Unworthy of a transparent finish?

At least I tend to think so. I originally wanted a transparent orange finish but my pre-req for that was always "must have awesome grain". So I kinda feel this is seriously disqualified. I guess I felt I had to post for confirmation as well as to share the finish process. This is my first partscaster (and first post btw). Anyhow, I got this body from a buddy just for sharing a couple growlers with him and it needed to be stripped which is basically done now. I am about ready for some grain filler and then I think I will be going with either Surf Green or Goldtop, black back. I have only minimal spray experience so I wanted to do something easy which makes me kind of want to go with surf green. Any cool ideas or suggestions welcome!

Welcome!

"first partscaster" probably won't be your last, if you want transparent orange I say go for it. Don't compromise your vision, if the wood doesn't cooperate you just try again and do it better the next time.

That wood grain really isn't that bad. It might not be "awesome" but I think it would make a very nice see through finish, especially if you popped the grain a little with a darker grain filler or some Watco Danish oil.

Try it before you commit to opaque.

There is excellent figuring there. Use a stain to bring it out.

If you haven't used stain before, practice on some scrap first. Or get a half sheet of plywood and do some 6" squares. Brush or wipe it on, then wipe it off with a rag.

How heavily you apply it, how long you allow it to penetrate before wipe-down, and how hard you rub it out will all have a big effect on the appearance.

Do I see binding on that bad boy?

Surf green would be my choice.

:smile:

Welcome bk!

Trans or surf green - either way I think it will look great. So no help with your decision from me. :wink:

Yes there is a binding on it. I am planning on getting some supplies today. I will def get some dark grain filler to see what the wood does, but we'll see. I already know this won't be my last partscaster, I want my next one to be paulowina. I have used stain before, but I used to like to spray it on I always thought it looked cool that way. My other concern about the transparent finish is getting all of the previous color out first. Will the grain fill take care of it or do I need to bleach it first? The previous finish was a stain as well so it is seeped pretty good into those cavities which is a bummer.

Welcome, bk2!

Looks like an ash body with binding that has been stripped, that was once finished in black?

Here's what I say. If the finish is smooth and all the grain is already filled, try the green like Bucko says. If the grain pores are evident and you have a lot of raw wood, take it back to all raw wood and binding, regrainfill it, and then do a semitrans blonde of some sort. It may seem a paradox, but a smooth solid gloss finish is harder to get looking real professional over ash, and trans and semitransparent finishes actually tolerate a little grainpore showing thru here and there far better than a solid gloss finish ever does.

The grain is fine but it looks to have some thick filler, I'd go surf green or another solid color.

+1 on the surf green with binding.

The thick filler you are seeing is some wood filler putty I used to fill a number of small dings, I took these pics before I had sanded it out. There is one part on the horn that is depressed for some reason. Its like there is a little pool that I tried to level with some elmers wood putty. Maybe I should post some new pics. The wood has a lot of imperfections, and I know they will be really magnified in a transparent finish which scares me.

Here are some new pics. I tried to picture some of the flaws so you can see what I mean. It was finished in blue stain previously and it seeped into the wood pretty good. I went to the paint shop today and got some stuff to start with. They only had clear grain filler unfortunately, so I guess I'm going with that. Was it a mistake to use wood putty on those little dings? Would the grain filler have taken care of those? Good thing is, the pic guard does cover all that crap (including the depression in the horn) even if I were to do a stain finish.
Once I grain fill, I will put some stain on it and look at it. Gotta see what I have lying around here.
One other thing, my buddy used blue stain on this and he cleared it with reranch nitro and the thing was totally deep green. I did'nt know that the nitro would yellow it THAT much. I am going to use mohawk gloss nitro, is yellowing something I should take into serious consideration when applying the color undercoat whether it is stain or surf green paint?

that would look awesome in butt blonde

It needs a solid color finish imo.

It needs a solid color finish imo.


Based upon these additional pictures, absolutely no question. Solid finish, just take your time and get the base totally smooth before the final coats go on.

+1

If you're new to this you're going to hit problems along the way (this is coming from somebody who's done one partscaster).

Go for something high percentage. As stated by somebody else, it doesn't have to be the last one you ever do. But it may be around for a while, and it'd be better to have something that you gave a good shot at for your first. I got almost everything right on mine, on the second, third or 4th try. But the finish was easily the toughest part, and the part where I still feel a little let down every once in a while. And I just worry about that glob of grain filler near the horn, the nicks, the left over paint that probably won't come out, plus you're going to be dealing with a binding, which I'm assuming you will mask off when you do color and then clear coat with everything else? IDK.

Agreed with a solid color. There's plenty out there that would look great. Maybe a solid color on top and a dark brown or black for the back and sides? Can still be a great guitar.

lol. Sounds like the extra pics were necessary for you all to see what I mean by unworthy of a transparent finish. I will be prepping the crap out of it. I really do hope I can get a good looking finish on it because it would be a shame to let it go to waste. The body is a decent weight too at about 4 1/2 lbs. Not the lightest but not the heaviest either.
I will try to do grain fill today and I will post progress as I go.

can I change my vote to BLACK?

And so the learning curve begins already.. Went to go check on it and the grain filler lifted the wood putty on the horn. I checked the putty and it was not a solvent based putty. Now I think I'm really screwed since I have small areas of that putty on the body and apparently is just waiting to lift under the lacquer once that gets put down. I tried to scrape out all the putty with a razor but who knows if I got it all. Could be some hiding that I can't see just waiting to lift later.
Bummer. I hate to say it but I may just abandon this one and get a new body. I know of one avail with supposedly super nice grain same weight 4 1/2 lbs. So I just may go do it. Damn. Any suggestions welcome.

Well...whether you should do a solid color or a clear depends on how the guitar resonates and feels when playing it. It it was part of a great playing and feeling guitar, keep it and do a solid black nitro finish on it....if that's your thing. I'd never throw away a body that works well as a guitar. On the other hand, there are some bodies that are better off in the fireplace.

It is as a good body. I just was looking over it again and maybe I jumped the gun on it, it looked like it was lifting but I noticed that grain filler did dry strange on a couple other areas that clearly had no wood filler so maybe it wasn't lifting and I just freaked over nothing. I don't know I'm just gonna proceed with caution. Since I dug out all that putty and grain filled over it I ran my fingers over some of the ding areas and the felt smooth so we'll see how it looks tomorrow after a sanding. I'll get some pics up then. I still may go buy that other body and just use this as a learning curve tho. I got enough supplies for more than one body so who knows. I will keep you all posted, I appreciate all the warm welcomes from everybody too BTW! :)