recipe for Blonde Finish

Forgive me as I'm new here, but I once saw a build thread here that showed "the recipe" how to get that traditonal translucent tele blonde finish on an ash body.. anyone have a link to point me to? Thanks in advance :grin:

First you get a blonde, then you get a tele. I think there's honey and a fifth of tequila in there some how too.

well to the forum tellelubber! Go here for another alternative source:

Reranch Paint (http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/fencuscol.html)

Good luck!

I've had luck with the Stew-Mac lacquer and pigments...

Get the white and yellow pigments, and mix to taste according to the year of the tele you're trying to replicate...

"blonde" varies a lot by year. The 1950-54 era color coat is browner than the 55 to late 60's blondes. On my blonde 68 and in the blondes I have shot myself, the opaque color coat is actually a creamy white with not much yellow in it at all. The yellow comes from the aging/ambering (or added tint) of the clear coat Re-ranch is the easiest way to go to get a blonde right from a rattle can. You can then clear coat it with Deft if you want the non yellowed blonde look, or you can clear with a tinted lacquer for a more yellowed look.

I bought the reranch stuff before and it looked horrible!

Behlen used to make a pigmented laquer called Lt. Fruitwood that was much closer in appearance.

Best bet is to make your own.

You have to be aware, there is no 'standard' blonde finish because they sourced paint from all over, and the paint was mixed by hand and applied (especially in the early days) in very inconsistent conditions.

This advice seems to work:

You can't buy a blond Fender finish pre-mixed. You must "hand mix" it. This is how I do a blond finish.


Finish sand the ASH body (yes, it must be Ash, otherwise the finish won't look right no matter how good a job you do!). Sand progressively up to 320 or 400 grit sandpaper.
(Optional, but suggested). Spray one "wash coat" of clear nitrocellulose lacquer or sanding sealer on the body to seal it. lightly sand with 400 after dry. I personally use sanding sealer as it's cheaper than lacquer, and sands easier.
PORE FILL the body. Stew Mac (www.stewmac.com or www.guitarshopsupply.com) sells pore filler. I use the "natural" color. Brush the stuff on, let it dry for 30 minutes (or until the thick pore filler has gotten firm), then use an old credit card to "wipe" the pore filler off the body. This leaves the pore filler in the pores of the wood. Let the body dry for 48 hours.
Clear coat with nitrocellulose lacquer or sanding sealer (again, I prefer sanding sealer). This will lock-in the pore filler. Spray about four coats. After all 4 coats were srayed and dry for a day or two, sand smooth with 600 grit. If I "broke through" the clear finish above from sanding, I would spray one more coat of clear lacquer or sanding sealer. Note I would NOT sand between coats after this point. The body should be nice and smooth.
Now comes the fun. Take some WHITE nitrocellulose lacquer, and mix it about 1:10 with clear lacquer. Spray on a board to test, and adjust the amount of white or clear to get a good translucent color. After you got that figured out, spray the body. DO NOT SPRAY HEAVY! Remember, you want the finish to be translucent! If you are doing a 1955 to 1959 Telecaster blond finish, note the SIDES of the body are LESS translucent than the face and back of the body! (i.e. spray more white finish on the sides).
Let the body dry a day. Spray ONE coat of clear lacquer to lock in the white translucent finish.
Aging the finish: the body will be really "white". You may want to make it look a bit old. if you are doing a 1954 or earlier Telecaster finish, this is where you get that "butterscotch" look. Use a small amount of yellow liquid ainline dye, and add it to some clear lacquer. Also add just a TOUCH of red and brown. Spray the lacquer on your test board (that you used for the white translucent paint above), and adjust the color. You want a clear lacquer that has an "old" tint to it. After you have that set, LIGHTLY spray the body. How much you spray will depend on your eye, and if you want that butterscotch look, or the 1960's and later style Tele translucent look. IMPORTANT: if you are doing a 1955 to 1959 tele finish, SKIP this step! The next step of spraying the clear nitrocellulose lacquer will "take the white edge" off the finish enough.
Spray four coats of clear nitrocellulose lacquer on the body.
Let dry for two to four weeks. Rub out with 600 grit, then 1200, then 2000 grit. Be carful when sanding, especially on the body edges!!! You do not want to "break through" the new finish.
Rub out the body using rubbing compound, then polishing compound. Personally I like using Novus3 then Novus2 for these steps if you are rubbing the body out by hand.
Other tips: I use straight ACETONE as my thinner for lacquer. You will get much better lacquer dry times with this. If the lacquer is drying too fast with acetone while you are spraying, add some lacquer retarder. I also always add a sqirt of "smoothie" (available at automotive paint stores) to a mixed quart of lacquer or sanding sealer to prevent "fish eyes", and to generally make the finish a bit smoother.

I used no sanding sealer prior to pore filler (as per instructions on the can) and one coat after. Didn't seem to matter. I can't say how 'good' my finish was, but it looks similar to blond 60's Teles to me, which is what I was shooting for.

From the bottom of this article:
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html

for a late 50's blond i had good luck w/ 10:1 mix of clear lacquer, and white lacquer (10 parts clear, one part white), then a shader of clear tinted w/ (10 drops) yellow and also a touch of brown (2 drops) and red (2 drops) Stew Mac tints. In a couple years it looks dead on.

Wow - thanks for all the pointers.. I have looked into the Stew Mac stuff and Reranch .. but they didn't specify "how" to mix up a good blonde finish .. I have finished necks before with tinted laquer with good results.. so I kinda know where I'm headed as far as "yellowing with age"

The problem is I dont have any spray equipment, and have used wipe on poly with my las 4 "partscasters" - teles and strats - with good results.. but I'm thinkin its time to invest in some.. for all the money I've wasted on rattle cans I could have had a good compressor by now! Hehe.. :lol:

I'll try and post an example of the color I'm after ..

This sounds like the common suggested approach : Take some WHITE nitrocellulose lacquer, and mix it about 1:10 with clear lacquer

This is what I'm after, the "butterscotch blonde" look .. thanks to degsycaster for posting his new Baja Tele today and use of his images...

"...but they didn't specify "how" to mix up a good blonde finish..."

OK, get yourself some spray equipment....
You see compressors all the time at second hand stores, and you don't need a very big one...
I use a DeVilbis (sp?) gun...

Get the Stew-Mac pigments. I'd go for white, yellow, and maybe brown (for a darker project down the line)...

Get a good copy of the pic you posted...

In the clear jar that you're mixing your lacquer in, I'd start with a very small quantity of white, then add a touch of yellow...

Hold the jar up to the pic till you're happy...

Spray, keeping in mind that you're going to be building up the coats till it reaches the level of transparency you desire...

Then clearcoat when you are happy...

This is the simplified version, but it should work...

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee22/e_stamp/P1010589.jpg

OK -- thanks for the help!

Buying from Reranch is like pulling teeth. People have to actually post on the forum to let others know it's open. Try Mohawk toners. Half the price and easier to get. Here's a sample board I made up of a few colours on Maple. The blonde is on the bottom.
12692
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/default.asp

Or you could use a few preval setups, one for clear, one for white, one for tint. order them online for $3 bucks each. or just use two, one for white, one for tint, and use clear deft in cans for clear. that's what i do, and i have a spray rig. It's much much easier for setup and cleanup.


Johnny

+ 1 on the Preval units. You can get them at most auto parts stores. I mix and spray all my color coats, tinted clear coats and even small metal flakes using a Preval. They work great. The Deft lacquer that comes in quart cans and which says on the can is "not for spraying", actually sprays great in a Preval if thinned a bit. That is the lacquer I use for mixing color and tint coats.

Buying from Reranch is like pulling teeth. People have to actually post on the forum to let others know it's open. Try Mohawk toners. Half the price and easier to get. Here's a sample board I made up of a few colours on Maple. The blonde is on the bottom.
12692
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/default.asp

Wow .. thanks for doing those color comparisons..

I forgot all about Preval .. sounds like a plan for me. I just happen to have some cans of Deft around here :wink:

Here is my take on a late 50's early 60's blonde.

-Seal the wood with a wash coat
-fill pores, sand smooth and spray another coat of sealer to lock in pore fill.
-spray the white with darker edges
-my white is 6oz. of 1:1 clear laquer and thinner and 1/4 tbs. of white Stew Mac pigment.
-Spray toner
-tone is same 1:1 clear Lacquer and thinner but a drop of vintage amber.
-6 coats of clear then sand and buff.

And this is what you get.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/jaydawg76/58%20Esquire/IMG_0127.jpg

Sorry, I should have read that a little closer. For my Butterscotch I add a couple of drops of vintage amber and one drop of med. brown to my white lacquer. Then clear over that.

Like this guy.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/jaydawg76/Broadcaster/IMG_0082.jpg

Here's my reproduction of a 1958 blond...

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/519/medium/my58Tele1.jpg

My recipe for the color coat using stewmac pigments...

Per 8oz thinned lacquer, mix in 1.5 tsp white, 20 drops yellow and about 3 drops brown.

There's more pics and detail on my build post (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-tech/84350-blonde-tele-project-finally-got-color.html#post924105)

Sorry, I should have read that a little closer. For my Butterscotch I add a couple of drops of vintage amber and one drop of med. brown to my white lacquer. Then clear over that.

Like this guy.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/jaydawg76/Broadcaster/IMG_0082.jpg

How many color coats did you do with this.. I like the color, but want just a bit more translucense (sp?)

BTW .. all of these submissions are making it harder for me to choose .. LOL

Here is my take on a late 50's early 60's blonde.

-Seal the wood with a wash coat
-fill pores, sand smooth and spray another coat of sealer to lock in pore fill.
-spray the white with darker edges
-my white is 6oz. of 1:1 clear laquer and thinner and 1/4 tbs. of white Stew Mac pigment.
-Spray toner
-tone is same 1:1 clear Lacquer and thinner but a drop of vintage amber.
-6 coats of clear then sand and buff.

And this is what you get.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/jaydawg76/58%20Esquire/IMG_0127.jpg

REALLY nice color jaydawg.

On a body where you want to see the grain lines, here's what I'd do:

1: Spray a wash coat of clear lacquer (this keeps the grain filler out of the pores and in the grain).
2: Sand flat.
3: Use a tinted grain filler to fill the grain.
4: Spray your blond to desired translucency.
5: Clear coat.

That tinted filler will really help those grain lines be defined through your translucent finish, but you can still spray a translucent finish that looks accurate. Spraying too thin makes it look like you stained raw wood, which is not the vintage Fender blonde look.

Here's an interesting thread.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-tech/88576-blonde-tele-finishing-question.html

Here's how mine turned out:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a74/Jarrod11/IMG_0911.jpg

How many color coats did you do with this.. I like the color, but want just a bit more translucense (sp?)

BTW .. all of these submissions are making it harder for me to choose .. LOL

That one has one coat of sealer. One color coat and six clear coats. If you wanted it more translucent just mix the white base a little thinner.