Quilted maple and dyes

[Andy J]

Hello Pitbullers
I have recently purchased a quilted maple tele and am very keen to start project. I have watched countless You Tube videos and have been stalking a lot of forums about my first build.
I have decided to go a blue burst on my tele and will be using leather dyes. The process is to dye the whole face of the body in black and sand back to add depth to the quilted maple then add your color over the top of sanded black.
My question is that the quilted veneer is only 0.6 thick, will there be enough veneer for me to sand back the black or will I sand through to the main body timber?
Your advice will greatly appreciated.

[Simon Barden]

Hi and welcome.

You can sand it back a bit (I've done it myself) but you have to be very careful not to sand too far. Use something like 240 grit paper, nothing too abrasive (or too fine as it's easy to polish the surface and stop an even stain take-up).

First thing though is to check for any glue marks on the veneer. Use turps, white spirit or metho (not water) to wet and darken the surface. Any glue residue will show up as lighter patches (as it stops the wood absorbing the fluid). You'll need to remove the glue using a glue remover like Goof Off, ideally using a soft metal brush (brass) with thin bristles to get between the wood fibres. If you don't remove any glue, the wood won't take up much stain in those spots and you'll have obvious light patches.

It's not easy to get a good burst using hand-applied stain/dye, so it's well worth practising on some scrap wood first. It's very easy to get a hard edge to the burst rather than a nice feathered one.

[Andy J]

Thanks Simon for quick response, appreciate your quality tips. I think your spot on, practice makes perfect as it is my first build I'm very eager but I don't want to stuff it up
Thanks again

[Simon Barden]

We're all here to help, and everyone here's still learning as they go along. Good luck with the build.

[ILRGuitars]

HI mate and welcome. I would do as Simon says. He is a wealth of knowledge. Also, I use a diluted stain to do my black first. It's easier to add black than to remove it and less sanding is usually required after the water/solvent has evaporated. If it's not dark enough for you, just do extra coats until you are happy with it. I've found two washes with diluted black is enough for me.

P.S. DO NOT use Tru-Oil over blue. It will yellow and turn your axe green eventually. A clear gloss finish is better.

[wazkelly]

P.S. DO NOT use Tru-Oil over blue. It will yellow and turn your axe green eventually. A clear gloss finish is better.

Yep, sure does as I found out on what should have been turquoise that is now gradually going more and more a shade of green as each month passes.

Amazing how much natural ageing happens over such a quick time frame with TO and wonder how long it takes before it has reached it's peak? It is only on the once was blue guitar that is most affected as all others are shades of brown, red, yellow, orange and natural, and therefore won't show up so obviously.

[Andy J]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have decided to go with a clear on face of body and tru oil the back of body, neck and stock.
Appreciate the help

[blinddrew]

Amazing how much natural ageing happens over such a quick time frame with TO and wonder how long it takes before it has reached it's peak? It is only on the once was blue guitar that is most affected as all others are shades of brown, red, yellow, orange and natural, and therefore won't show up so obviously.

I'm certain my ES-5V is already looking darker and that's only a month old. It's a sunny day so later on I might do another quick pic and see if it's obvious.

[blinddrew]

Hmm, took another pic and it was clearly darker. But so were the bricks in the background. Matching those colourwise leaves me with the same colour guitar.
But it still looks different to me!

[Andy J]

Hello Everbody
I have stained guitar face with black sanded back went over with blue, I have achieved the look I want, for the face I am going with a clear coat over the stain. I want the high gloss look. Now I am thinking to tru oil neck and rear of body just to bring out ash colour. The question I have is can I clear coat over tru oil ? Or should I clear coat the raw timber?
These are perplexing questions as there are so many finishing options.
Thanks again for everyone's input
Andrew