Creating a Nocaster Blonde Finish

[Jellecaster]

There are a couple of different threads going on similar to this, but I didn't want to hijack any of them.

I have always wanted to create a Nocaster blonde finish. The finishes from ReRanch really don't do it, and I am boycotting them because I'm sick of the site always being locked.

So, given that Minwax has a stain that I could use as the "white wash" undercoat, can I have Lowes mix the correct color in a Minwax stain? What other options are there? I'm considering going with a Preval and mixing colors from Stew Mac, but I like the stain idea. I assume that I can spray Deft clear over Minwax?

Thoughts?

 

[jaydawg]

You might check out the Stew-Mac book on finishing. It has a nice section on Fender Blondes. They talk about the original techniqes used in the 50's and then go on to talk about how to recreate those finishes. I used it to make this guy.

 

[nokaster]

maybe post 593 in this thread can help you:
http://69.64.65.164/board/showthread.php?t=187985&page=40
i foud it pretty interesting to see and hear what don mare did...

and of course... there is 42 pages of teles there too...

 

[Jellecaster]

Thanks guys - I have the Stew Mac book and might go that route. I just didn't know if a stain would be easier.

The guitar pictured on TGP is very nice, but it isn't the look I'm going for. I really want to reproduce this look:

 

[skydawg]

Jellecaster: Please keep us informed as to what you find out. That "shade" is exactly the shade I'm after too. It is about 1/2 way between my MIJ and AVRI 52's!

 

[Jellecaster]

Will do.

It'll be a while until I actually get to it but failing any more advice, I'm going to order a few Prevals and dye from Stew Mac and see what I can do. When I do it, I'll document the process because I suspect there are a few people who want this type of finish.

 

[Scotland]

This is my homebrew that I built, I got John at Bravewood guitars to spray it for me as I couldn't get it anywhere near the proper colour. He guards his mix secret very carefully unfortunately.

 

[skydawg]

Scotland: What was the basis for your "52"?

 

[Scotland]

Skydawg

The body was made by a guy in Texas as a one off favour to me. The neck was made by a company in Leeds, England who unfortunately have gone out of business now, it's the best neck I have ever had the pleasure of playing. The pickups are Hamels, usual CTS pots. etc. and wired as modern style. I just changed the bridge to a 1982 52RI.
It is showing numerous battle scars now and relicing nicely.

 

[jeffhigh]

I tried to do a mid 50's white blonde with a liming stain, was not happy with the result, went to preval with a mix of my own.
Dyes alone will not be adequate, you need to mix the lacquer with white pigmented colour to get the semi obscured result, colouring it to your taste.
Look at http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html right down the bottom of the page.