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swarfrat
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Okay, how bout a little more about the finish process? What grain fill? How many coats? And what's the reason for the brass trem block? (Since I have the same bridge coming)
Korina Strat : Finished
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Steve_Karl
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The grain fill was made by LMI and I believe it's the mahogany ... or maybe just called dark brown ... not sure, but it resembles melted chocolate when it's in the plastic container.
I did 3 grain fills with the dark brown waiting 4 or so hours or maybe a day between 2 and 3, for it to dry and then sanding lightly after with 320 or 400 to remove the excess grain fill left on the surface. Wipe with lighter fluid to remove sanding dust. Waited a day after last grain fill, sanding and wipe down, before final sandings, wipe downs and master-gel.
Final sanding was then a pass with 600 and then 800 wiping down with lighter fluid after each then directly to the first coat of master-gel.
4 coats of Behlin's Master-Bel total, wait 1 day,
lightly buffing with a white scotchbrite and wiping down with lighter fluid then next coat,
wait 1 day, etc.
and only handling it with cotton gloves.
I let it sit for a few days after the 4th coat of Master-Gel buffed with scotchbright, wiped with lighter fluid, and then wiped it down with Formbey's Lemon Oil.
I'm not sure if the lemon oil mattered but I have it so I knew it couldn't hurt.
I used lighter fluid to clean off sanding dust after grain fills and after buffing with the white scotchbrite.
That's it.
The Behlin's Master-Gel is very forgiving and easy to use. I did a few test runs on un filled honduras mohogany before I did the korina and those little 4" x 4" blocks came out looking great. All I did with them is sanded smooth up to 600 grit, wiped off with lighter fluid, and then hit them with a quick coat of Master-Gel waited a day before buffing with white scotchbrite, wipe down with lighter fluid, second coat, up to 4 coats total.
My waiting times might be incorrect because I may have waited longer on a few, because of being busy with other things, so I'm just telling of the shortest wait times meaning don't go any shorter.
The brass trem block:
Was reported to have more solid midrange tone and more sustain than the steel block but since I never used the original steel block I can't testify to the truth of that comparison. It certainly feels like a real beefy chunk of metal compared to the light little steel stock block.
It does sound nice and solid, and also sustains comparably well to my hard tail mahogany strat.
I did 3 grain fills with the dark brown waiting 4 or so hours or maybe a day between 2 and 3, for it to dry and then sanding lightly after with 320 or 400 to remove the excess grain fill left on the surface. Wipe with lighter fluid to remove sanding dust. Waited a day after last grain fill, sanding and wipe down, before final sandings, wipe downs and master-gel.
Final sanding was then a pass with 600 and then 800 wiping down with lighter fluid after each then directly to the first coat of master-gel.
4 coats of Behlin's Master-Bel total, wait 1 day,
lightly buffing with a white scotchbrite and wiping down with lighter fluid then next coat,
wait 1 day, etc.
and only handling it with cotton gloves.
I let it sit for a few days after the 4th coat of Master-Gel buffed with scotchbright, wiped with lighter fluid, and then wiped it down with Formbey's Lemon Oil.
I'm not sure if the lemon oil mattered but I have it so I knew it couldn't hurt.
I used lighter fluid to clean off sanding dust after grain fills and after buffing with the white scotchbrite.
That's it.
The Behlin's Master-Gel is very forgiving and easy to use. I did a few test runs on un filled honduras mohogany before I did the korina and those little 4" x 4" blocks came out looking great. All I did with them is sanded smooth up to 600 grit, wiped off with lighter fluid, and then hit them with a quick coat of Master-Gel waited a day before buffing with white scotchbrite, wipe down with lighter fluid, second coat, up to 4 coats total.
My waiting times might be incorrect because I may have waited longer on a few, because of being busy with other things, so I'm just telling of the shortest wait times meaning don't go any shorter.
The brass trem block:
Was reported to have more solid midrange tone and more sustain than the steel block but since I never used the original steel block I can't testify to the truth of that comparison. It certainly feels like a real beefy chunk of metal compared to the light little steel stock block.
It does sound nice and solid, and also sustains comparably well to my hard tail mahogany strat.
Cagey
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I really like how that finish turned out. I've got a mahogany body here I've been wondering which way to jump as far as a finish, and I'm thinking maybe that's the solution. I've always been skeptical of the various oil finishes - I want something that'll cure up fairly hard. Lacquer's a lotta work, and poly's aren't very friendly if you aren't dedicated to shooting them.
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swarfrat
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Man, come to think of it I wonder if I asked nicely if they'd have sent me a scrap of black korina to play with?
Steve_Karl
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You should call them and ask for scraps. My guess is they might charge you shipping at the worst.
I ended up getting my mahogany scraps from a friend who owns a custom furniture business.
I ended up getting my mahogany scraps from a friend who owns a custom furniture business.
Steve_Karl
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Cagey
I believe the Behlen's Master-Gel is a wipe on poly by design.
Sorry ... I think I've been spelling it wrong a few times. It's Behlen's Master-Gel.
Anyway, one more story about it ... I did the maple neck on the strat in my avitar with the gel ... I love it.
It cleans up with a wet rag if it gets a lil gamey from usage and always feels very comfortable never grabby or sticky ... and when I did that refinish job I thought sandpaper only came in light medium and heavy. So that's a testimony to ease of use and getting good results even by a clueless user like me.
I believe the Behlen's Master-Gel is a wipe on poly by design.
Sorry ... I think I've been spelling it wrong a few times. It's Behlen's Master-Gel.
Anyway, one more story about it ... I did the maple neck on the strat in my avitar with the gel ... I love it.
It cleans up with a wet rag if it gets a lil gamey from usage and always feels very comfortable never grabby or sticky ... and when I did that refinish job I thought sandpaper only came in light medium and heavy. So that's a testimony to ease of use and getting good results even by a clueless user like me.
Cagey
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Steve_Karl said:
Right - I wasn't clear in my post - I didn't mean I thought this was a "different" oil, but that it wasn't an oil and it didn't have the drawbacks of the common spray finishes. It's also encouraging to hear that it dries hard enough to be sandable. I wonder if it could be taken a step further and buffed to a high gloss?
Steve_Karl
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I don't know about the buff to high gloss idea but I did purchase a pack of paper going up to 12000 so if I get frisky I'll try it on one of my mahogany blocks,
but don't hold your breath.
but don't hold your breath.
The Norwegian Guy
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This is pure awesomeness! How does the pickups sound?
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swarfrat
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Steve_Karl
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The Norwegian Guy said:
Very flat and uncolored. That's one of the reasons why I like this system, and also that it's easy to get a good sound without an amp ... i.e. direct into console or mic pre.
