Why You Suck at Painting

In this video we get right into the personal attacks and talk about a few reasons why you (maybe not you, but whatever) suck at painting. These are based on common mistakes that I hear about, and some that I have made. I hope you find it helpful.
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Don't forget to ask your questions in the comment section.
Thanks for watching.

[@RuffTymesBob]

Lack of patience gets me every time!

[@BradAngove]

I’m with you on that.

[@BummersAbound]

Thanks to Brad I used to suck at painting. Not anymore. Also, used to hate the prep work. Now I enjoy it. Not really sure why. The whole process is an art.

[@BradAngove]

“Fall in love with the process”

[@BummersAbound]

@@BradAngove Yes, I think you have to love it to make it through mistakes, setbacks, and disappointments. Can be so frustrating. But when a project turns out beautifully it’s an amazing feeling. Thanks again for facilitating that with the on point no BS tutorials.

[@garrettguitar]

That's quite interesting as I'm the same way. In my earlier days I used to dislike sanding / prep as a "necessary evil" that was very difficult to choke down, but now I truly enjoy it! I just break the steps up a lot to keep me focused. (Plus some nice power tools makes a big difference these days!😁)

[@bigkahuna100]

Thank you, Brad! Between your videos, and my mistakes, I'm finally gaining progress on my refinish. Cheers, brother!

[@BradAngove]

Glad to hear it!

[@CyclopsGuitars8642]

Dude,you should write a book about prepping,sanding,painting & tricks to painting.You’ll sell a lot of books/E-books

[@BradAngove]

That would be fun actually.

[@SweetTGuitars]

I agree with everything you said Brad. I think one of the biggest mistakes made by newcomers is to resign themselves to fixing mistakes in the next step! It almost never works out that way! Another great video brother. Thank you for everything you do! Peace & Love to you and your family. I hope the little one is doing great!

[@BradAngove]

Thank you Todd. I agree; saving imperfections for later is a common mistake.

[@danielbreaux1842]

Great tips!!

[@darrell5228]

Good advise , I know you help alot of people with your videos. That's great.

[@BradAngove]

Thanks Darrell

[@jthonn]

Ok I will admit to my mistakes, but I don't make them every time. Rushing is my worst one and it is usually the clear coat. Prep is 99% of any paint job. I have also learned that if you want a good clear coat to wait until the paint is cured, not just dried, sand and go on with the clear. If you put it on too soon it just blends with the paint. Sometimes these gloss paints may look and be plenty good enough without having to use clear coat at all. I have screwed up many jobs by doing a clear coat. Just my 2 cents Brad.

[@BradAngove]

Absolutely, those are the types of lessons that come from doing a few paint jobs.

[@briansimpson8116]

I DON'T suck at painting, because I've watched many of your rattle can painting videos. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦😎

[@BradAngove]

Atta boy! Glad to hear it.

[@ColtonMiller14]

I needed this in my life. Lol

[@davidmack7018]

Hey what's up Brad? Love the title🤣 Best David

[@BradAngove]

Haha thanks David

[@danandratis]

Thanks for the video Brad great timing just got a paint kit from Oxford (mentioned you) great tips - Just can't figure how you knew I sucked a painting - Cheers

[@BradAngove]

Figured I would roll the dice on that haha.

[@ramonzeira]

I'm learning the hard way. But learning tho.

[@BradAngove]

That’s the important part.

[@skutterbuster666]

How did you know i suck at painting? Honestly i've learnt alot from just watching a few of your vids. Had a few spots after filling that just kept showing once painted, couldnt fix it, but the rest of the guitar looks great I find that spray primer works fantastic for any paint, it works so well for getting a good finish and i also found that painting is a very small step of the process, the rest of it is sanding And regarding spray patterns, my friend is a really good artist who uses primarily spray cans, she gave me great advice in respect of that, certainly the 50/50 overlap and the distance and some awesome spray paint stockists in the UK, although their delivery times suck. Paint temperature is important too, if your spraying from a can, make sure you hold it in your hand, or down your top for 5 minutes just to warm it a little, even if its in a semi warm room, cold spray paint sucks. And i usually dump a can at around 4/5ths empty, because they tend to start spluttering, which can be a nightmare to sand without having to redo a large part. Also, i would always keep the same nozzle on the can, although different ones can be used for different effects, if your advanced enough to try that Great video.

[@BradAngove]

Putting the can in warm water for a few minutes works really well. Also, keep your clean nozzles from cans that are done in case one jams up on you on another can.

[@jimmydevine4862]

Just finished several coats of sanding sealer this weekend, gonna let it dry till next weekend, by the end of next weekend, that sucker will be Dakota red!

[@BradAngove]

Nice!

[@jeffreyeagen4896]

What do they say? Prep work is 90 percent of a good paint job?

[@vontinkles]

89.5%

[@BradAngove]

Sounds about right

[@jjacks-21_12]

Using your wipe on tutorial right now, for a Epiphone Casino build! Thank you - I do suck. It’s good to be recognized.

[@BradAngove]

Haha I hope it goes well!

[@ricksigurdson2016]

No I don't suck at painting. Watching the video cause I missed you. But babies do that. Good video. It would be a lot better if I knew this about 55 years ago. Again good to see you back.😉

[@BradAngove]

Thanks Rick! Glad to hear you don’t suck haha.

[@andysaucedo3226]

This is why we-those that suck- need the in-person tutorial: "a two week intesive course covering all your DIY needs and wants. From level sanding to buffing. Enroll now in the Brad Angove Academy, and earn your certificate." Got the sales pitch down and everythang-what?! 🎤

[@BradAngove]

Haha very nice. Head of marketing!

[@borgonianevolution]

2x blurt n squirt spray bombs usually turn out like super heavy ass unless you at the very least preheat the cans properly. Maybe get the aftermarket nozzles to make life easier on people who have yet to get the motion down properly. they are great for back yard projects or yard furniture restos but for a good guitar finish they are far too heavy in my opinion.

[@landofahhs_1]

Environment, you nailed my problem. Dusty gravel roads with traffic. Even if there's no traffic, as soon as paint is applied a kid on an ATV or dirt bike comes blowing by...nevermind the occasional combine or tractor. 😊

[@BradAngove]

That will certainly make things more difficult

[@KentFoy]

Thank you Brad. Guess my adhd kicks in when I paint and I rush lol.

[@BradAngove]

I know the feeling

[@ceruleanguitars6281]

Impatience is a project killer and I am the worst offender I know. All of your points are good. They would be even better if every painter listened. Part of the reason I mostly use stains now. Good video. Hope you're well and getting some sleep.

[@BradAngove]

Thank you; I’m getting about the same comically small amount of sleep as I used to at this point.

[@surge98]

Lots of good advice. Regarding prep work before painting, would you recommend some type of sealer for an alder body, or can I sand it to 320 grit and then start with my primer coats?

[@BradAngove]

You can go with primer. A sealer first wouldn’t hurt, but shouldn’t be necessary.

[@jrg770]

The most difficult part is the final clear coats. What brand? Waht product? How many coats? Time between coats? You would think someone knows the answer to what the pro shops do. Instwad there are a hundred theories and zero agreement lol. Cleraly most of us don't have access to whatever the pros use. The finishes can look fine but they are soft and eventually turn to rubber or gummie with a bit of heat and friction (from playing). How do you get that glass hard finish? I have has 3 good looking finishes that within a year didn't hold up because they never really cured like a proper hard glass finish.

[@BradAngove]

The pros use two component clears with gardeners in them and isocyanates that can’t be filtered out to get those really hard finishes. See my video on getting a professional clear coat with spray cans for about the closes thing you can do without a proper spray setup.

[@razor3586]

Great videos. I think I rushed the clear coats. Did my first coat and got some orange peeling in spots, to fix it should I wait until the base coat is cured or follow the clear coat instructions? wait 48hrs and re sand down and reapply?

[@BradAngove]

I’d wait for it to dry fully, sand smooth with 800 grit, and then go through the usual clear coat process.

[@davidkadlec3518]

Prep is everything. You can't put good over bad ,Cleanliness is Godliness. 7 p's proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance. 😊 . Get em Brad thx

[@BradAngove]

Haha I know a few people who need to get that tattooed on their forearms.

[@rdisipio]

what grit would you recommend using after the sealer/primer? 400? And after the paint itself but before the top coat? Should it be finer than 400?

[@BradAngove]

I go 400 or 600 after sealer. 800 after top coat.

[@reidbennett3586]

Hey Brad! Kind-of an open ended question. I have a guitar that I want to paint like a les paul goldtop, but without binding. It's a poplar mockingbird body, and I have minwax gunstock stain and VHT primer/gold metallic engine paint since it was the closest color/texture I could find. I'll use a 2k clear gloss on top of everything. My question is: How can I finish this with a hard edge between the 2 different finishes, and without the grain popping out? I'm thinking about staining the whole thing, and then applying sealer until the grain is closed, and then taping the edge and doing the gold top like you'd normally do a metallic flake finish. Also, to fill the tape line between the stained portion and the gold, should I spray a coat of clear before I lay down any primer, or maybe a coat of gold before primer? Thanks!

[@BradAngove]

You’ve got the process right in terms of dealing with the line I think. Just use the thinnest tape you can get for the line to prevent a larger ridge. Wait until the end for the clear coat, you will need a few coats to get rid of that ridge.

[@stfu5617]

Hey brad! Hey I’m thinking of buying a solomusic Strat kit, I was wondering if you ended up upgrading it? My question: could I get something on par with say, a mim fender if I were to just keep the body/neck and upgrade the rest? Thanks

[@BradAngove]

I generally upgrade all of my kits. If you are quite good at setup you could get something that sounds the same as the mim. You might have to put in some work on the neck to get it to feel the same.

[@wolflahti412]

I can't count the number of times I've been told to spray a number of light coats instead of a single heavy coat. Good advice, certainly, but no matter how light I try to spray my paint, I still get drips and runs. One cause of this could be being too close to the work, but I maintain the recommended distance, so that's not my issue. Any thoughts, ideas what else I might be doing wrong?

[@markfarnsworth3340]

Too close to the project and the paint runs, too far from the project and the paint sprays dry (becomes textured and uneven). It’s better to do 5 light/thin coats than 1 heavy/thick coats. Is the environment too humid? Is the project free of any leftover contamination (dust, paint thinner/mineral spirits/etc)? Is the room too cold?

[@BradAngove]

Mark is 100% on the right track with those questions. I would add: is it cold where you’re spraying?

[@Mr.Monster1313]

Whats a good sanding sealer to use? And what a good grain filler to use ?

[@BradAngove]

It depends on what type of paint you’re using. I’m fond of the grain filler and sanding sealer from Oxford supply. I also like the vinyl sealer from Mohawk.

[@justindrake-torres2519]

Questin, can you paint over binding on guitar's. painting my first custom, and most of the options only had binding, so yes or no?

[@BradAngove]

Yes

[@velocelt]

I've watched almost all of your paint videos and I'm pretty much guilty of almost ALL of these mistakes. I have realized however, that the glassy-smooth painted finishes on guitar bodies are simply beyond my abilities. I don't have a clean environment to spray in and even on the occasional days when the temperature is just right for trying to spray outdoors, I'll most likely have wind issues, or even if it's not wind then there will be some other issue like trying to hold a heavy guitar up with one hand, not having great light, and then getting just a millisecond too-long lingering in one spot and BOOM - runs. I give up. I simply can't do spray finishes. Any future guitars I build I've resigned myself to finishing only with paints or finishes that can be applied by hand, preferably indoors, and low-VOC. That complicates matters and seriously limits choices for finish as well. I don't mind NOT having those beautiful opaque, glassy finishes, but have realized the limitations of my situation and come to terms with wanting to work more with natural woods and natural finishes. Instead, I live vicariously through your videos and know even with your level of skill, you still mess things up on occasion or change something and do it all over again - like you did recently with the transparent green/blue finish on that one guitar kit.

[@BradAngove]

If I have a chance I will see about doing a tutorial on nice glossy opaque finishes by hand. The low-voc piece may be an issue. Epoxy might be a solution. I’ll think on it.

[@velocelt]

@@BradAngove - I'll be interested to see if it can be done. Well, if it can be done *well.* I've seen some videos of acrylic paint finishes with hand-rubbed oil over that, but I wonder about the durability of that. Due to workshop limitations and such I'd pretty much given up on doing fully opaque, glassy-smooth finishes. Kind of figured maybe just doing natural wood and sticking to stuff like hand-rubbed finishes.

[@BradAngove]

Those are good options too.

[@mrNobody100]

i suck at painting? I"LL HAVE YOU KNOW i resemble that remark! hahah lolz... the lack of patience and the distaste for sanding is probably why i won't do any more guitar painting or kits anymore.... i would like to be wrong about that statement, but after 3 different paint jobs on guitars, i see what habits i'm apparently unwilling to change....

[@BradAngove]

Well at least you know where the issue arises I guess haha.

[@jimmydevine4862]

I think I suck at paint for a lot more reasons than that! 😂😂 I have a tele body that has a catalyzed urethane finish. Do I have to strip it down to the wood to apply nitro color and a 2k clear? Thank you. BTW, how’s fatherhood going!?

[@BradAngove]

You can just sand it smooth with 600 grit and go from there. Fatherhood has been good to me so far haha. I’m sure it will have its ups and downs.

[@benpowersguitar]

I don't suck at painting. I watched your videos first.

[@BradAngove]

Excellent

[@minhpham4198]

Do you have any tip on painting curves or horns?

[@BradAngove]

I do. I’ll be posting a video shorty on tips for painting guitar bodies specifically based on their shape, but for those areas the main tip is fast/light passes to avoid running.

[@ogreunderbridge5204]

Sucking paint leads to neural solvent damage :)). I see no draft ventilations in most of your videos. Do you just policy fine sanding away any airborne spray particle nibs you get or am I just going brainwashed consumist overkill on equipmentation really needed, as usual ?

[@BradAngove]

You are correct, and safety is important. My approach to this may be ok for the hobbyist I think, but if you’re doing this frequently I would definitely say better ventilation is needed in most circumstances. For me, the benefit is that I’m in a gigantic warehouse. It’s almost like sanding outside. A mask would still be advisable though.

[@billydillon5132]

can i use 2k clear coat over true oil

[@BradAngove]

I’ve never tried. It’s certainly not recommended, but it may work if the tru oil is fully dry.

[@stinkybritches9104]

Not enough lighting is also a reason you (I) suck. It's hard to paint properly if you can't see what you are painting.

[@keithclark486]

Most definitely. If you can't see what you're doing ' the rest is useless.

[@No1414body]

And what about touching the sanded surface with your bare hands, skin oils kill good paint jobs

[@BradAngove]

Indeed it does.

[@BradHutchings]

My name obviously has nothing to do with it.

[@BradAngove]

Hahaha

[@James12692]

First comment let’s goo

[@angrygromit93]

Why do I suck at painting? Easy, because I'm not Brad Angrove

[@BradAngove]

But then why do I suck?

[@angrygromit93]

@@BradAngove because your compressor is working backwards?

[@BradAngove]

I should have thought of that…

[@stuartbarker9373]

#2 Russian - gets blamed for everything these days.

[@leftyo9589]

it does sound like a russian cant paint.

[@BradAngove]

Too much vodka… I left that one out.

[@bapt_andthebasses]

Great content but oh my god, your audio is so bad, my ears cry.

[@BradAngove]

Yes, I forgot my other microphone that day. Sorry about that.