Decided the back was too dark and sanded it back down. That dye really sinks in deep though and I'm not sure how even I can get it. Will try restaining tomorrow with a 50/50 mix of burnt sienna and brunt umber.
Here's the back restained with the 50/50 mix. I like it much better colour-wise. There are a few darker patches that sanding didn't seem to be able to take out, but I think I'm okay with it. I did sand it down again after the picture in the previous post was taken, so it was much closer to bare wood that what that pic shows.
What did I learn from all this? 1) staining with a dark colour to bring out the grain doesn't work too well on basswood, and 2) it's much easier to go to a darker colour than a lighter colour (you'd think I would have thought of that BEFORE staining ).
I've also replaced the piece of veneer on the lower side of the neck cutout. Needs just a touch of wood filler maybe, but it's worked out well I think. Most of the repair is hidden by the overlap piece of the neck anyways but I wanted a good surface for it to sit on and glue to.
Since I had all the dyes out, I thought I'd try a few samples for the side and top colour(s). I want to go lighter but still keep a bit of the reddish hue from the back.
Anyone have any thoughts about any of these samples? Good, bad, terrible?
After pondering for a while over a beer and consulting with my son, I didn't go with any of these choices
Well, okay, almost but after a couple more test samples I decided on 4/4/1 drops of Burnt Sienna/Yellow-R/Raw Sienna in 20cc water for the first and second coats on the sides and first coat for the face plus 4/2/2 drops of each for the second staining on the face. Here's the end result which I'm really pleased with - it's kind of a mapley colour. The side angle shot showing front/side is pretty close to the real colours.
In a moment (several actually) of over anticipation, I forgot to mask of the binding on the back/side when I stained the sides, so I'll have a bit of extra cleaning up to do at the end.
This got me to thinking.... when you apply the finish (Tru Oil for me) do you go right over the binding and if so, do you scrape it down later or just leave the finish right over the binding?
@Juddernaut - I just used water. The dyes come in 15ml bottles (like eye dropper bottles) and can be mixed in water or alcohol - http://www.woodessence.com/ColorFX-D...ts-P48C12.aspx. I tried the water on my TL-1 first and it worked well - didn't raise the grain much on the basswood - so I didn't bother trying it with alcohol. It wood was dry enough that I needed the extra working time you get with water-based stain vs. alcohol-based.
If it's Shellac based, coat over binding, then scrap off.
I buy the dyes in powdered form, very easy to make up either with Water of Alcohol... like wise, very easy to control colour intensity [strength of dye ], and subsequently, work out dilutions to achieve a certain colour.
If using dyes with Alcohol, you can tint Shellac to a specific colour..... BUT, you need to tint the whole batch of shellac for that one guitar build..... mixing it just stuffs a build
I'm using Tru Oil for the finish, which is some variation on polymerized tung oil not shellac, I believe.
Would there be any harm done to the binding if the finish were left on it?
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