Black Woodgrain Stain?

[czzer]

My sons gave me a BlackBeard (sorry) SG kit for my birthday, and while I was scouring the interwebs looking for finish ideas I came across this...



Is this type of finish achievable for a complete noob like myself?
I think the kit is basswood so I assume the grain wouldn't look as nice, but if I could get something of an approximation that'd be awesome.

[Trevor Davies]

Hi and welcome czzer. Nice birthday present!

I'm not sure how easy it would be to get that "open grain" finish on Basswood. I have achieved something similar with an Ash body. See the last picture at:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...l=1#post225886.
It was sanded, stained and then given coats of Tru-oil as the final coats. It was only lightly sanded back between coats. No grain-filler was used, no final polishing.

As a close approximation I would try:
black stain with coats of wipe on poly (satin),
or
black spray paint with satin clear coats.

I recall a forum member using a (soft!) wire brush to deepen to grain on a build, but the wood was not basswood. But I can't find the link.

[czzer]

Thanks Trevor, that blue looks awesome!
I see in that post you used a dye rather than a stain? That's one of the questions I had...what's the practical difference between a dye and a stain? I think a dye might work better?
I've ordered some small pieces of basswood from Aliexpress to use as test pieces before I do anything to the actual body. The problem is all these dyes and stains are pretty expensive, so I can't really justify buying too many different types to see what works best.

[Trevor Davies]

Thanks Trevor, that blue looks awesome!
I see in that post you used a dye rather than a stain? That's one of the questions I had...what's the practical difference between a dye and a stain? I think a dye might work better?
I've ordered some small pieces of basswood from Aliexpress to use as test pieces before I do anything to the actual body. The problem is all these dyes and stains are pretty expensive, so I can't really justify buying too many different types to see what works best.

Thanks czzer.
I'm not 100% sure about the difference between a stain and a dye - but stains sit on the surface of the material, while dyes penetrate deep within the material. I do not have a preference! I use Feast Watson stains for natural wood colours, and Ubeaut wood Dyes for brighter colours. I know that if I sand back too far on either I will get to bare wood I have also used alcohol inks which also sit on the surface of the wood.

Great idea to test on scrap wood. And true that they are expensive, but they go a long way. Are you in Oz?

[czzer]

Yeah, I'm in Adelaide.
I think I might need a dye to get that deep black, but it would be nice to try a sample first.

[Trevor Davies]

I usually try to get stains from the local hardware store (or BGS - big green shed!). They are reasonably priced, and it is easy to get more!

[czzer]

Good call. I'm heading to a BGS later today so will have a look. I couldn't find many options for black on their website though...

[Trevor Davies]

Feast Watson have a black, and their small bottles are around $12 from memory.

[czzer]

Feast Watson have a black, and their small bottles are around $12 from memory.

Just picked one up. I'll report back with how it goes after I get my practice pieces.
Cheers!

[dave.king1]

I usually try to get stains from the local hardware store (or BGS - big green shed!). They are reasonably priced, and it is easy to get more!

Just as well DB isn't around these days, you'd be in the naughty corner for encouraging a visit to the BGSFOS