Cherry sunburst question

Has anyone done/seen a cherry sunburst Tele where the red did not follow the body outline on the top, but filled in the upper body space like on a Les Paul? I have my base yellow down and am about ready to spray the red (red/brown, actually - I don't want a clown burst color scheme). I'm thinking that I'll try it with the red filling in the top and see how I like it, but I was hoping to find a picture where this has been done before as a point of reference.

Thanks, friends.

Has anyone done/seen a cherry sunburst Tele where the red did not follow the body outline on the top, but filled in the upper body space like on a Les Paul? I have my base yellow down and am about ready to spray the red (red/brown, actually - I don't want a clown burst color scheme). I'm thinking that I'll try it with the red filling in the top and see how I like it, but I was hoping to find a picture where this has been done before as a point of reference.

Thanks, friends.

I can't find one that's exactly what you're lookin' for, but here's a couple... The first is the better of the two:
http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/19/001/696/734/DV020_Jpg_Jumbo_H78841.001.002_violin_burst_gold_h ardware_close_angle.jpg

It's not a very stark burst, but it is somewhat like what you're lookin' for... At least I think it is :-/

The next is probably more les paulish...

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/product/34761-ovation-vxt-hybrid-teardrop-burst--large.jpg

Thanks. That second one is the spray pattern I meant, but my color would be for a cherry burst. That picture helps me visualize very much.

Well, here's my attempt. The colors in the picture make this look VERY red and VERY yellow, when it's really much more muted than this. The first picture is with flash, the second without, but both are MUCH brighter than the color is in real life. The maple edge is also creamy, not stark white. Anyway, I'm pleased with this.

That is VERY beautiful!

That's a good looking top... and the burst suits it well.

Thanks, gents!

Thats real real nice. I like it a lot

That's tasty! I like it a lot. Would you mind sharing your technique? I want to do a honey burst tele and have been trying to figure out how to do what you did here. Only difference would be honey amber to brown versus yellow to cherry.

Sure.

I wanted to get the faux binding thing, but with my 1/4" roundover. So I sprayed clear to seal the edge, then re-sanded the top back to 'in the white.' Then I put yellow and amber stain directly on the wood. I then clear-coated a couple times and sanded level, being careful to not sand through. Then I taped the clear edge with 3M 471 tape - it bends around tight corners better than any other tape I've tried. Next I mixed up a strong toner using TransTint red mahogany (40 drops) and reddish brown (10 drops) in about 200ml of lacquer. I dialed my gun way back to a very dry spray - lots of air, little fluid. I sprayed on my test board until I liked what I had. The idea was to have just a very little bit of a strong toner sprayed dry, rather than a lot of barely-toned lacquer sprayed wet. It took *several* passes, since there was so little coming out of the gun, and it was going on very dry, almost powdery-looking. Toward the end I added more red mahogany (6 drops), more reddish brown (6 drops) and a little bright red (yep, 6 drops). I went over the outermost edges and the top of the instrument (the horns and neck pickup area), adjusting the gun for just a little more fluid flow. After I was happy with the color (I actually stepped away twice and came back, checking for left-right balance, etc.) I let it dry for 20-30 minutes, then removed the tape and cleaned up the edge with a razor blade because some of the lacquer from the tape stayed with the guitar, so the edges weren't perfectly crisp all the way around. Then I hit it with 2 good, wet coats of clear. That's where it is in the pictures.

Hope this helps!
Michael

One other thing - I wanted the burst to be more like a LP burst, going up into the neck pickup area and the upper horns, rather than chasing the edge all the way around like Fender usually does. I think this turned out pretty well. I'll be doing an Andy Summers Tele for a friend later on, and that one will have the 3-tone burst that chases the edge all the way around. It's a nice look too, but not what I wanted for this one.

Thank You. At some point I've just got to start spraying, but this helps. I much prefer the Gibson style sunburst to the Fender style burst. With the exception of the 50's style two tone bursts, I don't like Fender bursts much. Your's looks great.

Thanks again!

I'd be pleased too, great results!

Very nice! That turned out very gorgeous.