Can I please ask for opinions? Testing sunburst on scrap Ash

[kevin_guitars]

Hey guys I posted about starting my first Tele build and have been tinkering with some scrap Ash for the last month getting ready. I'm going for a Tobacco burst. I can't decide if I want it to be fairly natural or heavy on the amber. Here are 3 pics (sorry if they are too big I tried to resize them).

I made a bunch of swatches on strips of Ash to find the right dye mix and had 1 slab to play with about 1' x 2' . 1st pic is a piece of normal Ash that I started with (not swamp, the wood shop near me didn't have it) before i worked on it. another pic is after treating it with grain filler that I dyed dark brown but kept the burst fairly natural. I also experimented with my tru oil to get a gloss just to see what it looks like. The 3rd pic is undyed grain filler going heavy handed on the amber (with a couple coats of tru oil, no gloss).

Ignore the gloss/ungloss. I'm thinking I like the pronounced grain using the dyed grain filler. But the color of the heavy amber. I'm leaning towards combining theses two on the guitar itself. I'll have a tortoise pickguard so I think the heavy amber will match better, also the neck will be roasted maple, gold bridge and control plate. Many thanks to your feedback.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I'll start out by saying I have heaps of respect for people tackling finishes like this on their own. I can't wait to see your progress. That said, your picture called "natural" is hands down the more aesthetically pleasing to me.

 

[Surf n Music]

I'm liking the natural as well. Both are nice though.

 

[nullref]

I would prefer the Natural as well...

 

[Glimmer]

Add me to the naturalists. :icon_smile:

 

[MikeW]

Score one for the Tobacco. I think that looks really great. Not that the natural is bad, I just like what you did with the Tobacco better.

I'll echo what Verne said earlier too. I have a ton of respect for anyone doing their own finishes. I love to build them, but I doubt I have the patience to do the finishing.

 

[Logrinn]

I too like the Tobacco more.

 

[Cagey]

I think they both look good, but if I had to choose, I'd go with the tobacco.

 

[kevin_guitars]

Wow thanks for the feedback seems like a mix bag of opinions. I like equal parts of both. I'm definitely going to use a heavy dye in the grain filler like I used in the "natural" pic. I'll be shooting for somewhere in between the two. Im not fond of how dark the edges are in the "tobacco" pic but I like a bit of the rustic glow the amber gives it. I'm supposed to get the body tomorrow or the next day. Tons of parts were waiting for me when I got home today  :toothy10:

Rest assured the body will turn out just the way it is supposed to. I won't be trying to impose my will on the wood. I'm gonna just take it slow and see how the wood wants to look.

 

[BigSteve22]

As the record exec once said to Pink: Have a cigar! I'm like'n that tobacco burst.