Spalted Maple Top Finishing Puzzle

Hello all,

I've been making some guitar bodies lately, and here's one of a batch I've been experimenting with.

This was a body chambering/top laminating experiment 'gone bad'.

It's made of locally grown pine capped with a 1/4" spalted figured maple top. This top was chosen specifically for the issues it had, like extreme wood hardness and density variations. This is why the top looks the way it does... the wood had so much stress in it that I jointed this top for almost two hours before I could get two reasonably clean straight cuts to glue up the top.

Now, I'm going to finish this top, preferably with a slight amber tint to bring out the wood's grain. The 'brown' areas are actually stripes of various browns, reds, and yellows, and I'd like to keep them just a little bit darker or more 'amber' but still not muddy their colors while still making the tigerstriped parts pop out.

Any ideas on how to finish this guitar?

The darker photo is of the body washed in lacquer thinner to make the grain show up, and the other photo is of the guitar 'dry' with the bridge and other parts on it.

thank you,
ken

I have found a satin acrylic lacquer really helps the figure pop out while not darkening the surrounding wood too much. You might also have some luck with some toner lacquer (can get it in spray cans from several places, already amber tinted).

Here's a 1/4" Spalt over Swamp Ash project I'm working on right now, I am using a tung-oil based wiping varnish (made by ZAR) and it's working out really well. The finish has darkened a bit, but after 6 coats (allowed to dry then steel wool and tack-cloth cleanup in between) it still isn't any darker than when I wiped it with lighter fluid prior to finishing to see where the color would roughly come out.

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For prep, I sanded it to 1200 (time-consuming but well worth it) and the first 2 coats were put on relatively thin and really (REALLY) scrubbed into the wood to make sure it got down into the grain and pores, etc (I didn't use a pre-sealer as I wanted to retain a bit of the woods original character) - the last 4 coats were a basic wipe-on then as outlined above, I figure it's ready but just to be safe I'm planning on 2 more coats (mainly as the neck is out getting refretted so I won't have that back until mon or tues anyhow) ...

The only problem I have now (which I'm posting as soon as I'm done here) is what I'm going to do for the final buffing - the finish is nice as it is but I want to be sure that it's completely uniform gloss-wise (prob just be a hand buffing with a very light compound but I want to get a few opinions before I pull the trigger)

Nice looking project you've got there

I'd like the top to end up colored somewhere between the two photos, a little bit darker than the 'dry' photo but ambered a bit if possible. BrewCityMusic, nice guitar there! Your guitar color is close to what I've been thinking of, or maybe a little lighter than that. I'd like the individual colors in the brown stripes to be still recognizable if possible.

This top was the hardest one to make I've ever done and I was convinced I was going to lose this one for sure. :twisted::twisted: I just couldn't stop this top from warping even after setting my jointer at only .015 per pass.

Anybody try alcohol dye on a top like this? I'm afraid to try water based finish after what this top already put me through...

ken

the pic is deceptive, there are a ton of discernible colorations in the wood (even after finishing) that the pic doesn't show (then again, the pic was snapped in a darker room) ... And the grain pattern is fully visible and definitely not muddied - I'll snap a couple pics with some decent lighting and maybe that will give a little better idea of the actual hue of the finish

These are a little better representation of the color (although my cr*p digital tends to darken a bit, even outdoors) - keep in mind there's now another coat on there since this morning (7 total) so if you did say 4 coats you would be protected very well and yet would have even less darkening.

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That is BEAUTIFUL!

Both guitars! Stunning looking.

I really like the spalted maple tops.

Makes em look like a very cool Rorschach test.......

Thanks, Praise - it should all come together pretty slick, all black nickel hardware and a dark (almost ebony dark) Brazilian Rosewood neck w Jumbo's - the Pups are EMG FT in the neck, SA in the mid, and 89 in the bridge (still a little torn on the wiring schem and how I want to do it but it'll be a LOT of playing with tone caps to try and tame the EMG's before I have to do anything permanent)

With any maple a single application of boiled linseed really improves the depth of figure, and also brings a little amber/warmth. Repeated coats tend to amplify this effect. You would need to seal that with a coat of shellac (which could also could add a touch of amber) if you intended any sort of lacquer or water based top coat.

Otherwise an oil based poly (like BrewCity is using) would provide the coloration and would continue to yellow over time.

I've found that an amber shellac does wonders for a spalted maple cap.

I think I'll try the boiled linseed oil, then a couple of coats of shellac over that.

One of my friends says to use Stewmac's spray clear nitro as a topcoat. Has anyone tried this, and if so did you notice any yellowing of your own finish? I don't want to overdo things.

ken

Love that spalted top -- in fact I love just about every
spalted top, but unfortunately I haven't finished one myself.

From what I've heard, it's common to stabilize a spalted
maple top before finishing, using, for example, epoxy
resin or CA (super glue).

edit: I just found this, which may be helpful:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/253922-spalted-maple.html

Thank you flatfive for the thread... I did some research and you seem to be correct.

I'm going to sand the top, cover it in Minwax wood hardener (a very thin CA), sand it back, and truoil the top. Then, a couple of coats of blond shellac for color and a couple of coats of clear nitro should be great. Supposedly a boiled linseed oil topcoat darkens over time, which is what I *don't* want to happen.

BrewCityMusic... I like the color your body is in the second photo, it's close to what I want only I'd like mine a tiny touch more 'amber'. My digital camera must behave a lot like yours, and I spend a lot of time in Photoshop color correcting all my photos.

thank you,
ken

Hi frankentele. Glad that helped. You might want to consider a
simpler plan. For example, after the wood hardener you could
just spray or wipe on a little shellac as a sealer, and then spray
nitro. If you want to add a little color, you could spray some
tinted nitro first, then spray clear nitro over that.

Looking again at that picture, the color of that wood is
amazing even without any tinting. Personally I think I'd see
how it looks after the hardener, wipe a thin sealer coat
of shellac on, and then spray clear nitro.

But I'm far from a finishing expert!

I guess I'm saying that I don't see how the Tru-Oil is adding
much value in your finishing plan.

Anyway, I'm sure after finishing that spalted maple will look amazing.

Thank you flatfive for the thread... I did some research and you seem to be correct.

I'm going to sand the top, cover it in Minwax wood hardener (a very thin CA), sand it back, and truoil the top. Then, a couple of coats of blond shellac for color and a couple of coats of clear nitro should be great. Supposedly a boiled linseed oil topcoat darkens over time, which is what I *don't* want to happen.

BrewCityMusic... I like the color your body is in the second photo, it's close to what I want only I'd like mine a tiny touch more 'amber'. My digital camera must behave a lot like yours, and I spend a lot of time in Photoshop color correcting all my photos.

thank you,
ken

I treated the top with Minwax wood hardener yesterday. I put on four coats and it's STILL soaking into the light tan soft spots. The top so far looks great, and it's now only slightly darker then the original color. A couple of coats of blond shellac should amber it right up... I hope.

I'm trying to get the body finished by this weekend before the weather finally falls apart for good