Colour advice needed!

[jubjub]

Hi

first post....

I'm after your opinions on what colours I should use to rescue a strat project - namely what colour to do for the swamp ash body....

So, I've got myself a warmoth swamp ash body with flame maple top. For the top I've used Keda dyes and Tru Oil and overall I'm fairly happy with the finish.

Where I stuffed up was with the swamp ash body. I first sanded it smooth, applied sander / sealer, sanded again (prob not enough!) then attempted to use the dye. It would not penetrate the wood. So, lacking in patience, I grabs me can of mahogany stain (which worked brilliantly on an earlier LP job) and whacked that on. It looked ok to begin with but now it looks pretty dumb.

So, I'll sand it off (leaving the green top) and start again - but only I after read all the good advice on the form.

So my question - what colour scheme - I'd prefer to try to get a green colour to match the top, but if not....yellow? black? My preference is for a green back and sides but m open to the views of the forum

JJ

 

[jubjub]

...I forgot to add, my original plan was for a blue strat but couldn't get the right colour - hence the blue bit which will be covered up by a white / perloid pick guard

 

[croquet hoop]

That green flame maple top is really nice.

I think a black back would work well. Or a dark, dark khaki of some sort, but it would be harder to get right, I think. Adding a masked binding would really bring out the top against the dark sides, bu I am not sure how feasible it is at this point.

 

[jubjub]

I think a dark green might work... I could try a natural binding if I can cleanly get the brown stain off. It would probably be more of a side binding that one that covers both the side and top.

I'll post the results in due course

Thanks

JJ

 

[Great Ape]

The problem with your attempt at dying the ash began with applying sanding sealer BEFORE you dyed; Dye's got to penetrate the wood, and obviously can't if the wood is already sealed...dye first, seal, sand, finish. If you want a green body, why not use the same dye that you used on the maple? Lighter, darker, whatever you prefer...that's a cool shade of green on the maple, BTW. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[jubjub]

Hi Great Ape

I came to that exact realisation when the cloth hit the back of the body! Hopefully my sanding will remove enough so I can give that dye a chance to do its thing. Might try darkening it a little or add more coats to it to get the right shade.

Later the year I'll do that blue Strat...or Tele

 

[dmraco]

Ape nailed it.  You can try sanding but the body will likely be blotchy with a wipe on stain due to the sanding sealer.  It is hard to know if you got it all off.  I also never liked dyes on swamp ash if they are rubbed in.  Blotchy. 

Your best bet would be to sand it clean.  Do you have the ability to spray color?  You can easily tint nitro and spray the green on the back.  If you are going to stick with tru oil your could leave the back natural.  It would look cool with that color.

If you are going to sand...get your self some 320-400 grit and have at it.  I guess you could test with naphtha to see if you got of all the sealer.


Good luck

 

[croquet hoop]

An alternative to shooting nitro could be to use shellac; it's less toxic, you can tint it, it can be sprayed with an inexpensive preval unit, it dries fast and you can add whatever you want over it (tru-oil, wipe-on poly, anything) to get a tougher, alcohol-resistant finish. If you're confortable with nitro, then go with dmraco's suggestion.

 

[Tele-me about it]

+1 for DMRACO's idea of keeping the back natural-looking, I think that'd look pretty slick!  I've heard of people who, on bare wood, wet sand with Tru-oil to create their own sort of grain filler.  I don't know how well it'd work on swamp ash, but many people have posted success after 1-3 wetsands or so on other woods.  A thin, black line separating the laminate from the body would make the top pop just enough, and look pretty sleek and classy

 

[ocguy106]

I kinda like it. It looks like a caramel apple.

 

[jubjub]

I kinda like it. It looks like a caramel apple.

My initial thoughts when I reviewed my handiwork was that it looked like that "tiny tots treehouse game" that kids played with in the 1970s!

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll think I'll bypass the spraying route due to lack of equipment, but I will sand back and go for the au-naturel look with a tru oil finish. I'll look into doing a thin black line, however, mainly to cover up any blur between the top green finish and the body.

Will post the results once complete to the relevant forum!

regards

JJ