It's been a few days. I decided that I really did not like the new blue color, so I completely removed it and am re-refinishing the guitar body. First I tried epoxy paint in a shade called "Biscuit." This paint is usually used for chipped exteriors of household appliances like washing machines and refrigerators. Then I used gold enamel paint, then shellac, then nitro-cellulose lacquer pigmented with a white opaque pigment from Castin' Craft (usually intended for polyester casting resin and clear casting epoxy), then clear acrylic lacquer, then white nitro-cellulose lacquer again, but this time with PearlEx pigment MacroPearl sparkle flakes mixed in, then clear nitro-cellulose lacquer for a clear-coat. Most of the spraying was done with spray guns and my compressor. [I don't know what the term "flash" means for someone using spray equipment. It's written into some of the instructions, so I'll have to find out.]

I should mention that I originally planned to paint this guitar differently. My kids' friends were offering to buy my guitars before I even finished working on them. Remembering how I was as a teenager, I was afraid that one of the boys would sell, trade, or even give away a guitar while I was out. Now, in my experience, the only way to keep teenagers away from my personal stuff (usually this has been tools) is either to make it look ugly or paint it flat black. Unbelievably, if a tool is flat black, the kids don't seem to see it. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that really is the way it seems to be. All my stuff painted flat black sticks around. Anything shiny disappears pretty quickly.

After some thought, I decided that I really did not want a flat black Strat, so I actually threw the guitar body in the Texas dirt to try to make it look ugly. Then I showed it to my teenagers, making sure to point out how the dirt mixed into the white lacquer. This seems to have worked quite well. I have a feeling that I'll be able to keep this guitar around forever (I hope).

On another note, while going around town searching for pigments, dyes, and stains, I noticed that no one knows anything about "pigment." No one includes everyone at any craft store (including Hobby Lobby), everyone at any paint store (we have several of the most popular paint store franchises located in our town), and everyone at any hardware/lumber/home improvement store (again, we have the most popular franchises located locally). The clerks at the hardware/home improvement stores and at the paint stores knew that they stocked stain; however, I couldn't help but notice that they had no idea which stain went with which medium.