I Paint guitars & i use the $16 Harbor Freight gun, i keep a few of them in the garage...been only doing this for a few years & have never tried an expensive gun especially since my comp is only an 8 gallon unit & this one works well with the CFMs...
would an expensive gun give me less over spray? when i paint i have to pull a Dexter & plastic everything off in the garage to protect it from the urethane dust...

also, can anyone tell me what causes a small occasional dimple in my clear coat & what can i do to prevent it?

Thanks
-Mark

facebook.com/funkguitarsusa

imo the overspray will be the same or maybe worse with a high dollar gun. You can experiment with the fan control and with cap pressure.

that dimple is fisheye.
here's a thread on it.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14622

search "fisheye"

I've tried several of the HF guns. I didn't like any of them except for the mini purple gun. I find that I can get a lot more coverage from 4oz of paint than my full size gun. You won't want to paint a car with it. The fan is quite small, but that's why I like it for small projects. You can get the paint right where you want it. Don't get me wrong, it's cheaply made, and won't last for years, but it's only $12.

http://www.harborfreight.com/adjustable ... 92126.html

As for the fisheyes, it's hard to say what is causing them. If your compressor is small and your gun is big, it might be from water in the line. You can test this by running a tool that uses lots of air. Run that tool constantly and let the compressor fill and drain several times. The compressor pump should be nice an toasty hot. Now hook up an air nozzle like this and open the valve for 30-60 seconds. Do you see any vapor? If so you need to install some sort of water removal system.

If your compressor is old, it could be leaking oil past the rings into your air supply. In this case you may need another filter. I read here that some people like the $80 Motor guard unit.

I use long runs of copper pipe and a parker water separator with good results. (I'm not a pro)

-Vetsen