30, 2009)




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## Variant (Apr 30, 2009)

*Holy shit that's awesome!*


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## Mattmc74 (Apr 30, 2009)

^ . Thats a nice swirl!


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## Mattmc74 (May 1, 2009)

Mattmc74 said:


>




My next 7 will be a green swirl like that.


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## Xiphos68 (May 1, 2009)

If I was to swirl my guitar and take the regular paint off it. Would it mess up the sound of the guitar?


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## Mattmc74 (May 1, 2009)

It may sound weird but I refinished an older Ibanez RG and it sounded better! Don't know way but I heard from a builder on here that the clear coat I used actually makes the guitar sound better. Its the same clear that Mike Sherman used on chris's RG refinish.


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## Xiphos68 (May 1, 2009)

Thanks


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## Mattmc74 (May 1, 2009)

No problem. Use a good quality polyurathane clear coat and you'll be golden.


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## vontetzianos (May 4, 2009)

Variant said:


> *Holy shit that's awesome!*


 
God I wish Ibanez still did the swirls, or at least opened up the damn custom shop to the public. A swirled green and black universe 7 would be awesome.


Does anyone know of any reputable swirlers around? All of them seemed to have gone AWOL.


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## RazorPlarx (May 4, 2009)

How should i prepare the guitar for this? as in...how do i get the old paint off? and it mentioned sealing it? how the heck do i do that?!!?!?!

I wanna do something like this to my Omen 6.
Purple and black maybe?
If its the same as the 2009 model its a basswood body...if that matters
EDIT: nvm i found this

All sorts of tuts for refinishing guitars
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial5.htm


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## Mattmc74 (May 4, 2009)

Sanding the body is my prefered choice. Chemicals can be really messy and smelly. And I have not used heat to strip paint so i can't comment on that.


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## hotrodded_wooden_ mill (May 4, 2009)

vontetzianos said:


> Does anyone know of any reputable swirlers around? All of them seemed to have gone AWOL.



Yes, one of the best, maybe even THE best is still around:

Alan from Out Of this swirled.com Home Page About Me and the Company

He can replicate any style of swirling and has added his own style to it.


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## vontetzianos (May 4, 2009)

hotrodded_wooden_ mill said:


> Yes, one of the best, maybe even THE best is still around:
> 
> Alan from Out Of this swirled.com Home Page About Me and the Company
> 
> He can replicate any style of swirling and has added his own style to it.


 
I saw this guys work a while back and to be honest I was not hugely impressed. I don't know, the colours on most of the swirls seem too clean cut which makes them look predictable. Perhaps its just not what I'd go for.

The only other I've seen nowadays is Perle Guitars who seem to do pretty good swirls. I don't know if I'd go with them as they don't reply to me emails which doesn't really fill me with confidence.

Here's one or two from Perle which I really liked:


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## hotrodded_wooden_ mill (May 4, 2009)

I've seen a Perle swirl up close and it was a big mess with lot's of runs of paint..

I prefer Alan's swirls. remember.. he can do them clean and messy. Here's a messy one:


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## Mattmc74 (May 4, 2009)

^ I think that looks really nice!


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## Mattmc74 (May 4, 2009)

Here is a pic of an SG style body I did. The owner of the guitar wanted me to make it look like flowing water and this is what I came up with.


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## poopyalligator (May 4, 2009)

so does the paint just kind of immediately attract to the body once you dip it in? It looks like it does from watching that video. Also what kind of paint do you use to acquire this?


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## Esp Griffyn (May 4, 2009)

Those Perle Swirls are vastly inferior to the out of this swirled jobs. The Perles just look messy, like it's all the guy can do, whereas Alan from out of this swirled looks like he can do anything.

I'd love to have him swirl my Xiphos in old Universe colours


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## Mattmc74 (May 4, 2009)

poopyalligator said:


> so does the paint just kind of immediately attract to the body once you dip it in? It looks like it does from watching that video. Also what kind of paint do you use to acquire this?



Most oil based paint works but you just have to test the paint before you do a body. Try other things painted with the same base coat paint that will be on the body of the guitar to practice with. Like scrap boards. You don't want to be resanding down the guitar down again and again.

And yes the paint does attract to the body.


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## poopyalligator (May 4, 2009)

Mattmc74 said:


> Most oil based paint works but you just have to test the paint before you do a body. Try other things painted with the same base coat paint that will be on the body of the guitar to practice with. Like scrap boards. You don't want to be resanding down the guitar down again and again.
> 
> And yes the paint does attract to the body.



thanks for the info, and congrats on your 7,000th post. Hopefully i will get to try this in the next couple of weeks.


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## vontetzianos (May 5, 2009)

There is also another smaller swirler in Israel called B&A Guitars. Customer service seems good but I don't know how reliable they are. Here's a few examples.


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## HaGGuS (May 5, 2009)

E.T guitars did an insane swirl for me.


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## RazorPlarx (May 5, 2009)

vontetzianos said:


>


i wish to do something like this..... but with purple instead of green.
This is how im thinking of doing it after removing all the hardware and neck:



Sand down guitar to wood
fill in any dents in the body
wet sand smooth
seal the body
Sand smooth again
undercoat white
dip into tub of swirl
pull out and blow excess off
leave it out to dry
clear cloat
replace parts
profit?
Any problems with the above?


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## poopyalligator (May 5, 2009)

what type of polyurethane would be good to put on top of the swirl?


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## vontetzianos (May 5, 2009)

HaGGuS said:


> E.T guitars did an insane swirl for me.


 
ET guitars have some cool stuff. I really want to get something like this done for me:





The only real difficulty I can see is if you have a neck made, it'll be hard to get someone to put "ibanez" on it with trademark infringement being the outcome.


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## hotrodded_wooden_ mill (May 5, 2009)

vontetzianos said:


> it'll be hard to get someone to put "ibanez" on it with trademark infringement being the outcome.



Just go to: 

Best-Decals.com, Your One-Stop Decal-Shop

And order some decals. You can put them on yourself. It's easy.


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## Mattmc74 (May 6, 2009)

^  Thanks for the link.


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## bloodline (Jun 4, 2009)

Mattmc74 swirled my guitar for me. Thanks matt


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## caughtinamosh (Jun 4, 2009)

EDIT: Shit! I didn't realise ET had been mentioned so much already.

Psst! I'll give you the instruction for free...

"Send it to ETGuitars." 

Seriously, Ernie's swirls...  .


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## poopyalligator (Jun 5, 2009)

caughtinamosh said:


>




That looks amazing.


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## Mattmc74 (Aug 25, 2009)

^ thats an awesome looking swirl!


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