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Barbie tuners

I bought a Barbie guitar at the thrift shop a while back. It had a set of fully functional tuners on it, a nut, bridge and a nice straight neck. I guess it is 1/2 size kids guitar. Not bad for 1.00! Thing is the tuners have bright pink buttons. I have spray painted one of them black for a d-bow and that seems to work ok but now I'm thinking. Sorry for rambling.
I'm wondering how I can convert them from just pink, to psychedelic! Gonna make a CB dulcimer for a hippie friend. She is a Deadhead, but I don't want to do a full on Grateful Dead build.
Anyone know what would be a good way to alter the tuning buttons?

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Attachments:

barbie.JPG, 3 MB

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on November 19, 2010 at 8:47am

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on November 19, 2010 at 12:46pm

Perfect Turkish, I thought about that paint technique but did not know if it could be done on such a small scale. I guess if I scale everything down it will work, Thanks! I'll let ya know how it goes!

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on November 19, 2010 at 2:24pm

No! Dude , if yer gonna paint'em I'll trade ya a set of plain ol white ones.
I want those pank tuners!

Seriously PM me .... dude really!

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on December 10, 2010 at 1:18pm

First attempt at swirl painting tuners.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on December 11, 2010 at 1:06pm

Here is the pic, I think!?

Attachments:

swirljob.jpg, 158 KB

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on December 11, 2010 at 1:25pm

That Turk is a stealthy guy. What was his paint recipe before he deleted his post? Was that Testors model paints floated on water?

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on December 12, 2010 at 6:18am

Hey really cool, now how did you do it! Inquiring minds want to know. ps, good to see you did not use the already cool pink tuners.

Bluesheart said:

Here is the pic, I think!?

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Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 12, 2010 at 6:46am

Wow dude, totally far out and groovy.

Bluesheart said:

Here is the pic, I think!?

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Permalink Reply by Craig Cox on December 12, 2010 at 8:18am

here's a link to the psychedelic tuner thread

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/swirljob-1?xg_source=activity

I agree, don't paint those pink tuners, get some cheapos from Gitty!

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on December 12, 2010 at 3:15pm

Thanks for the interest. I use Testors model paints floated on water in a plastic cup. Mixed dish soap with the water to break the surface tension( Borax seems to be the soap of choice, but I just used what I had in the kitchen). Taped the tuners to protect the steel parts from the water and paint.(I used electrical tape). Driped paint onto water with toothpicks, swirl it around to create a nice pattern. Dip tuner button into paint with a zig-zag motion. Once submerged in the water, I blew on the surface to disburse the rest of the paint and pulled the tuner out. Sorry, I can not seem to get the pic to attach open so you can see it.