Am I going crazy?

[Watershed]

Or is there a way to minimize this effect?

It's analine black dye (diluted in denatured alcohol) applied with a rag.
Washed back with denatured alcohol on a rag.
Sanded back with 320 just enough to get the hard strips/stripes of maple back.
Then a light mix of MEK Blue in nitro sprayed.
Washed back (rag) with thinner, light sanding with 400.
Spray clear

Looking directly at it, it's even. 

A few degrees from center, and a rather strong contrast in shade between the two pieces of maple shows up.

I realize it's the grain of the wood, bookmatched, angle of the light in relation to the fibers, and so on.
But is there a way of applying the color to minimize the contrast in shade between the two pieces at indirect angles?
This is my third time around with this top varying the application and technique, and the same contrast is always there.
I had the MEK much darker, same thing pretty much.

Any help from the experts on this one?

James

 

[jlegnor]

Can't give any advice, but I gotta say that doesn't really look bookmatched. MAybe I'm wrong. But that might explain way you're having this issue.

 

[Mor Paul]

If it is bookmatched, it wasn't done well.

 

[bbl4ck]

Yea, I am certainly no expert, but it does not seem to book matched.
If it is book matched, than as Max states, it was not done well.
That could be causing the problem.

However, I am staying tuned to see what the experts think  :icon_scratch:

Best of luck on  your build.  Looks like a good start...
:rock-on:

 

[RU36]

That is the ultimate in finishing  mental torture.
That sucks man, I feel your pain.

But if it makes you feel better it looks killer straight on.

 

[Return of Guitlouie]

I say run with it.  Accentuate the difference between the two with wildly different dyes on each side.   

I know, I'm no help either!

 

[jlegnor]

You didn't by chance wipe your stain on from Left to Right on one side, and from Right to Left on the other did you? :laughing3:

Sorry, it's close to my bedtime.

 

[NLD09]

I say run with it.  Accentuate the difference between the two with wildly different dyes on each side.     

I know, I'm no help either!

yeah it'd be killer to two-face it.

 

[DangerousR6]

It appears that the pieces got turned from each other 180 out, thus given the split effect due to the reflection of light off of the grain.... :dontknow:

 

[bpmorton777]

is that a Warmoth body?

Brian

 

[Mor Paul]

I'm guessing USACG. But I thought theirs had a logo in the neck pocket. Something just looks a little bit off to me for it to be a warmoth CT soloist.

 

[tfarny]

Id guess it's a carved top strat from the other Custom Guitar Shop in Puyallup, USA. Get a rope!  :icon_jokercolor:

My guess is that those photos represent the worst possible way to look at the guitar, and once it's together and clear coated you'll forget all about this thread. Well, I hope so because aside from spraying it surf green I have no idea how to reduce the contrast there. Maybe the experts will be able to help.

 

[mayfly]

It appears that the pieces got turned from each other 180 out, thus given the split effect due to the reflection of light off of the grain.... :dontknow:

Yep - that's exactly what's going on here.  I'd contact the company you got the body from and see what they can do for you.

 

[jackthehack]

It appears that the pieces got turned from each other 180 out, thus given the split effect due to the reflection of light off of the grain.... :dontknow:

Yep - that's exactly what's going on here.  I'd contact the company you got the body from and see what they can do for you.

It could either be the 180 flip or it's NOT a bookmatched top, but I think the latter as the two sides are obviously absorbing dye at differing rates.

 

[Watershed]

Thanks everyone,

I don't have any pictures handy to illustrate bookmatching I'm afraid.

Here's an analogy though:
Take a book, 200 pages lets say, and draw diagonal lines (representing grain) across the pages on the side opposite the spine.
Now open the book right in the middle and lay the book flat.
You will notice that the pages on one side of the book will have lines pointing toward you.
The pages on the other side of the book will have lines that point away from you.
This is the problem, the grain points in opposite directions.

The "flames" not perfectly matching each other are going to be most obvious where the top has been carved.
This is because (back to analogy) we are not comparing page 100 to page 101 anymore (that was carved away), but rather page 50 to page 150.
A lot depends on the particular piece of wood obviously, but for the sake of argument.

The two sides are absorbing dye at exactly the same rate.
The fact that both sides demonstrate the exact same behavior further illustrates that they are from the same piece of wood.

Check the pictures again.
On the top picture, the treble side is the light one.
On the bottom picture the bass side is the light one.

The color difference is entirely dependent on the angle of the light.

I'm thinking the deeper the dye is in the wood, the more pronounced this contrast will be.
Just wanted to see if anyone has run into a similar situation and how they dealt with it.

James

 

[DangerousR6]

It appears that the pieces got turned from each other 180 out, thus given the split effect due to the reflection of light off of the grain.... :dontknow:

Yep - that's exactly what's going on here.  I'd contact the company you got the body from and see what they can do for you.

It could either be the 180 flip or it's NOT a bookmatched top, but I think the latter as the two sides are obviously absorbing dye at differing rates.

If you look again, he has two pictures of the body from two different angles. In one direction the top is dark, in the other the bottom is dark. So I doubt it's from the absorption of the dye, and more of the light reflecting from the grain...So whether it's a book matched top or not the pieces to me appear to be180 from each other... :dontknow:

 

[Watershed]

It appears that the pieces got turned from each other 180 out, thus given the split effect due to the reflection of light off of the grain.... :dontknow:

Yep - that's exactly what's going on here.  I'd contact the company you got the body from and see what they can do for you.

It could either be the 180 flip or it's NOT a bookmatched top, but I think the latter as the two sides are obviously absorbing dye at differing rates.

If you look again, he has two pictures of the body from two different angles. In one direction the top is dark, in the other the bottom is dark. So I doubt it's from the absorption of the dye, and more of the light reflecting from the grain...So whether it's a book matched top or not the pieces to me appear to be180 from each other... :dontknow:

Yes, and what I was trying to say was that is the nature of bookmatching.
Here's the book I was trying to describe.
This is a piece of flamed maple, and the lines drawn on it are the grain lines.

When you cut it down the middle, and open it up like a book, you are looking at one piece from the "top" and the other piece from the "bottom."

When you look at the lines now, you see that the grain on the right is pointing at you, and the grain on the left is pointing away from you

So I suppose a lot has to due with how the grain runs in a piece of maple.

I'm just trying to engineer around this in the staining process, as not to have such a stark contrast.

James

 

[-CB-]

Looking directly at it, it's even. 

A few degrees from center, and a rather strong contrast in shade between the two pieces of maple shows up.

But is there a way of applying the color to minimize the contrast in shade between the two pieces at indirect angles?

YES, any totally opaque color like jet black or solid red or metallic blue, etc will totally hide the grain, and the effect will be gone.

For the finish you want - thats the nature of, and to most folks, the beauty and joy of high grade wood.  You paid extra for that.

 

[Watershed]

So the answer is yes...I AM going crazy!
Thanks guys, I tend to obsess on these things.
It will only be photographed dead center from now on.
LOL

CB, I think you and tfarney are right.  It's just the nature of the grain on this one.
I'm just going to lay up the rest of the clear (satin, got my hands on some flattening paste) and call it a day.
I'm also going to throw out a plug for Z-Poxy as a grainfiller/sealer, good stuff.

BTW:  It is from the other guys.  It's the body from the "Oh yea...its purple" thread.
It was in their equivalent of the showcase for $300.00.
I couldn't pass on it.

Thanks,
James