Thanks for the responses guys, especially Simon for that very informative article. I've just got one issue with the "traditional" TV Yellow process - the kit I bought was one of the early ones and has a basswood body instead of mahogany :-) so the whole grain-filled thing won't work. I actually stained all the wood mahogany before spray painting as I want to relic it. To be honest, there probably won;t be an awful lot of yellow left on there by the time I've finished. I have to say that although it's basswood and the shape isn't really correct, it's a great kit and I've strung it up with no electrics yet and it plays great. Looking forward to getting it finished (in about 8 years at my current rate) and posting some pics ...