Greetings fellow Warmothians !

RobbieDiGital

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I hope every is holding up, safe and healthy including fam , friends , loved ones and our gear !
Newbie to the forum! Glad I found it . I wanted to say hello and greetings from NYC . We got hit hard and it's getting better and somewhere close to a "new " normal . My thoughts go out to all in the same position we are in and that this somehow all ends .
Just purchased an unfinished Warmoth Maple vintage strat body for a pretty interesting build . Let's just say , by chance and coincidence I found a seller on Reverb who was the guitar tech for Buddy Guy, and I actually have a set of Fender Samarium Cobalt noiseless that came from one of his guitars . Bizarre but true story . I wanted to go noiseless pickups , as I have a vintage tele , and a Les Paul standard. So yeah the maple warmoth is a bit heavier my my LP is HEAVY. Given that , I'm. keeping it natural finish and I'm good with wood ( that's what she said ..) however I'm only doing this finish ONCE, and will handle it surgically in the process . I'll post some pictures shortly , along with a vintage tint nitro strat neck with hipshot tuners.. But it's all about the contrast here. There are many posts , opinions , methods that I've watched and seen and read.. I am looking for all and any input and advice . I do want a bit of gloss, I'm doing this by hand via wipe method.... but open to suggestions . I may want to darken the tone of the finish slightly so it balances against the vintage yellowish tint neck. Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Best,
 
Welcome to the forum. This is the place to get good answers. I'm not an expert on finishes so maybe one of the forum members who is will be able to answer yours. My finishing has been limited to Wudtone and/or wipe-on poly, both of which have worked quite well. If you want gloss but not a super gloss, maybe you should entertain the Wudtone finishes. With those, I've found 3 or 4 coats gives the most even coverage. Maybe you could talk to them and get an idea of how to lighten one of their finishes to just give you some tint.

I look forward to seeing what you do with it.
 
Hola,

Far from an expert, but I've done 1 guitar last year, and currently finishing a guitar.  In both instances, I'm using Birchwood Casey TruOil.  Very easy to apply and work.  I also used Birchwood Casey Sealer and Filler.  Again, easy to use.  Also used Keda dye for coloring.  You can make some stunning color combinations using a light coat of sealer on open grain woods like Swamp Ash, stain it, sand off the sealer, and then restain with a different color.  By doing this, the original color gets into the grain, and then the dense grain areas will take the new color.

As for applying, I've been using a Lowes purchased bag of T-Shirt rags, cut to about 2" x 4" pieces and then folded up.  I've found, shaking out the rag violently pulls out the little fabric pieces that can find their way into the finish.  Others use coffee filters or blue shop towels.  Yesterday I tried the coffee filter (maybe I wasn't using the right brand), but went back to the T-Shirt rags. 

On the guitar I built last year, I started with pure TruOil and wiping it in.  At some point, after numerous mistakes and resanding, started mixing the TruOil with a 50% mix of Naptha.  This produced a very glossy finish.

On this guitar, I've seen some vids where the user rubbed vs wiped in the finish.  I'm using the rubbing in method now and it's working well.  I've learned I can't do more than 2 coats at a time.  At the 3rd coat, the finish starts getting tacky.  I'm doing the first coat pure TruOil and the 2nd coat with a 50% mix of mineral spirits, and it gets a nice glossy coat.  Tonight, I'm going to wet sand with the oil using 1500 grit sandpaper to smooth out imperfections.  A few more layers of TruOil, then let it sit for a month to cure, and then polish.

Last year's guitar....
Shore-Caster-1a.jpg


And this year's project...
Warmoth-Hybrid-Tele-Getting-there-Front.jpg

Warmoth-Hybrid-Tele-Getting-there-Back.jpg




Hope this helps
 
The light filler in the grain looks good. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
Thank you Rgand and Raucher!

So I pulled the trigger on Wudtone on BYO guitar.com on the Black Magic Woman kit in gloss. I called them and said it's one of their best finishes if done properly. It will be here Monday so I will keep everyone posted with images . If you don't hear from me it's because I messed up and did a Triple Lindy off the Brooklyn Bridge !

PS Raucher... nice job on the tele !
 
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