Black (and Blue) Korina P Bass

[dumpsite]

So every site I've found says that Blue dye and Black Korina don't mix. They are probably right. However, I have this fantastic black korina P Bass body and need a bass for a Maiden Tribute.

I purchased some Keda Royal Blue Dye. I mixed roughly 7 ounces of lacquer thinner with one half teaspoon of liquid dye. I say roughly because the lacquer thinner pulled the red from the measuring cup plastic. Luckily I was using a glass jar to mix and noticed the red tint. I could not find a glass measuring cup so I eyed it up from what I poured previously minus a bit. I used about 2/3 of the dye mixture on the first coat then added about a half cup more lacquer thinner and a half teaspoon of dye for the second coat as I was worried it wasn't blue enough for what I want.

Here are my results so far.

New body sanded to 180 per manufacturer instructions:



First coat wet (really getting concerned here):


First coat dry:

Second coat wet:


The sun is setting in my shed so we will find out what it looks like tomorrow...

 

[ragamuffin]

Looks great so far!

 

[dumpsite]

So this is how it looked this morning:




Not bad. A little green starting to come through from the grain but hey its wood. The finish will also darken it up.

I probably would be good to go here but I read a comment on the Keda YouTube page that said the best results with Keda wood dye is to finish the job then sand it down and start over again. Well, random internet guy wouldn't have said that if it wasn't true right?

Same body sanded to 180 per manufacturer instructions:

 

[Rick]

Looking good. Both alder and korina naturally have some yellow in them, so it will impact the final color over time.

 

[dumpsite]

Looking good. Both alder and korina naturally have some yellow in them, so it will impact the final color over time.

Thanks! I knew blue was a risk for this wood. If I wanted to build an accurate Harris tribute bass it would be a two piece maple body in blue metal flake. It would be awesome and also cost me about $600. I have an all maple jazz bass already and I love it but Harris uses flat wounds and his signature pickup is actually a Duncan vintage with boosted mids. This bass will good for much more than Maiden covers.

Besides, paint is boring.

 

[Rick]

I have a jazzmaster that I did with a very blue turquoise dye, and over time the yellow in the alder shifted it greener. Wood is a living thing and will change over time. It's now sort of like dark surf green, blending into charger green. Still some blue in it though. I also put sparkles in the clear top coat, which is cool.

 

[dumpsite]

I have a jazzmaster that I did with a very blue turquoise dye, and over time the yellow in the alder shifted it greener. Wood is a living thing and will change over time. It's now sort of like dark surf green, blending into charger green. Still some blue in it though. I also put sparkles in the clear top coat, which is cool.

i would love to see a picture!

 

[dumpsite]

So this time I mixed a half teaspoon of dye to 6 ounces of lacquer thinner. That's the max ratio suggested by Keda.

Third Coat Wet:



Third Coat dry:



Fourth Coat wet:



Fourth coat dry and burnished in direct sunlight:



Tomorrow Tru-oil!

 

[dumpsite]

So I went out this morning and this is what the body looked like


Pretty darn blue right?

Then I applied a very light coat of tru-oil:



The image doesn't even show - it was sea-green now!

%@#!

Stripped off tru-oil:



Argh!

 

[ragamuffin]

Uh oh! Maybe needs some kind of barrier between the dye and tru oil?

 

[dumpsite]

Uh oh! Maybe needs some kind of barrier between the dye and tru oil?

You are probably right. Too late now. I went round the bend and sprayed it with blue sparkle paint.



It doesn't seem very sticky

 

[Spud]

You are probably right. Too late now. I went round the bend and sprayed it with blue sparkle paint.

View attachment 60908

It doesn't seem very sticky

the paint isn't sticking?

 

[dumpsite]

the paint isn't sticking?

It seems very... "styrofoamy"

Gonna try and clearcoat it and see if it cracks off

 

[Spud]

Usually you want to put another coat on within 10-15 minutes or wait 24-48 hours.

 

[Rick]

What kind of top coat R u gonna use. Most oil based finish will impart a slight amber hue, causing anything blue to green up.

 

[dumpsite]

What kind of top coat R u gonna use. Most oil based finish will impart a slight amber hue, causing anything blue to green up.

I’m going to do a clear coat spray

 

[dumpsite]

From morning into early afternoon I lightly sprayed 3 cans worth of Rustoleum 2x Clear Gloss. I read good things about 2X on a telecaster forum.



It's so textured from the glitter spray it really doesn't change the look much but it does highlight my mistakes with the color coat.



At this point, I can live with that. I have to put a lot of playing into this body. I hope it sticks together.

Going to leave it until Monday then see how it responds to being handled. Hopefully I can assemble it too.

 

[Rick]

in the pics it looks good.

 

[teleme01]

Madonna has a mole on her face, at the height of her career other girls would paint on a mole, read that as a beauty mark ... get famous and other guitar players will try to duplicate what you call mistakes. Plus, I don't see any flaws

 

[rockandroller]

I see what you mean about "flaws" in the sparkle color coat, but for me it just adds character. I'd rock that as it is