All right, coming back to this after some non-guitar delays. I've only been thinking about this for four months, so what's a few more...
First, I've made some hardware upgrades on my end to move toward what I want:
-- Locking tuners
-- A pair of 500k push-pull pots
-- Custom Zero Glide zero fret & nut on order (more on that later)
-- Wilde/Bill Lawrence pickups (500C & 500L). This last one was the most considered of the bunch so far; I wanted pickups that would handle 12 strings easily, and something that could produce a nice range of tones. This won't be a metal machine, so I'm not setting up for maximum chug sounds. The Wilde bar pickups fit nicely, have some good visual appeal and were quite affordable; I'm excited to get them wired up.
The part of this I've been wrestling with the hardest was the design scheme. From the beginning, I wanted a two-tone wood stain look, with visible wood figuring and clean lines between the colors. That last part is the thing that's captured most of my time on this build so far; I have considered lots of possible stain/filler/gel/dye combinations to achieve what I'm looking for. The secondary consideration is that one of my colors might best be expressed with a touch of white in the mix. I've done a lot of research trying to decide whether to attempt some kind of pickling or whitewash to help get me to where I want to be in the end.
After many tests, I'm about back to where I started, with a simple pair of highly-diluted water stains (TransTint) and high quality tape. The whitewashes I've tried so far -- including store bought versions, tinted homemade mixes and even pigmented wood-grain fillers -- obscure too much grain detail for my taste, and while I know many do some light sanding on these PB laminate tops, I am reluctant to remove any material. The basswood back is less of a concern for me; it'll be something darker than the top, but I'm not terribly worried about it. I did the pattern tonight, and I'll likely start the coloring tomorrow. Fortune favors the bold.
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