Gav's STA-1

Coming along nicely Gav, you'll be cranking this through an amp before you know it!

Thanks @andrew :) .

More progress today. I finally got the body sanded to 400 grit and then went through 3 passes of raising the grain and sanding back down until I was happy with the smoothness.

Attachment 2121

Then it was time to fill the grain. Instead of dying black and sanding back, I opted to fill the grain with dark filler in much the same way as I did with the Ash LP. For that build I used walnut Timbermate as it matched the brown hues in the burst very nicely. For this build I decided to use ebony Timbermate as the black would work much better with a blue dye. I actually did a few tests with 4 different Timbermate colours and the ebony was certainly streaks ahead of the others. Anyway, I got the Timbermate on and a few hours later sanded it off.

Attachment 2122

Attachment 2123

Once I was happy with the amount of black left in the body (still a little more than I was hoping for) it was time to start the staining. After agonising for a month over what dye to use, I finally decided on the Colortone blue. It's not as "brilliant" a blue as I would have liked, but with the darkness of this piece of ash combined with the ebony Timbermate, she's never going to be a deep "brilliant" blue anyway.

And so the dye went on for a first coat. Well, I gotta say I was very pleased with the results. The colour combined with the ebony Timbermate resulted in a kind of slate blue. Very nice! It's not what I was thinking of in my head but I'll take it all the same. I've tried to take a picture, but it isn't photographing well yet. Maybe out in the sunshine once I get some lacquer on it.

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Here are a couple of photos in different indoor lighting. They give some impression of the contrast between body and grain. The colour is somewhere between the two, but more towards the former rather than the latter. As I said - kind of slate, or maybe gunmetal blue? I'm sure the artists out there can supply a better description. In either case I'm very happy with the way the grain pops. I think she'll look pretty good with a bit of gloss.

cheers,
Gav.

here's a photo in the sun. The dye has dried now so will be a bit darker once the "wet look" returns. Still tossing up whether to do a second dye pass.

Attachment 2125

cheers,
Gav.

looks awesome Gav, love the depth of blue. See how it looks in a day or two and you will work out if it needs a 2nd coat of blue

Thanks @wokka! after our discussion on FB I'm now thinking a black burst around the edge and an aged cream pickguard.

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cheers,
Gav.

no worries Gav, sounds like a great plan. So what about the neck, blue headstock and clear neck ?

Nice one Gav, that's a good shade of blue. Not a hint of green.

@wokks - I've already dyed the neck amber and am laying on the naughty oil. The headstock is just amber too. There's 4 coats of oil on it at the moment. I probably should post a photo! Not sure amber was the best choice for this one..

@pabs - thanks dude! i think will look even better with a black burst. plenty of opportunity to stuff it up :P ha!

cheers,
Gav.

Gav - like the blue - I think it's going to turn out spot on!

good plans Gav, it's looking good.
May I suggest that with a black burst, a black neck and headstock would look good...