How to Do a Tobacco Burst Finishing Using Aerosols?

One of our customers recently asked:

'Hi there, I have put together a Hofner style Violin Bass it is in raw timber, I want to Colour it in Tobacco Burst using Aerosols. Can you tell me what colour lacquers I require and also sealers. and can you supply these. I am new at this, never painted a guitar before. Hope to hear from you soon. Brian

Our Reply:

Hi Brian,  You should get away with two colours for the tobacco sunburst, that is the amber background and the tobacco for the edges. You will also need clear to build up the finish.

A sealer is optional. The clear lacquer can be used as the first coat before the colour, instead of a sealer. If the grain is deep you will probably want to use a sanding sealer and sand it back to get a flat surface. If the wood has very deep you might even want to use grain filler. The products are -   

Sanding Sealer
Vinyl Sealer
Grain Filler

The two colours you will need are -
Vintage Amber and the Tobacco Brown

Once the colour is on you will need to spray a lot of clear gloss over it to build up the thickness enough to cut it back and polish it. You can use either the -

Mohawk Tone Finish Gloss

Or the - Premium Stringed Instrument Lacquer

I would get 3-4 cans to have enough to build up enough coats on the bass. 