no grainfill on swamp ash??

i am considering a 51 style build with bare minimum finish
i am considering not using grainfill, sand to 1200 or 1500 coating the body 3 times with danish oil and giving it light carnauba polish

the idea is so it feels like a piece of wood not having it buried in a pile of grain fill and many coats of varnish with a mirror finish

any one done this

I don't personally like grain filler. I'm working on my first build and it is swamp ash. I have done a LOT of woodworking before and have primarily used oak, which is very similar to ash. The Watco Danish Oil has been a personal favorite of mine and I found that it will fill the grain if you use enough but it retains the thin coat feel all the way through. I also like the Tru Oil finish. With the Tru Oil you can apply it with 600 grit paper, sanding it in with a circular motion. This will generate a slurry of sanding dust and thickened oil that fills the grain with a mixture of it's own wood and oil. Nice! Great "wood" feel. This is the way I am going with my build.

I find the slurry method kinda sorta works on walnut, oak and mahogany and on a small number of ash bodies, but on most the pores are just too big and obnoxious.

You can partially fill the pores; as a matter of fact, partial filling is the result many get with grain filler, with ash. Total filling takes time and finesse.

I am concerned that the carnauba wax will dry in the pores, dry whitish and will further emphasize them. I'd be more likely to say, go ahead full speed if I knew you did not plan to use a wax final coating. Maybe a heavily darkened wax would be an idea.

thers no (lik none) grainfiller on the Roadworn blonde teles...
they have extreme sinkage wich i like very (VERY) much...
Did something similar to a strummer type tele paintjob a while back... love the look and feel of coloured nitro sunk into the grain...

Yup!
Tru-Oil and carnauba wax over wb stain.
Burned the grain with a heat gun.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb76/guitarzan_1/USACG/IMG_5510.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb76/guitarzan_1/USACGTele/IMG_6114-1.jpg

Old toothbrush gets the dry white wax out of the pores very easily.

My Tele clone has a Minwax Wipe On Poly finish with no filler or stain. I wouldn't have it any other way.
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10467/usacg_t_bridge_600.jpg
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10467/usacg_t_full_1_600.jpg
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10467/strattele.jpg