I was faced with a similar dilemma on my 2nd Telecaster build where the strips of Alder were mismatched in both colour and grain pattern. With a bit of creative thinking outside the box it ended up as my sole GOTM winner.

Quite often we struggle with what was the initial vision before box of goodies arrives to then reveal a truly different beast to work with......beauty and the beast probably best sums it up. The trick is harnessing the beast's inner beauty.

Solid colour is the possibly the easy way out but it may be better to explore a few other ideas first to preserve some of the natural timber's beauty.

Left field ideas.......use a blow torch to burn/scorch the surface and then sand some away.....a bit like a reverse grain fill......make it look like it was salvaged or reclaimed from a fire. Alternatively you could go for a distressed or weathered look. On my Tele the chemical wash did the best job in hiding ugly grain, mismatched colours and obvious joint lines and maybe worth considering.

Cheers, Waz

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk