First build: secret model #6 - single cutaway guitar

[fender3x]

+1 for:
"... I would be a bit leery of dying and sanding back the top. Those veneers are just so delicate."

The MBM-1 I'm working on now is my first kit with a veneer top. So basically, I have NO knowledge about them

I have no successful experience with these veneers. I have two basses that had veneer tops. Both tops are now painted solid colors. In my defense, only the first one was an unintentional sand through. The second one was always going to get a solid color top because I did a bunch of mods to the top. I was not gentile with my sanding, but with that said, just the sanding I did to get it ready for the paint damaged the veneer.

On the "single cutaway" the veneer is not figured, but it is mahogany and will need grain filling. I am planning to just use stain and AquaCoat and see how little sanding I can get away with.

[brandfbr]

I have no successful experience with these veneers. I have two basses that had veneer tops. Both tops are now painted solid colors. In my defense, only the first one was an unintentional sand through. The second one was always going to get a solid color top because I did a bunch of mods to the top. I was not gentile with my sanding, but with that said, just the sanding I did to get it ready for the paint damaged the veneer.

On the "single cutaway" the veneer is not figured, but it is mahogany and will need grain filling. I am planning to just use stain and AquaCoat and see how little sanding I can get away with.

Did you sand through it while hand sanding it or were you using an electric sander? I did quite a bit of research and was getting more confident with the idea, but you've made me worried now... My idea is that by rubbing the top with a rag with metho after the dye has some time to settle in, I can remove most of the black from the grain that is on top, leaving it in the figured grain, so I end up having to sand very little...

My current plan is: no sanding at all + 2 coats of 1:5 ubeaut black dye. Then try to rub it off the best I can with a damp rag (water or method). Then ubeaut sanding sealer (1 coat) + lightly sand it (240/320), removing most of the black, then concentrated ubeaut red dye.

We'll see what happens

[fender3x]

Did you sand through it while hand sanding it or were you using an electric sander?

I never use a machine sander once I start putting any sort of finish on the guitar. For sure I would not use it on anything with a curved top or veneer. I have seen people do this on the internet, but I am ham-handed enough without the need for powertools! ;-)

My current plan is: no sanding at all + 2 coats of 1:5 ubeaut black dye. Then try to rub it off the best I can with a damp rag (water or method). Then ubeaut sanding sealer (1 coat) + lightly sand it (240/320), removing most of the black, then concentrated ubeaut red dye.

I have not used Ubeaut products, although they look great. Unfortunately, they are not available in the US to my knowledge. That said, I'll attach a video that you might want to look at before you get started. It is causing me to rethink *my* plan a bit...

The veneer is REALLY thin. Probably less that .6 mm. Maybe as little as .4mm. That's a thin business card. It won't put up with much sanding. Also, dye is not going to penetrate very far. First because the water based glue under the veneer has already penetrated from the other side, so your dye, black or red, is not going to penetrate far. I would be worried about whether it is even possible to sand back without getting down to the glue layer. If you do that, your red won't penetrate well. I also don't think there is much reason to use sanding sealer. The veneer is maple, which usually doesn't need to be sealed. Also, you can't really do much sanding.

The good thing about maple is that it is closed pore. Still the grain can raise a bit using water based products, which is why the guy in the vid suggests using alcohol (metho in Australia, I think) based dyes rather than water based.

Mine has a mahogany veneer, which is open pore. Usually I would raise the grain with a bit of water, then sand, then apply my water based dye stain. But now I am wondering if I should use colored shellac that won't raise the grain, and will mostly stay on top of the wood. Or maybe use an aniline dye. Or I may still use the water based dye, but I will definitely try to find something to practice on first.