I want to do a fire burst/clean line/natural back finish:

clearerphish

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OK, so I want to take a telecaster that has a swamp ash core and a quilt or flame maple top and finish it so the top is fireburst to the edge, then has a clean line where the fireburst terminates, and the back of the body and most of the sides are natural or vintage tint.

I have never finished a guitar before, but plenty of furniture.

My thoughts on this are:

1. mask off the top completely and mask the "line of demarcation", so to speak
2. grain fill the ash back with dark or clear filler, sand and repeat until the grain is filled
3. spray a few coats of clear (or tinted clear) and let dry thoroughly
4. remove all masking from the top and re-mask guitar sealing off the back this time
5. rub many coats of orange dye (probably with a slight amount of red added) into the top (and maybe a coat of brown just to sand back to give a little more depth then cover over with more orange-red dye)
6. burst with trans red
7. demask guitar and clear clear clear clear clear

Now obviously I am oversimplifying here but is this a solid plan to arrive where I want to be?

I'm thinking all black hardware and a goncalo neck so the body is the only finished part.
 
That's what I would do. but I'm not a finishing expert, and I also like to experiment and figure things out for myself so...i'm probably not the most help.
 
clearerphish said:
so 57 views at this point and no one has any thoughts/advice on this finishing plan?

:help:

Some of us (possibly a lot of us) are just here to see the pretty guitars that other people make. All I can offer is moral support:

GO ClearerPhish!
YOU CAN DO IT!!

(edited for grammar.)
 
Jet-Jaguar said:
clearerphish said:
so 57 views at this point and no one has any thoughts/advice on this finishing plan?

:help:

Some of us (possibly a lot of us) are just hear to see the pretty guitars that other people make. All I can offer is moral support:

GO ClearerPhish!
YOU CAN DO IT!!

+1
 
again, no advice. but it sounds like you've pretty well planned this out and shouldn't have TOO many curveballs. sounds awesome! can't wait to see the outcome
 
JaySwear said:
again, no advice. but it sounds like you've pretty well planned this out and shouldn't have TOO many curveballs. sounds awesome! can't wait to see the outcome

+1
 
I made a fire like finish on my Tele a while back.  It is a lot of work.  I did it all with dyes, no burst overs.  I don't have the stuff to spray bursts.  I would say be careful about the colors you choose.  If you use primary colors, they will blends into the others and you will get oranges and such.  So red and yellow will get you a long way to what you want.  I dyed mine black first and sanded back to get the accent, then bursted with the black around the edges, and finally blended it with some stronger solvent to get the gradient right.  Dyes are difficult to "tape off."  The solvents that dissolve then tend to go under tape, and some might get under the lacquer, or dissolve the lacquer, if you try to spray off the back.  Also the dyes might dye the lacquer as well.  Finally, leaving masking tape on the body for an extended period is a gamble.  It pulled off part of the quilt on the top of my tele. It was minor and in a section that was of no consequence, but it did do it.  Discussions with more knowledgeable folks confirmed that I was playing chicken with time by trying that.

I have just assumed lacquer in my discussion above, you only mentioned clear.  That leaves a lot of wiggle room.  But the problems associated I mentioned can be across the boards, or completely cured by what clear you pick.  I don't know, and you'll have to run test pieces to find out what works.  This leads into the biggest piece of advice, get test pieces and run several tests.  Dye, finishes, everything you can think of.  It will save a lot of time in the end.
Patrick

 
Thanks for your answer, Patrick. I didn't anticipate the issues with getting a clean line. I've always been a big fan of the "time is money" slogan. I think maybe I'm just going to wait and have W do the finish. I'll try doing it sometime when I want something less involved, like a natural clearcoar or a solid color dye/stain. Thanks for all the info - it just looks like I'd be in over my head, and once you factor the materials needed into the cost it's just gonna make more sense for W to handle it. This time.

Thanks again.
 
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