How to Pinstripe a Guitar

There are many pinstriped guitars from famous musicians that are collectibles. You can free-hand pinstripe a guitar for personalizing and customizing your instrument. Select from simple designs to complex ones. Choose one color or multiple colors.

Trace two outlines of your guitar onto individual pieces of cardboard. Cut out with scissors. You should now have two cardboard guitars to work with. Draw blocks for the bridge, strings, frets, pickup control, volume and tone controls and tremolo.

Draw the pinstripe design free-hand onto one of the cardboard cutouts. Use a pencil. Trace with a fine-tipped magic marker. This will give you practice controlling the design.

Make adjustments to the pinstripe design. Draw the final design selection on the second cardboard guitar with a fine-tipped magic marker. This will be your pattern to follow to pinstripe a guitar.

Pour a small amount of acrylic paint into a mixing cup or on a painter’s palette.

Hold artist paint brush at a 45 degree angle and dip 1/4 of the brush head into the paint. Shake brush up and down twice to remove excess paint.

Apply paint to guitar following the pinstripe pattern of the cardboard guitar (from Step 3). Paint design until brush is dry. Repeat Step 5 to pinstripe a guitar.

Air-dry your pinstriped guitar a minimum of 72 hours before using.