Maple neck stain fail,help!

[Byron]

I am refinishing the back of the neck on an old Pbass. I sanded the neck and back of the headstock leaving the OEM face alone. The plan was to tint and truoil the neck.
The plan worked great on the edge and back of the headstock, but the neck would not take transtint dye in spots that still had finish. I don't know what the last guy used, but they left the date on the heel and the face original. I am afraid to sand off anymore wood. The plan now is tint the truoil or tint under the oil as needed. The end grain at the neck and heel transition are the worst areas. Tinting truoil seems to be a touchy subject on the internet. Thanks for the help.

 

[Spud]

can you post a pic?

 

[Byron]

I'll try. I'm not good with the high tech stuff. Seems to have loaded. Note the white area is brighter in better light. The amber has been wiped down with alcohol. The black spots are bare wood.

 

[Spud]

Hmmm, well I don't see why you couldn't tint tru oil varnish. Minwax wipe on polyurethane is kinda that yellowish color by itself. Unless you want to sand or bleach the bare grey/black spots they will remain. How bout trying some test samples on maple scrap wood to see?

 

[Byron]

I'm going to try tinting the truoil as a test. I read somewhere transtint does not mix with truoil..or other oil based stuff without a solvent. . The list goes on. I wonder if tinted shellac would be good under truoil. I tried to keep all the surfaces flat while sanding so there are a few edges that have the old finish because they were rounded over. If I sand anymore it will be a jazz bass neck.

 

[Spud]

I'm going to try tinting the truoil as a test. I read somewhere transtint does not mix with truoil..or other oil based stuff without a solvent. . The list goes on. I wonder if tinted shellac would be good under truoil. I tried to keep all the surfaces flat while sanding so there are a few edges that have the old finish because they were rounded over. If I sand anymore it will be a jazz bass neck.

You can put varnish over shellac so tru oil would work over tinted shellac!

 

[stratamania]

You can tint or colour truoil as long as you use something that is compatible. Truoil is linseed oil based among other things, so for example I have used artist oil paint to colour it. You could probably find some other dye where the solvent is compatible, but experiment on some scrap first.

 

[Byron]

You can tint or colour truoil as long as you use something that is compatible. Truoil is linseed oil based among other things, so for example I have used artist oil paint to colour it. You could probably find some other dye where the solvent is compatible, but experiment on some scrap first.

Thanks for the info. I watched a YouTube video about that. It's good hear from someone that has done it. The guess the smart move would be to test a board with a seal coat next to tinted raw wood. I have been fooling around with this project for years. BTW what happened to the gallery on the Warmoth site?

 

[stratamania]

Thanks for the info. I watched a YouTube video about that. It's good hear from someone that has done it. The guess the smart move would be to test a board with a seal coat next to tinted raw wood. I have been fooling around with this project for years. BTW what happened to the gallery on the Warmoth site?

When the old site went, the gallery also did. I cannot answer why, as I do not work for Warmoth. The forum has a gallery section so it may have been decided this was the place for folks to show builds and finished guitars etc. AFAIK the gallery on the Warmoth site was not updated for a while.

 

[Byron]

Quick update. I tested Transtint over poly, lacquer seal and thinned white glue on a maple board. No good results when compared to the raw wood. Then I put a coat of tinted shellac over everything. That evened out the color very nice except for the glue sample. After one coat of truoil you could not see much variation at all. Thanks for the help.

 

[Rick]

Or just call It character ...

 

[Byron]

Or just call It character ...

That was the line my dad used. Hide your mistakes or show them off. This neck is reliced in all the wrong places.

 

[Spud]

That was the line my dad used. Hide your mistakes or show them off. This neck is reliced in all the wrong places.

Just play it enjoy it and don't look back.

 

[Byron]

Just play it enjoy it and don't look back.

Good advice, spud. It's a matter of principle at this point. No piece of wood is going to out smart me. That being said, plan B failed. While I regroup I'll work on the next project.

 

[Spud]

Good advice, spud. It's a matter of principle at this point. No piece of wood is going to out smart me. That being said, plan B failed. While I regroup I'll work on the next project.

I hear you and admire your moxie. I know after years on this planet that I have been out smarted by lots of seemingly simple things (wood,rocks,paper, paper clips,leaves, etc...................on and on the list goes.

 

[Byron]

I hear you and admire your moxie. I know after years on this planet that I have been out smarted by lots of seemingly simple things (wood,rocks,paper, paper clips,leaves, etc...................on and on the list goes.

I think Moxie is a very polite way of pointing out my poor judgement. I laughed about your post as I tried to find a piece of 400 grit in a pile of paper I never labeled.