Is it possible?

[jlegnor]

Trying to come up with some ideas on a finish.  Can't remember whose VW this is, but really like the red/black burst look.  Anyways, was wondering, would it be possilbe to recreate this with black and red dye stain?  What I mean is, start with black dye stain, sand back leaving just the edges and grain stained black, then going over top of that with red dye stain.  Was thinking I would be able to feather the black edges with the sand paper to create the burst effect.  Body is a strat with flame top.  Wanting to attempt the natural binding with the back/sides a gloss black.

Really wanting to go with water base dye stain for the ease of it. 

 

[Keyser Soze]

Is it possible? 

Sure, dyes stains can be bursted.  They can be sprayed and can also be physically manipulated (blended/rubbed)  to provide much more smooth transitions between colors.  I've seen photos in some of Jeff Jewett's books that look more like actual sunsets than any simple sprayed on three or four color burst could ever acheive.  You literally cannot see any distinct color lines.

That said, I've tried it, and it is, ahem, difficult.  If you are lucky and get it just right the first time it looks super sweet.  The problem is what you have to do should things head south.  Remember dyes are in the wood, not on the surface.

You want easy?  Mohawk/Behlen or Re-ranch rattle cans.

You can still do the black dyes/sand back/color dye to accent the figure, but after that I'd seal the surface then use the aforementioned products - definately for bursting and maybe for added toning as necessary.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The confusing thing is to correctly identify a burst or dye.  This may or may not have black grain filler, but this is most likely a dyed top that has a slight black burstover sprayed on.  Some bursts start with a dye color and move outward with a sprayed on transparent color.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I did my tele with a multi color dye burst.  Came out nice.  The natural binding would be a major pain in the rear.  I am not sure how it would be done, the dyes tend to creep under tape really easily.  I am guessing that a scraper is probably the ticket, and that is not especially good for blood pressure.  It is a long process that is hard, even without the natural binding issues, because of the number of steps and getting each step right.  Individual steps are not all that bad, but the sum is a lot of not messing up.  This is one of those things that if you want to do it, go for it.  If you want to play the guitar, let Warmoth do it.

On my tele I made most of the burst with black dye and blended it in with a stronger solvent to remove lines and application marks.  I used alcohol dyes so the solvent choices were easy for blending.  I dunno, it looks like a fun project, but after I did mine, I might let the big W take the lead the second time around.
Patrick

 

[jlegnor]

Thanks for the replies guys.  I've been searching alot around here and on the ReRanch site and reading about the different techniques some guys have used to get "this" look or "that" look.  Keyser hit the nail on the head, just reading about things make it seem simple enough, as long as nothing goes wrong.  I'm pushing 40, so I've built up enough patience to do things right.  But I also seem to be blessed with bad luck. :hello2:

It seems if I try to go with something like this, my best bet would be to stain, then maybe a blast of clear coat to seal, then a transparent spray on the edges.  That would give me some margin for error.  The natural binding thing is something I keep going back and forth on.  I've thought about having to scrape it clean, and pictures of a concave line going around a strat just don't seem that appealing.

 

[DangerousR6]

That's riverbluff's VW... :icon_thumright: