Hello all. I guess this question fits under this discussion heading.

I am desiring to paint my Stick pickup and wondered how to approach it, in regards to durability and bright, perhaps glossy finish?

I have seen photos of someone's pickup that is painted, maybe by Dan Chapman (if I remember correctly). But I was wondering how best to prepare the surface? And what kind of paint to use? I often work with acrylics on canvas or wood support. I'm wondering if maybe auto paint or enamel model paint might work better on the surface of the pickup housing, as I believe it is some kind of metal.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I think it was Eric Knapp who had his pick up painted. I think Emmett or Dan knew someone who could paint and they painted the pick up. If Eric is on here he can elaborate more. I recall his pickup having flames on it

Hi Mike, Which pickup do you have? The Block™ pickups are machined aluminum, and the Stickup™ is injection-molded plastic impregnated with carbon fibers.

@Jzzb8ovn, yes I do believe it was Eric's stick pickup that I saw. I think it was an SG-12.

Hi, Greg. It is one of The Block pickups types, pasv-4.

Hello,

Yes, my SG12 has a painted pickup.

I’m not aware of any others that do and there’s a fun story to go with it. I was a jazz guitar player and my good jazz guitar has gold hardware. I love the look of an archtop with lots of gold and wanted my Stick to have a similar aesthetic. I discussed this with Emmett and found out he generally does not like gold hardware and didn’t have any he could use for my Stick. With his permission I purchased a set of gold tuning machines and had them shipped to SE.

Once Emmett installed them on my rosewood SG he thought the instrument was out of balance in design. He called me up and asked if he could do something to bring balance back to the instrument. Of course, I would be delighted with anything Emmett came up with and told him to do whatever he wanted and surprise me. When I got the Stick I had no idea what he had done. I wish I had made an unboxing video because my reaction would have been one for the record books. I immediately called Emmett and thanked him. He offered to replace it with an unpainted one if I didn’t like it. I assured him I loved it and would keep it for my lifetime. I offered to pay extra for this wonderful work but he would not hear of that.

The paint job was done by Emmett’s son-in-law Mike McCarty. He is a makeup FX artist in the movie industry. Just for fun, you should look him up in IMDB, he has an extensive body of work and you might recognize some of it. The paint job reflects the turquoise dots and the gold machines. I call it my Gold Flame pickup. Emmett and I thought it might start a trend of people painting pickups but that has not happened.

That’s the story.

-Eric

Thanks for the story, Eric. I'm sure it was yours that I have seen, then. I wonder if I met you at one of the Interlochen seminars. I think I went in 2013.

Well, when I figure out the most durable process, we will be two. Then, perhaps it will become a trend. Some of these guys may think it sacrilege to alter the look of the Stick, but there are so many alternative customizable choices to make already, I can't imagine why it hasn't become a trend.

Yes, we did meet there. I remember your performances of your songs.


I think many didn’t realize my painted pickup was done by SE and not by me. There have been many Sticks customized over the years with Emmett being involved in lots of them. Have you seen Steve Adelson’s Stick with the custom planet inlays? It’s gorgeous.

Hope to see you back at Interlochen some day!

-Eric

I have seen Steve Adelson's inlays, but I pretend not to notice them. They only serve to puff him up!

SA knows I have the utmost respect for him. He is my Sensei!