staining and finishing basswood (cerused top)

skillonoroff

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi guys,
please excuse me if there are typos or duplicity, since this is my first topic raised here, and english is not my native language.

I'm working on my basswood body and I'm trying to achieve the exact same finish as this guitar has. This is my first project, so I really have not too much experience with staining (besides staining bed frame and shelves...)
https://mayones.com/page/duvell-elite-gothic-6/

I thought, that this might be the way to get desired results. I intend to use black water-based stain, and then some sort of metallic or pigmented wax to make the grain pop out. I want the body sides and bottom to be natural, maybe stained to slightly darker color.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AaDPin2EDo&ab_channel=GunsandGuitars

How do I preserve or seal the body after staining to get that nice, matt but silky surface? Would linseed oil be a good choice, or should I use teak or any other oil?
Many thanks guys, and once again, sorry for my grammars.
Cheers,

Jakub
 
My first thought is tru oil but that is a gloss. Not super glossy but gloss nonetheless.  I know wudtone in England makes a low gloss satin top coat that's easy to apply.  It might worth contacting them.  I'm sure others here will chime in with other finish choices.  You could go also with a satin poly wipeon.  I've used them on doors.
 
I don't think you can get that result using basswood. You need to have a wood with a deep grain like ash or mahogany. Basswood and alder have a very tight grain that doesn't enable you to accent the grain like the others I mentioned.

Michael
 
Welcome to the forum.

This type of finish needs an open grain wood such as ash to achieve such a finish. Basswood is too close grained for it to work in the same way.
 
Basswood by the way comes from North America, we call it Linden.  In my post, I was just talking about the top finish.  I'd say try it on some scraps, just wash it with a Naptha a couple of times and see what happens.
 
I was thinking, that maybe with enough sanding and steel brush I'll be able to open the grain enough.
In regards to Naptha wash...what about the smell?
Anyways, after the stain is applied, what oil would you recommend to apply? Will it protect the wood, or will it remain soft and prone to scratching body surface, as the linden is pretty soft?

Thank you all for your advice so far :)
 
Unfortunately, that's not how wood fibers work.  You might be able to open some up, but that's going to be more like scarring the wood surface. You'd be filling the scratches with the white, not the grain.  This is why most basswood guitars have a solid color finish, because there's very little distinct grain that's worth highlighting with dyes or stains.

The guitar in the link you posted is ash, which has a really open grain naturally and is more conducive to cerusing.  I don't think you'll be happy with the result because basswood won't match what you're imagining in your mind.

This is my bass that I built this past winter, with a swamp ash body.  Note how distinct the grain is even after several coats of gloss lacquer:
2020-02-17-18.48.16-scaled.jpg


I left the grain open to fit with the Hawaiian theme that I'd given this bass (I named it Ke Kai, which means "to the sea").

I've used spray-can lacquer with each of the guitars I've built. I'm still practicing with wipe-on poly, since I can't spray during the winter.



 
On a test piece this is what I would do ....
Sand the basswood smooth to 220 grit,
Then wipe the wood with Naptha to get rid of oils.  Do it a couple of times.  Naptha dries fast, and when dry has no smell.
Then stain however you want.
Let dry
Put on your top finish of choice.  If you’re going to put on an oil based top coat I wouldn’t put any kind of wax under it.
See how you like it.

Basswood won't look like swamp ash, it's smoother a lot more like maple.  Yes softer, but it's not like play-do.  All finishes and wood will scratch.  Eventually they all get marks from playing.  It's character.  Don't worry about it.
 
Adding a current phase photo...I'll be drilling new holes for tremolo posts tomorrow, so until this is finished I won't be putting anything on.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3179.PNG
    IMG_3179.PNG
    2.8 MB · Views: 257
Back
Top