My youngest has taken an interest in learning guitar, so rather than struggling with my heavy SG, I bought him a cheap sub-£100 guitar kit for his birthday that we can build together and he can play, drop, and thrash about without worry. Plus it would be good practice for a future partcaster build I was planning someday. The wood is bare and untreated (basswood body, maple neck with poplar fretboard) so I was wondering what finishing options to use? Don't have the provisions to spray at home, and don't really want the little 'un around spray can nitro. So staining seems to be the best way forward. To complicate things, the boy is adamant he wants a classic 3 tone burst.
I was looking at Wudtone but to get all the stains and finishing kits will end up costing more than I paid for the whole guitar kit, plus I am not clear as to how exactly to get a burst effect with all the different options they provide. So the obvious choice to me looks like the Crimson Guitar stains. Does anyone have any experience or instructions in using these for bursts or any other alternatives I haven't come across? After staining what would be recommended for finishing to get a satin/gloss coat? Apologies if these questions are all too basic!
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Thanks for the tip on the Osmo, seems like quite lush stuff, plus it looks like you can get it in little sachets for less than a couple of quid each.
I was thinking the crimson stains as they are pretty cheap and you can get them in spirit or water based versions. Your suggestion of sanding back might be worth having a go on some scrap wood. Happy to do some experimenting as it's a cheap kit guitar and I hope the fun in building it with his old man will be what will make it a special first guitar for my lad.
I've never worked with basswood before so looking forward to seeing how it pans out! I recommend testing on scrap, you'll learn loads.
They can also be mixed with water or spirits, really vibrant colours and a lot of fun for the smaller people.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/61134/sarge/p1
Just an FYI for people who are interested in this topic, whilst searching for keda dyes on youtube, I came across this video from the PRS factory. Presumably a master builder and staining is not normally anywhere as easy as he makes it look
They not only do it day-in, day-out but they have a very rigorous process to make sure it's as ready as can be.
My thread in here is really boring, but is detailing my personal experience in trying to learn how to finish a guitar to a reasonable standard. 90 percent of the work is before any liquid hits the wood.
Currently, I'm figuring out wet sanding. It leaves the finish feeling absolutely sublime - super, super slick and nothing like the "sticky" feeling of a gloss finish from a factory guitar. Effort pays off!
I've found Crimson to be very easy to apply. Blending them to get the right effect you want is more difficult, but that'll all be down to your artistic eye rather than anything that a stain can do for you. Glad you found that particular Crimson video, because that's what came to mind when I read your first post - but it would have taken me a while to find it again!
The Crimson stains are also fairly easy to remove, so if it does all go horribly horribly wrong, you can sand back to bare wood and start again (guess how I know that).
Probably best to have a vague idea of what you want, and then experiment fairly freely until you find something that you like. If you try to create a precise pattern with exact shades, you'll be working on it forever!
The Osmo products are excellent (again, in my experience), though possibly not for creating a burst style finish.
I tried @Roland 's technique of mixing Osmo with oil paint (tube stuff from art shops) and it worked really well. Lots of coverage for very little product.
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I've used Crimson stuff but it's very expensive. Their stains are water-based which, given basswood's structure, makes the grain a problem. I now buy powder dyes and mix up my own in much higher strengths than the makers recommend - the usual story.
There's a guitar (already sold) on the site called Blue Flame that was two-colour with Crimson stain. I've not tried a three colour burst mainly because my job is to prepare the body for the artist. The bad news I'm afraid is that I would never touch basswood again. I gave up Crimson stuff on cost and use Boiled Linseed Oil very lightly on the necks.
Pity you can't spray, it's much easier to control and if I was doing a 3 colour burst I'd spray but I understand your situation.
I'm teaching my grandson to play - started when he was 4/5 now 10. Very fulfilling.