Ebony over Bloodwood Warhead w/ Gold Frets

[Cagey]

My new neck for the Cranberry Korina VIP came yesterday...

Pay no attention to the finish on the body - it's a long way from being complete. I just laid it all out to sorta see how it's going to look.

I thought at first maybe I'd put some oil on that neck to darken it up a tad and match the body better, but in the process of researching how you'd finish Bloodwood I found this...

my samples --- colors are accurate throughout:

an example of the way in which bloodwood darkens over time. These two pics of a bowl are separated in time by many years. The finish is three thick coats of brushed-on polyurethane with a UV blocker but over time the wood still darkened, as you see. Both pics were taken in bright light. Looked at today in normal light, the bowl is VERY dark, but discernably red. The very bottom of the bowl, which was never exposed to light, is basically unchanged.

As you can see, the original bowl is nearly the same color as my neck, while the aged bowl is nearly the same color as my body. So, a little time will make it the right color without any intervention on my part at all. That makes me happy, as I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like an oil finish.

Also, I'm surprised at how grainy that guy's bowls are. This neck is dense like Ebony, and in some areas almost looks polished it's so fine. You almost can't see any grain at all. Plus, it's harder than dammit. Anybody considering Bloodwood for a neck and is still on the fence, I say go for it. This stuff is nice, Nice, NICE!

 

[Steve_Karl]

Nice!

And good find on the darkening fact.
My bloodwood neck also feels very dense and smooth.

 

[SixString]

that's looking awesome dude!!

 

[Cagey]

Thanks!

I was happy to see that aged photo, too. I might have done something foolish otherwise. Although, I may still...

I have a lot of Potassium Dichromate left from rapidly aging my Mahogany Strat body, and I'm thinking maybe I could get that reaction from this stuff. It might make it look right now, instead of years from now, and it wouldn't put any finish on the neck. The only thing I'm afraid of is if it browned it instead of darkening the red. Have to look around some more and see if anyone else has tried that trick.

 

[Tipperman]

When you decide you hate EMGs you can just send that my way

Looks great Cagey! Can't wait to see it finished and hear about your experience with EMGs.

 

[SixString]

What type of finish do you have going on the body?

 

[Cagey]

What type of finish do you have going on the body?

It's just a mostly red, partly black stain over Black Korina (I foolishly didn't write down the recipe, but it's probably about a 5:1 ratio in a pint of water. Fortunately, I did save some). Other than that, it's just the usual suspects - fillers, sealers, and nitro. The nitro work was a little different in that I used a brushable lacquer vs. spraying it as I was running out of time weather-wise, and I wanted to get on thicker coats faster. The first coat was wonderful, and validated my plan, but the second coat got wrecked as you see it now. The temperature was only about 69 degrees, and brushable lacquer has a lotta retarder in it. So, it wants to run like hell and the lower the temperature, the longer it takes to settle down and set up. As a result, I ended up overworking the second coat, and it magically decided to not settle down but still set up fulla brush strokes. Pissed me off.

But, it'll be good and hard by the time I get back to it, so it'll sand out nicely and I'll spray the balance of the coats. Have to wait for spring/summer, though. Also, I'll have to work extra hard to keep from wrecking what's on there any more. That body style just begs for cutting through the finish when sanding due to the sharp edges and carved top. I may end up having to do the whole thing over again.

 

[SixString]

The nitro work was a little different in that I used a brushable lacquer vs. spraying it as I was running out of time weather-wise, and I wanted to get on thicker coats faster.

Yup, the brush strokes made me think there was no grain filling and you were just doing an oil finish or something.  Well, looks solid....if it can be saved...really hope you don't have to start this one over :sad1: 

 

[Cagey]

The main reason it got refinished is because the previous owner didn't grain fill it, or didn't go far enough. Korina is pretty grainy. It had a lacquer clear coat on it and it was as attractive color-wise as you'd expect Black Korina to be, but the finish surface texture left a lot to be desired. So, I stripped it and sealed/stained/filled/sealed it and sanded it out nice so now the base is good and smooth. As you know, foundations are everything with some finishes, lacquer in particular. What you see in the picture above is the result of my pushing the lacquer when I shouldn't have. The first coat of clear looked substantially better...

Still not showroom quality, but nothing like what you saw above.

 

[oldmanriver]

Wow! I'm suprised at how well the VIP and warhead shapes complement each other. I never in a million years would have thought a VIP with a six-in-a-line headstock could look nice.

Everything about this build is simple yet classy. Love it.  :icon_thumright:

 

[m4rk0]

I know you don't believe in wood affecting the tone, but Korina + Bloodwood is my favorite tonewood combination!!! fattest tone + longest sustain I have ever experienced!

 

[Cagey]

Wow! I'm suprised at how well the VIP and warhead shapes complement each other. I never in a million years would have thought a VIP with a six-in-a-line headstock could look nice.

Everything about this build is simple yet classy. Love it.  :icon_thumright:

It's kinda like a Strat for Strat-haters. Gets rid of the bulbous look. Like what you'd do if you were to "modernize" the Strat design. Sharpen it up a bit, keep the dimensions and outline that make it so workable and utilitarian, get rid of the peghead flourish, add the carved top for a touch of class... yeah. I like it. I'm gonna build a million of 'em <grin>

I did the same thing with my Tele. Got rid of the traditional bridge, headstock, pickups, tuners and pickguard, added the carved top, and it's about my favorite guitar now.

 

[Cagey]

I know you don't believe in wood affecting the tone, but Korina + Bloodwood is my favorite tonewood combination!!! fattest tone + longest sustain I have ever experienced!

I'm very glad to hear that. I was hoping I'd get that sort of result.

And it's not that I don't believe in wood affecting tone, I just don't think it's as major an influence as is often purported. It certainly has an effect. It's just subtle, like putting sprinkles on ice cream. Yeah, it changes the taste, but if you notice it at all it's not enough to get worked up over. What really stands out is the flavor of the ice cream, or in this analogy, the pickups.

 

[thebutcher85]

WOW! super awesome!

 

[m4rk0]

What really stands out is the flavor of the ice cream, or in this analogy, the pickups.

well I tried the same hardware, same pickups on different woods, and the results are very different:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=29.msg42#msg42

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4064.msg44521#msg44521

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=7302.15
(the last one is actually Luke's strat)

I have 3 more strats with very similar pickups, but different woods again, and they again sound very different.

 

[thebutcher85]

..... fattest tone + longest sustain I have ever experienced!

:laughing7: that's what she said...  :icon_thumright:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

You might try a stripe of tung oil at the heel of the neck where it meets the body to see how that changes the color.  It always surprises me how different things come out after oiling.  It might get you to more of that finished look.  You wouldn't have to do the part of the neck your hand goes on, or you could anyways.  Very nice build
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

You might try a stripe of tung oil at the heel of the neck where it meets the body to see how that changes the color.  It always surprises me how different things come out after oiling.  It might get you to more of that finished look.  You wouldn't have to do the part of the neck your hand goes on, or you could anyways.  Very nice build

Thanks.

That would be a good experiment, but my concern now is that if I darken it artificially to match, then as the wood darkens naturally over time it'll end up too dark.

I can't find any discussion of using Potassium Dichromate on Bloodwood, so I may do the same experiment you describe, only using that instead. If it darkens the red, then I'll do the whole neck. If it turns it brown, then I'll just wait for time to do its thing. I mean, it's not like it's an objectionable match-up as it sits now, so there's no strong need to do anything at all.

Plus, I did read where one guy did a trick with some Cherry he wanted to age rapidly without staining or weathering it. His solution was to take his parts to a tanning salon and rent some bed time. Put the parts in the machine, let it run for a while, and the parts darkened right up. I think we have one of those places not too far from here, so I might see what they think of the idea.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Yeah, Jack on this board did that to yellow the lacquer on one of his guitars.  It was a while ago, I might be mistaken on exactly why he did it, but he did use a tanning bed to do it.  My thought on the oil was to take the matte bare wood finish and make it look a bit more polished.  It would also darken it with the wetting of the wood.  I suppose you could run two or three tests on that area of the neck.  It should be interesting to see what you come up with.
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

Well, I don't have any Tung oil, so it's a good excuse to head on over to Woodcraft Supply and drool a bit. Plus, maybe I could get a small hunk of bloodwood to play with. I'd hate like hell to make a mess of this neck. And some more clamps. One can never have too many clamps <grin>