Staining Location

Hello everyone! I am building an a ES-3 kit, and I’m at the stage where I’m ready to begin staining the wood. I plan on staining the top with a darker ebony water-based stain, sanding that a bit to bring out the quilted top, then staining the rest of the guitar in a red mahogany. This is my first kit so please let me know if that sounds like it has any issues haha. But my main question is, would it be okay to stain my guitar outside? I live near Houston, and it’s quite hot and humid most days, so I definitely plan on letting it dry indoors, but would it be okay for me to stain it outside? Anything helps!

Are you sure the top is a maple veneer? Unless it's a special, it would normally be just a basswood veneer.

Unless it's maple, (and flamed or quilted maple at that) there is no benefit in staining with a darker colour. Basswood won't absorb the darker stain in the same way and you'll just end up with a top that's darker than you intended.

As far as I'm aware, staining isn't really affected too much by temperature and humidity. To a large extent, high humidity will counter the tendency for the stain carrier medium (water or spirit) to evaporate more quickly due to the heat.

Spraying paint or lacquer is where you don't want to work in high temperatures and humidity as you are very likely to get an uneven finish with water vapour trapped under the finish and on transparent/translucent finishes, you may well get a cloudy layer. With nitrocellulose finishes and a spray gun, there are additives to help counter this, but it's best not to work in those conditions.

If in any doubt about the staining, try it out on a piece of scrap wood first.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

If in any doubt about the staining, try it out on a piece of scrap wood first.

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Attachment 43211 This is a picture of the body, I believe it has a maple veneer. Thank you for your advice!!

Yes it does. Must be a special.

Don’t use too concentrated a dark stain. The veneer has probably been lightly sanded at the factory so is probably only 0.5mm-0.6mm thick. So it will only take one further light sanding. You don’t want to stain too dark/deep or you’ll need to sand back too much to expose enough lighter wood before you stain again.

And always check for glue stains on the veneer first. You can use water to wet the veneer, but it will raise the grain, so best to use methylated spirits (denatured ethanol), or turpentine or white spirit (a turps substitute). Areas with glue residue won’t absorb the liquid and stay lighter.

Any residue and you’ll need to use a strong glue remover like Goof Off (not Goo Gone) or just acetone. Best used in conjunction with a soft wire brush.

Staining without removing any glue will give very patchy results. Glue marks are often found around the binding (edges and F-holes) and along the central veneer join. Though you sometimes get the odd gluey fingerprint where less than normal care has been taken at the factory.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Any residue and you’ll need to use a strong glue remover like Goof Off (not Goo Gone) or just acetone. Best used in conjunction with a soft wire brush.

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What type of soft wire brush would be recommended? I'll have to think about prepping my HB-4 before eventually giving it a burst finish.

Peter

I’ve bought brass-bristled toothbrush style brushes from Amazon. I haven’t had to use them for this purpose. A normal toothbrush might be OK but it’s bristles are thicker than the brass wire so don't get down into the grain as well. Plus there's a chance plastic brushes could melt with in solvent, depending on the plastic used.

If in Australia Bunnings sells a set of small brushes. Includes steel brass and nylon one.


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