2-Tone Burst on Swamp Ash

[VonBaffle]

Hello Everyone,
I've been lurking for a while and have finally decided to post. I don't see an introductions thread so I thought I'd start with a few photos of my first Warmoth project that I finished about a year ago. It's a Swamp Ash body and a fender replacement neck, and Reranch DIY finish:

Eventually fitted with Custom Shop Hot Noiseless loaded pickguard (excuse those rusty strings, it's all I had in the house at the time) and it sounds and plays beautifully.

I'm currently gathering parts for my second project, a '54 vintage white Tele Bass

 

[bagman67]

Aw heck, that's a lovely piece of gear.  Nice work on the burst.  Kinda freaky how it looks a little dodgy until you start laying the clear coats on and it all just melts together beautifully.


Are those coated strings with the coating coming off, or are they showing reflections or shadows or something?  Those dark bars on the unwound strings in the bottom photo are making me wonder.

 

[Cagey]

Welcome to the forum! And that's a beautiful piece of work!

 

[VonBaffle]

Are those coated strings with the coating coming off, or are they showing reflections or shadows or something?  Those dark bars on the unwound strings in the bottom photo are making me wonder.

No, they were just strings I had in a case since forever and I live in Oregon where everything rusts!

 

[Cagey]

I spent a couple weeks out there some years back and I've always wondered how anybody paints their house, washes their car, cuts their grass, has a barbecue, etc. It's like it started raining back during the Jurassic period and hasn't stopped since. 

 

[rgand]

Welcome to the forum. Great job on that Strat. Looks great. Very nice finish.

 

[stratamania]

Welcome and again the burst looks very good.

Was it completely from rattle cans ?

 

[Logrinn]

That looks fantastic. Very nice job! :icon_thumright:
Was the cardboard used to do the burst? If so, could you explain how that works?

 

[bagman67]

I have used the cardboard stencil burst method.  It's great for rattle cans since they don't allow you to monkey with the spray pattern.


What you do is you cut out a piece of cardboard that matches the guitar body shape.  Then you put nails or pins through it and lay it on the body, pin-side down.  It works best on a turntable if you can pull it off, but you can also just walk around the body as you spray.  The height of the silhouette off the surface of the guitar body determines the width of the burst edge.


See:  https://guitarkitworld.com/how-to-apply-a-sunburst-guitar-finish/


I did it on this guitar body with a full-sized tele body cutout, but you can vary the shape of the mask for a teardrop or other shape:

 

[rgand]

The cardboard stencil is a good tip. I'll remember that if I ever decide to do a burst finish.

 

[Glimmer]

Well that looks lovely. Very nice job!

 

[Logrinn]

I have used the cardboard stencil burst method.  It's great for rattle cans since they don't allow you to monkey with the spray pattern.


What you do is you cut out a piece of cardboard that matches the guitar body shape.  Then you put nails or pins through it and lay it on the body, pin-side down.  It works best on a turntable if you can pull it off, but you can also just walk around the body as you spray.  The height of the silhouette off the surface of the guitar body determines the width of the burst edge.


See:  https://guitarkitworld.com/how-to-apply-a-sunburst-guitar-finish/


I did it on this guitar body with a full-sized tele body cutout, but you can vary the shape of the mask for a teardrop or other shape:

I see. That makes perfect sense.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[BigSteve22]

Look'n mighty fine there, VonBaffle. Welcome to the forum.  :icon_thumright:

 

[VonBaffle]

Yes, all Reranch rattle cans. Bagman pretty much summed up the carboard stencil technique note for note! Thanks to all!

 

[ragamuffin]

Great job on the finish! Have you done any finishing before?

I've always wanted to try my hand at it, but been afraid of putting a bunch of time and money into it just to have it come out looking like crap.  I did shoot a patina finish on my current guitar, but it was sort of meant to look messy and worn. Sometime I'll have to grab myself a cheap ebay body and practice my skills.

 

[Cagey]

It's not rocket science. Where I've failed in the past, and seen many others fail at it, it's almost always due to patience issues. Good finish work is time-consuming, and corner-cutting the process is always glaringly obvious.

 

[stratamania]

Yes, all Reranch rattle cans. Bagman pretty much summed up the carboard stencil technique note for note! Thanks to all!

Very good job, well done.

 

[NormanThePhotographer]

Absolutely beautiful finish you achieved there, congrats!