Mooncaster "Burning Absinthe" with Green Burst Finish

[alexreinhold]

Hi all,

[IN PROGRESS]

Build time again! I've actually been on this one for a few weeks already but haven't had the time to update much. So I will give a recap of what happened in a few posts. Once done, I will edit this post with the final results.

The idea: My style is very straight forward - I either play Strat-style guitars (I have 3 + a Dinky-style) or V/Tele-Style metal machines (I have 2 Vs and 2 tele style metal guitars). All my needs are served with my arsenal of guitars but a) I missed doing a build and b) I wanted to try something completely different. So, over xmas 2025, I was stupid enough to go to a music store and try a few Gretsch guitars. I really liked a lot of things (especially the Filtertron potential), but I also did not like some things (the feel I guess?). So I went into a rabbit hole to figure out what I want.

Long story short: I wanted to a) do my very first burst finish, b) have my first semi-hollow guitar, c) do my first guitar with bindings (still not sure about that one) and d) enter the world of Filtertrons. Here are the specs.

Body:

• Swamp Ash Mooncaster with Flame Maple Top, Ivoroid binding and 2 F-Holes
• TV Jones with Ears
• Gotoh Wraparound bridge
• Green/Orange Burst finish with water-based stains and Tru-Oil

Neck:

• Roasted Flame Maple Meadowhawk with Ebony Macassar fretboard and Ivoroid binding
• Wolfgang neck profile (yup, experimental haha), 10-16 compound, SS6115 frets (as always..)

Wiring/Pickups:

• TV Jones Powertron in bridge, TV Jones Classic in neck
• One vol (push/pull; series/parallel), no tone, 3-way toggle
• Treble Bleed

 

[alexreinhold]

Here's the naked body and neck:

 

[alexreinhold]

The finishing plan:

• end result: green/orange burst on front, dark brown (barn look) on sides and back
• step 1: brown stain on front, black stain on back to pop grain -> sand back
• step 2: burst on front, brown stain on back
• step 3: tru oil
• step 4: polish & wax

Oh and of course... all the sandings, tears and frustrations in between.

This was my blueprint for the end result:

 

[alexreinhold]

Step 1: View attachment 68308



Sanded down:





Now you see the problem... It was sooo hard to sand down the back. I could have gone on and hate my life. But then I figured that I wanted to go "barn door" anyway. So I worked with the "dirty" version.