Has anybody stained a birds-eye maple neck?

[willyk]

I have previously finished my necks with clear satin poly but was thinking of applying a stain to show off the figuring for my next one. How does hard maple take to staining? My idea is to sand most of it off to leave only the birdseyes colored. Has anybody tried it? :help:

 

[Tonar8352]

I have used Zinsser's Amber Shellac with great success.

 

[jackthehack]

ReRanch Fender Neck Amber for toner (it doesn't have any laquer in it) with a nitro top finish. With just a little practice necks are easy to do this way and you can control the depth of the amber tint by the number of thin coats you apply.

 

[NonsenseTele]

I have used Zinsser's Amber Shellac with great success.

Hey Tonar! Post more pics, please, this is a AMAZING neck figure!

 

[-CB-]

Just an FYI, the reranch amber is the same as Mohawk's amber, which you may be able to find at your local Mohawk distributor (about $6 / can).
Its not really lacquer... as we know it.  Its more like a lacquer that is very very thin on solids, and goes on super thin, with tint.  Its a fragile finish, and needs to be coated as Jack said.

 

[jackthehack]

And brings out flames/birdseyes/quilt as good as anything!

 

[m4rk0]

I used Minwax Golden Pecan + Tru Oil... came out very nice, but not as nice as Tonar's... and my Birdseye wasnt as nice either

 

[nathan a]

Sweet mercy Tonar. Why can't you just leave me happy with birdseye under a standard gloss finish.

 

[willyk]

Thanks heaps for the help. I had thought more of coloring the wood but seeing what amber tints are capable of makes me lean more to a transluscent approach. I've been told hard maple might go splotchy if stained directly so you have all been a great help. It is pretty much impossible to get some of the products you recommend in Australia, hazardous liquids and airlines don't get along! But I will apply the principals, if not the brand names. I really am grateful ccasion14:  WillyK

 

[Soloshchenko]

I always wondered what it would be like using wood filler in say a red mahogany colour on an unfinished maple neck. If done properly wouldn't it enhance the grain? I just can't imagine what on earth it would look like.

 

[jackthehack]

I have an import maple/rosewood Strat neck I use to experiment on; would not recommend any kind of a red mahogany or other darker color oil stain for this purpose, don't know if it's the maple used on the neck (just plain maple, no figure), but it doesn't seem to like to take stain real evenly...

 

[simple]

Hard Rock Maple + Stain = blochy.

Soft maple like soft Quilt and soft Flame absorb stain nicely.