Larry Coon - January 2025 Customer of the Month
Guitar maker Larry Coon is our January 2025 Customer of the Month!
Even before his main career ended, Larry Coon had built seven acoustic guitars, finishing them by spraying them with nitrocellulose lacquer. He uses a Fuji Q3 system with a T75G gravity gun. He’s gradually making this his new business, while still developing his skills.
Soon after he bought the Q3 system about two years ago, he emailed Roger, saying
"I recently purchased a Q3 with the T-75G gun to shoot lacquer on acoustic guitars. I’ve sprayed one so far, and it’s been a joy to use (one guitar= 14 coats of lacquer)."
Fourteen coats! This takes a lot of patience and care.
And since then, Larry has changed his process to 15 coats!
These photos are of a Parlor guitar that he had just put strings on.
This parlor guitar has Black Limba back & sides, Western Red Cedar top, Purpleheart bindings, Spanish Cedar neck, East Indian Rosewood fingerboard & bridge, and various hardwoods for accents.
Black Limba acoustic guitar with finish sprayed on with a Fuji Q3 system with T75G gun — some glimpses of his workshop in the background © Larry Coon
Closeup view of the Black Limba parlor guitar after 14 coats of lacquer © Larry Coon
View of base of the Black Limba parlor guitar with a glimpse of his workshop © Larry Coon
More on the process of coating acoustic guitars:
The refinished Parlor acoustic guitar with more view of workshop where he builds them — © Larry Coon
Larry: A little more on my process: Before spraying lacquer I pore fill with epoxy resin (currently System 3 Silvertip) and sand back down to the bare wood, and repeat until the pores are all filled. I then lay down four coats of vinyl sealer, and sand flat the next day.
I then spray lacquer over several days. Each day I lay down four coats of lacquer, undiluted, one hour apart, and leave overnight.
The next day I flat sand with either P400 (hand) or P500 (handheld sander) until I get a uniform dull finish (any bright spots are low spots) and repeat the process.
After four days (12 coats) I end up with a very thin and level surface.
The final day I repeat the sanding process and then lay down three coats with a 60/40 dilution.
I then hang the guitar to cure per the lacquer manufacturer’s recommendation – I currently use Cardinal luthier’s lacquer which cures in 12 days.
After 12 days I wet sand from P600 to P2000, then buff with fine and extra fine compounds, and finally wax with paste wax.
Larry sprays the lacquer with the same 5100-3 air cap that came with his T75 spray gun.
He says he gets a fine finish without having to buy a smaller tip for a slower spray. Maybe this is because nitrocellulose lacquer dries so fast?
More glimpses of Larry Coon’s workshop
Larry Coon — workshop view with Parlor acoustic guitar — © Larry Coon
Good view of part of workshop behind the finished guitar. © Larry Coon
Two T75G spray guns are better than one
This past summer, Larry ordered a second T75G spray gun, along with a Fuji 7095 spray gun holder for it. Larry:
“I want to keep one gun only for shooting guitars with lacquer, and the second gun is for any other projects.”
Note the two T75G spray guns in the background. © Larry Coon
More photos that show off the finish he achieves:
© Larry Coon
© Larry Coon
© Larry Coon
You can now Follow Larry Coon’s work on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/larry_coon_lutherie/
Larry added some accessories soon after starting with the Q3:
Later he bought the second 5175 T75G spray gun and an extra Fuji 7095 spray gun holder, for use with other projects spraying different fluids.
You can become a customer of the month
Send your photos and videos to Roger@PhelpsRefinishing.com, along with comments about your equipment and process. Include photos of your workshop if you can, since these are always of special interest to other craft artists.
Cathy Morgan, his website consultant, will work with you to create your Customer of the Month page here on the website.
You can be a professional in business — with as many links for publicity as you like — or an amateur. Doesn’t matter which. Your photos will be credited with a copyright symbol, to the personal or business name that you designate.