Painting a melodica?

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Swordfishtrombone
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Painting a melodica?

Post by Swordfishtrombone »

I have this melodica that I bought a few months ago, and I'd really like to paint it and make it more visually appealing. :| The shell is drywall white :barf:, and I'm also thinking about doing the reverse color key thing (you know, white keys being black, black being white (or some other color maybe...). It's also worth saying that it's one of the old Yamaha pianica models, and the majority of the shell is made from some sort of metal (all of it is metal except for the end pieces, and those are plastic).

I'm thinking of going with some shade of pink for the shell and/or the black keys, and black for the white ones. Inspired by the drum kit that Jim Sclavunos used in Grinderman. :!!!:

I'll probably be using some spray can paint from Ace or something for this, but I'd like to get some input from you guys on how I'd actually go about painting it.

What do I do to prep the parts? Some light sanding?

With the keys, should I make sure to stuff something into where the things attach to them so they'll still fit? Should I worry about the paint adding enough to the size of the keys + shell to block their movement?

Also, it doesn't have the strap that's meant to go on the back for you to hold when playing, so what would you guys recommend for remedying that?

Some pics:

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It doesn't seem to mute the sound or anything if I block those four angled slots on the back, so I'm thinking I could hopefully attack a strap to those?
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Chankgeez
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Re: Painting a melodica?

Post by Chankgeez »

I think this's the only acceptable color scheme:

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Re: Painting a melodica?

Post by Swordfishtrombone »

Chankgeez wrote:I think this's the only acceptable color scheme:

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I may need to buy another melodica now... :lol:
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Re: Painting a melodica?

Post by Chankgeez »

:lol: :snax:
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
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Re: Painting a melodica?

Post by Achtane »

Yeah, just a light sanding is all that's needed. I painted the shell and white keys of mine; just spray lightly and there shouldn't be any fitting problems. If the keys rub you can always just sand the paint on the sides down a bit.
The slots are mostly there to help air the shell out after you've been slobbering into it. You could probably run a strap from them, or just drill two holes and use screws+washers to anchor the strap to it.
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Re: Painting a melodica?

Post by Swordfishtrombone »

Alright, that's good to know with the sanding. I think I'll just half-ass it and try to avoid letting paint touch the bottoms of the keys too much so I won't have to worry about paint gunking up the slots underneath or anything.

Okay, so it looks like I'll be executing the strap placement differently then... Maybe I'll head over to the local thrift store and see if I can find a cheap suitcase/laptop case to take a handle from or see if I can find a handle from one of the practice amps that I've had laying around somewhere.

Thanks! :thumb:
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