How to finish masonite and plywood

[Stefano]

Happy 2013 to everybody!

So... I have a Danelectro bass in my hands. In a next discussion I'll show you in what a terrible condition it is... But now that I'm planning all the repairs that I have to do I'd ask you what kind of finish woud you apply on masonite and plywood (the kind of woods that compose the Danelectro).

I think that both of them are non-porous wood so wash coats and grain filler are unuseful. Am I right?

Thank you for your help

[Kerry Krishna]

 I'd actually like to see the terrible condition now Stefano. Hows abouts some pictures?

[Tim Mace]

Don't you mean ebonite which is bowling ball material but synth.?

[Paul Verticchio]

I'd use nothing more than Krylon or it's European equivalent. 

Danno bodies are not made from tonewoods.  They're made from industrial building materials (Masonite) that require no prep or finesse to finish.

And yes, our friend....we demand photos (: We're a nosey bunch (;

[Mark Pollock]

As far as I can recall, my old 60's Danelectro was a metallic copper finish on front and back, just sprayed over some kind of primer. The sides had a kind of white wallpaper/vinyl stickum on them to mask all the joints. There may have been three coats - I'm trying to remember the wear on the neck. Yeah, primer, then metallic coat, then color coat, maybe a clear finish on that.

If it was mine, I'd do a thin coat of primer, a coat of color, and some kind of really hard clear coat on top of that.

[Russell Vance]

I don't know what the original or re-issue Danno finish schedule is (anybody?) :   but I do know what ply and masonite require as a compatible finish: Automotive "bog" primer (the plywood will suck up finish somewhat)  followed by two-pack lacquer/poly and then clearcoats.  It's not like you are going to harm the tone of this instrument by the selection of finish. 

Rusty.

[Robbie Collins]

I studied a Danelectro with a purple sparkle finish a couple of months ago. The purple Dan'O was actually a burst with a pink metal flake toner and purple metal flake shader. The neck and body top coats were lacquer.  Here's a link to a metal flake color chart:

http://metalflakecorp.com/flake_chart.php