transparent green on mahogany

[bagman67]

Wow. Did you bleach that? I'm surprised at the tone of the green. I'd have expected it to come out more brown.

I did not bleach it - my experiment with the Mixol tint and the lacquer thinner/retarder vehicle gave me confidence in this approach.  The TransTint dye did come in much darker.  What surprised me most about the Mixol approach is that the endgrain is about the same intensity and depth of color as the front of the guitar.

Here it is with a first coat of shellac (gonna do one or two more)

before I grain fill:

 

[Tonar8352]

Looking good, what color grain filler are you going to use?

 

[pabloman]

Every thread I read.....bagman is finishing a cool tele......heres my tele with a different finish.........heres a finish you don't see everyday.......blah blah blah.......super sexy guitars.........blah blah blah.........BTW have you ever seen a Les Paul like this?  :icon_biggrin:

 

[bagman67]

Looking good, what color grain filler are you going to use?

Thanks, Tonar.  Apart from the tinting agent, I'm trying to adhere to your finishing schedule.


As for what color filler, I'm not sure yet - I face three possibilities, based on the materials I have on hand.

1 - I have a neutral Timbermate water-based filler I thought  I could tint with the Mixol green to make the grain less obtrusive.  I really like the green color I wound up with here and wouldn't mind more of it.  But it would also have the tendency to make the attractive grain less prominent, so:

2 - I could tint the Timbermate with black instead, and really make the grain stand out, or -

3 - I could shoot for a middle ground.  I have the deeper green TransTint dye, which would give me a darker green contrasting grain.

Any opinions would be welcomed here.

Bagman

 

[bagman67]

Every thread I read.....bagman is finishing a cool tele......heres my tele with a different finish.........heres a finish you don't see everyday.......blah blah blah.......super sexy guitars.........blah blah blah.........BTW have you ever seen a Les Paul like this?  :icon_biggrin:

It's been an embarrassment of riches for me this summer, I admit it.

Sadly, the Les Paul is the result of my father-in-law's passing - but it's a hell of an axe to remember him by.

The Voodoo (now orange-burst) tele I've been chipping away at for what seems like a year and a half, and finally got the time and motivation to progress on it.

The green tele I won on a lowball bid on ebay, so of course I'm obligated to work on that one, too, and it's coming together so nicely that it's easy to stay motivated there.

And the purple tele is a gift from my wife, and embodies a special relationship I have with my daughter, to that will be a true once-in-a-lifetime guitar.  I don't foresee another custom-built, fancy-topped superbuild like that coming along any time soon (ever, in fact).  Historically I'm a cheap guitar guy.  Prior to Quty Pie, I had never spent more than about $500 bucks on a guitar, so this is heady stuff for me. 

And it'll calm down in the Fall.  Baby's coming soon!

Peace

Bagman

 

[dmraco]

that looks nice.  Mahogany is tough with dyes if you are doing anything but BROWN.  you seem to have found the mojo.

What is the advantage of using thinner over just plain water?  I have always used strewmac dyes mixed with water.  What are the pros and cons?

 

[bagman67]

What is the advantage of using thinner over just plain water?  I have always used strewmac dyes mixed with water.  What are the pros and cons?

Tonar could quote you chapter and verse from the Finishing Gods' Bible for general truths, but for me on this project, I can say that the grain is not raised by using the lacquer thinner/retarder blend, which means less sanding, which means less risk of burnthrough.

Bagman

 

[dmraco]

What is the advantage of using thinner over just plain water?  I have always used strewmac dyes mixed with water.  What are the pros and cons?

Tonar could quote you chapter and verse from the Finishing Gods' Bible for general truths, but for me on this project, I can say that the grain is not raised by using the lacquer thinner/retarder blend, which means less sanding, which means less risk of burnthrough.

Bagman

understood.  I usually work with maple, and at times want the grain raised to get certain colors in.  I can see the advantages both have.

 

[Watershed]

Very nice results bagman.
I have always used Mixol pigments when I'm going for opaque.
Seems to do a great job as a transparent as well.

Didn't think you could apply the Mixol without reducing it in lacquer either.
Learn something every day, seems to have worked.

 

[bagman67]

Very nice results bagman.
I have always used Mixol pigments when I'm going for opaque.
Seems to do a great job as a transparent as well.

Didn't think you could apply the Mixol without reducing it in lacquer either.
Learn something every day, seems to have worked.

Thanks, Watershed.  I'm very happy with the result. 

To be honest, I've held off on going any further because it looks so nice - I don't want to screw it up when I start in with grain filling and sanding. But of course the only way out is through... so I'll probably grit my teeth and fill it this weekend.

 

[Watershed]

I understand, I would be very wary of taking any sort of sandpaper to it.
A sandthrough would give me.....it would be bad.

What are your plans for grainfilling?
Sounds like you have a Woodcraft near you, they also sell Timbermate grainfiller.
It's waterbased, so removing the excess would be a matter of a wet paper towel.
Just throwing out ideas.

 

[bagman67]

Yep, I do have a Woodcraft near me.  I got neutral timbermate I plan to tint black with Mixol.  The thing that makes me nervous is that I really want to get the thing glassy-smooth, and the timbermate can help me get that - but the risk of sand-through on an edge is particularly high.  I think the builder of this body did an 1/8" roundover on the edge or just sanded the hard corner smooth, so it's pretty unforgiving.

Anyway, thanks for the positive regard.  Hopefully I'll have some good pics this weekend of non-disastrously filled grain.  Stay tuned!

Bagman

 

[bagman67]

Got the pickups in from Ken at Roadhouse (our very own TroubledTreble), and decided to do a quick mockup.  If any of you guys feel up to customizing a LP-special-style pickguard, I'd be happy to provide material and money for doing it.

Appointments:
Roadhouse True Blue P90's
Grover locking tuners
Canary neck, ebony board with MOP dots, stainless frets (don't recall what gauge, but slightly larger than vintage-sized)
Nickel hardware
And DangerousR6 has been commissioned to do a neckplate

 

[DangerousR6]

That's awesome Ian.... :icon_thumright:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Looking cool!

 

[bagman67]

Thanks, Nando.

I've been laying on the clearcoat nitro and now I am just waiting for it to cure before I wetsand and polish it.  I reckon we'll be ready to hear it fired up in a couple weeks.

Bagman

 

[bagman67]

Well, I got this thing built - photos will be forthcoming.


Here is where I confess the error of my ways.  It's a non-Warmoth body, and the pesky bridge holes were drilled a tiny bit to the right of where they should have been, so the high E string is right on the edge of the fretboard above the 12th fret.  Fixing it is kind of a non-starter, since I'd have to fill the holes, re-drill, refinish, yadda yadda.  Not worth it for an 80-dollar body. 


I got some Grover locking tuners, since they were nickel plated and I was shooting to use nickel as much as possible beside the stainless bridge - they're okay, but I like the schallers better.


Also, I managed to sand through the finish in a couple places.  Working on repairing that.



As it happens, this was kind of the point - to learn some finishing and wiring techniques on a body I could afford to screw up.  Ironically, the one screwup in the whole affair that I am not equal to fixing is not even my own.  *sigh*


Good news among the frustrations learning opportunities:


I wired the pickups correctly! Ken's Roadhouse True Blue P90's sound AMAZING.  Whatever happens to this body, the pickups are staying in my life.  I'll try recording 'em for you all.


That's it for tonight...


Bagman

 

[Cagey]

I'm still surprised that transparent green came out the way it did on Mahogany. I would have expected that to come out more brown.

Sorry to hear about the bridge misalignment. You may be able to open up the neck mounting clearance holes on the body just a smidgen so you can rotate the neck up a degree or so, then re-tighten the screws and so align your strings. You won't be able to see it or affect how much screw head grabs because it'll all be under the neck plate. It won't affect appearance or how tight the neck is to the body, so no worries.

Congrats on the wiring. Always a joy to have that work out - correcting mistakes is often harder than doing it all in the first place.

 

[bagman67]

Mission accomplished, more or less:


http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=18406.0

 

[Bodsterbug]

Hi!
I found this thread on google by searching for the same thing. I am also building a mahogany Tele and I really want to go green just like yours. Looks lush! I have ordered some Mixol green. Can you tell me more about what lacquer thinners/retarders you used? Also, what colour grain filler did you use in the end? I'm planning on using finishing oil on mine.

Many thanks!!

Justin