Ken's first build - LP-1S

**stan** · 10-10-2015, 06:38 AM

that looks amazing Ken, so it was simply vinegar worked in with steel wool on the top?

**Arzi** · 10-10-2015, 03:23 PM

Looks amazing! I think I'm gonna use the same method on my next build. Thanks for the tip!

**kenfu** · 11-10-2015, 01:27 PM

Fretwork thanks. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Stan, yep, just some 0000 steel wool in white vinegar for a couple days and then brush on. Google steel wool vinegar and you will have days of reading.... in my post on the welcome board I put some photos of some tests I did. Different woods all react differently depending on the tannins, which you can increase with washing on some strong tea first.

Arzi, awesome! You should try it out on a piece of mahogany. It reacts really well, and turns almost black. The effect doesn't seem to go as deep as an oil based stain, and it is really easy to sand through. Definitely sand first! And it will lift the grain a bit too.

**Arzi** · 11-10-2015, 02:10 PM

Hi Kenfu

Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna aim for an aged outdoor cottage-type of look next so I think I'm gonna go for a lighter shade of wood than mahogany to achieve this. A "dried and died standing" - type of wilderness pine would be the perfect end result and the next body might just be a scratchy. Maybe Alder - don't know how it will react to this method though... If you have tips for the wood to use I'd be greatful. Pine would be great but soft unless wood hardener would do some good for the surface. Still trying to decide...

**stan** · 11-10-2015, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by kenfu

Stan, yep, just some 0000 steel wool in white vinegar for a couple days and then brush on. Google steel wool vinegar and you will have days of reading.... in my post on the welcome board I put some photos of some tests I did. Different woods all react differently depending on the tannins, which you can increase with washing on some strong tea first.
.

great thanks, it looks amazing, not compatability issues with the gloss?

**kenfu** · 13-10-2015, 03:03 AM

Arzi, I had really great results on my tests with pine. (check it out here: http://goo.gl/oKGM6t) I did have to use a tannin wash (tea worked the best) since the pine was so tannin poor it didn't react with just the vinegar solution. I think the pine was so soft it really soaked in the solution. I didn't take any pictures when I tried it on the back of my guitar, but one thing to be careful with the two (or more) piece bodies, is that each piece will react a little different. The two pieces of mahogany on mine looked very similar when they were just raw wood but looked very different when I washed them. And if you do use some hardener, definitely do the wash first.

Stan, so far zero issues with the gloss. It did lighten a little bit. Not sure why but maybe something in the lacquer reacted. Citric acid can reverse the process, so I think something in the mix reacted a bit. Still looks great though, imho.

Yesterday I spent all day sanding the finish up to 10,000. Turned out pretty spectactular. I'm going to wait a couple months for the finish to completely cure before I do a final polish. Definitely not too bad right now. Except I left it on the kitchen table over night and one of my cats must have run accross it, because there is a scratch in the neck that was not there before... little bastards.

Still waiting on my new pickups, but got the Gotoh tuners on. Pulled the trigger on mounting the neck too. I was a bit nervous, but it lined up perfectly. I spent forever measuring and remeasuring because I kept thinking it was too good to be true, that I had to be missing something. But everything lined up great and when I backed the bridge posts out halfway (to give me some room to adjust) and put a straight edge on it, the space from the top of the first fret to the level and the last fret to the level were almost identical.