Step 5 : Sanding
Requires some patience. This step is one of the most time consuming but is very important to get right as you are reshaping the neck. I didn't mask the body as I would be painting over it, but if you are keeping your existing finish it is important to cover the surrounding area with masking tape to avoid being scratched by the sandpaper. Start with a very coarse grain to wear down the big lumps and progress to finer grades. This gets pretty boring but keep at it. You will need a sanding block or something similar to make sure the neck is smooth as just doing it with your hands wont get the smooth plane required. Any small bumps with be audible once the guitar has been restrung and you are sliding between the notes.
Step 6 : Masking tape
The ends of the neck had to be covered to avoid being sprayed. don't want to waste all the work getting to this point!
Step 7 : Respray
I wanted the colour to be very bright so I eventually chose this bright green colour. A spray can is recommended to get an even coverage of the base colours. This will require a few coats, it is much better to lightly layer the coats and wait for them to dry in between than try and get it all done quickly. This will result in paint drips and an uneven surface. Greened up the body and head looked like this:
Initially I covered the jack connecter to keep it metallic but eventually decided to paint over all the hardware. Leaving them in their original colour would break up the overall design so they got sprayed as well. Once that is dry the masking tape is removed/
