T-style, Single Cut Leftie (non PBG kit)

[fender3x]

I did not realize the body was polar or that the neck was mahogany. I Tele/strat hybrid with a poplar body. An under appreciated hardwood IMO. It's also usually the cheapest hardwood I can get at big box stores...which may contribute to my fascination. I saw something, on YT I think, about how to stain poplar to look like mahogany. This is not that video...but it's a similar idea.



I'll see if I can find the video. Meanwhile since you live in the US you can probably get some cheap pieces of poplar at HD or Lowes to practice matching...if that's the route you ultimately go. This post is strictly in the FWIW category. I don't think I'd be inclined to do anything other than clear-coat or paint that side for fear of disturbing what you've already painted.

[ElleBrooke]

I did not realize the body was polar or that the neck was mahogany. I Tele/strat hybrid with a poplar body. An under appreciated hardwood IMO. It's also usually the cheapest hardwood I can get at big box stores...which may contribute to my fascination.... I don't think I'd be inclined to do anything other than clear-coat or paint that side for fear of disturbing what you've already painted.

Thanks for that video!

I chose the poplar wood because it was the lightest color wood they offered. I thought it would be the best to take up the paint. It burned great and my colors stayed pretty true- so a double win for the poplar from me. My process for colorizing my wood burning uses acrylic paint thinned down with glazing medium to the point that it's translucent like a stain and semi-absorbs into the wood, but the glazing medium keeps it from bleeding like a proper stain would. It's kind of a faux-stain. You can even see the woodgrain through it. Most of the details are actually colored pencil underneath the paint. I didn't show you guys the colored pencil stage bc it's pretty ugly!

Because my paint isn't really paint, and it's not really stain, it's pretty flexible in it's applications. So I could paint that stripe to look like raw mahogany, and the woodgrain would show through like a stain, but not bleed all over the place. But would that look the best?

I drove out to the specialty wood store, and was sold a pint of Aqua Coat clear wood grain filler. It's supposed to be water based and low odor, ready to use straight out of the can. I went there to buy the timbermate wood filler in mahogany, and the sales guy talked me into this instead. It has a few mixed reviews online. Anyone use it before? Love it, hate it? Tips or tricks? I'm going to test it on some scrap wood tonight.

The sales guy also suggested that I oil the fretboard before grain filling the neck. This way, I could also oil the neck, to prevent any over-staining from the fretboard oiling. I was planning to just use MusicNomad's F-one fretboard oil which is supposed to *not* be lemon oil, linseed oil or waxy. If the neck is properly sealed with poly, the oil shouldn't discolor the neck, right? Or should I oil it first, like he suggested?

The internet tells me one thing, the woodworking sales guy tells me something else, but I know I can actually trust what you guys say.

[fender3x]

I chose the poplar wood because it was the lightest color wood they offered. I thought it would be the best to take up the paint. It burned great and my colors stayed pretty true- so a double win for the poplar from me.

You may have gotten lucky. Poplar is tight grained so doesn't usually need finishing, but often has big green streaks in it. This is the poplar back of my flamenco guitar...



I think the luthier was experimenting, and used poplar because it's a cheap tonewood. I like how it looks, and it sounds great, but the conventional wisdom is that poplar is best for solid finishes.

My process for colorizing my wood burning uses acrylic paint thinned down with glazing medium to the point that it's translucent like a stain and semi-absorbs into the wood, but the glazing medium keeps it from bleeding like a proper stain would. It's kind of a faux-stain. You can even see the woodgrain through it.

I would really like to know more about this paint. My most successful stain job was done using a dye stain that I mixed 10% clear coat in at the mfg's recommendation. I am curious what products you use, and what the mix ratios are?

Because my paint isn't really paint, and it's not really stain, it's pretty flexible in it's applications. So I could paint that stripe to look like raw mahogany, and the woodgrain would show through like a stain, but not bleed all over the place. But would that look the best?

I tend to like contrasting wood choices. Fine for light and dark woods? My wife has pointed out to me, however, that two light, but different, colored woods don't look good together. This is why my poplar strat body with the maple neck has a solid finish. I suspect this is also the reason that I am not authorized for fashion purchases at my house.

[Simon Barden]

I’ve used the Aqua Coat grain filler. It’s pretty costly here in the UK but it was worth trying. It goes on easily and sands down well, but I still found it shrank a bit. But there are very few ones that don’t. The Solarez UV-curing grain filler was best for that, but I found I had some reaction issues with my nitro finishes, and like the Aqua Coat, it’s expensive over here (both over double the US price).

I doubt that fretboard oil will do much to permanently ‘stain’ the neck wood. Like any liquid, it will make any dry wood look darker, but will dissipate over time. I would imagine that the F-one is simply overpriced mineral oil (aka chopping board oil), which is the main ingredient of commercial ‘lemon oils’, which mainly add a bit of colour and lemon essence. Mineral oil is a lot cheaper!

But if I was working on a dark wood fretboard, I’d certainly be masking off the top of the board before grain filling (I’d grain fill the sides of the board if it was rosewood or another wood with visible grain structure). I’d then also tape off the sides of the board if staining or spraying tinted lacquer snd then unmask the sides when spraying the clear.

Would I oil the sides of the board first? It depends on how dry the wood is. If it was very light, I’d oil the top and see how much of a change that made to the colour. Whilst clear will normally darken bare wood a bit, it won’t do it as much as the oil would. So if the wood is already pretty dark, I wouldn’t bother, but if light and the top darkened significantly, then I would oil the sides if the board as well. I’d then wait at least a couple of days before applying any finish, to allow it to soak in properly and any surface oil to evaporate.

[ElleBrooke]

Wow Simon! That's a lot of really good information. Thank you so much for typing all that out. I will definitely be following your instructions for the fretboard and neck!

I looked into the Solarez, watched a couple tutorials, and it all seemed a bit like magic. (I know it's actually science. &#128514 I'm going to look into their resins for another (non-guitar) project. If I can source it. There aren't too many places here to purchase it. The Aqua Coat was also pretty pricey here, but it seems it will last a while. I'm prepping scrap wood and sanding the neck this morning, so hopefully I can get the grain filling underway.

Still deciding on headstock design, and what to do with the neck/side stripe. Just goes to show no matter how much planning you do there will always be something unaccounted for.

[Simon Barden]

If it was all simple, it would get boring rather quickly. You need something to keep your mind occupied!

[fender3x]

I have now used Aqua Coat clear on three or four guitars, and figure I can do one more before I go through my pint. I am not great at this finishing business, and partly for that reason I have come to like it better as I gain more experience. I should add the proviso that I have only used it over or under bare wood, shellac and water based finishes. I think someone better at finishing might be able to use the filler on bare or sealed wood and be done with it. In my case, I often find problems after starting to put the finish in. So, I have some experience using Aqua Coat over shellac, water based stain, paint (water based MTN94) and two clear coats: General Finishes High Performance and Crystalac BrightTone. In the case of the clears, I have filled in where I see a problem with the AC and then added more clear.

My most recent project was an ash body. I rushed finishing to have it ready for my daughter's school project. She got an A on the assignment, but the result was...not great. Lots of grain showing through. So I sanded it to more-or-less flat, leaving lots of residual paint, and began adding AC. It worked beautifully. The trick (at least for me) is to use many very thin coats. The can says two or three coats, but I probably used 12 or more before getting it adequately flat. As Simon says, it shrinks a bit, and so it needs to build up on trouble spots before it is really flat. Fortunately, it also dries quickly so you can add quite a number of coats in a short time. Of course this is a problem with any sort of filler that relies on evaporation to dry/cure. I haven't tried Solarez, but the only product that I have found that doesn't shrink is Bondo and I hate that stuff.

The one thing I would be cautious about is using a water based product over oil. I am sure that many do fine, but a few don't and I am not sure about AC. I would test, or contact the mfg or both. It's worked over/under everything I have thrown at it, but I don't use oil based products...mostly.

I do use block oil on rosewood...or nothing. I only use the block oil when the wood looks very dry. Looking at your neck, I'd probably use nothing on the fretboard to start with. You can always add it later.

With regard to the mahogany part of the neck, I am not sure what advantage there is to using an oil finish. Your paints produce stunning results, and might be as good a way as any to add a bit of color to the mahogany if you decide you need that. Fill with teh AC and go for it. You might be able to do the same...and get a good match...on the sides if yo decide to make them darker, although poplar does not need much filling. If you are comfortable with that approach why change it?

[Simon Barden]

One thing I forgot to mention about AC grain filler is that you can use a water-based or water-soluble stain to colour it. So as long as you have the stains, then it saves having to get the requisite coloured grain filler each time (if you want a coloured grain filler).

[ElleBrooke]

I swear you guys are like the infinite well of knowledge. fender3x thank you so much for all of that info on AC. I am going to hold off on oiling the rosewood as it looks pretty hydrated and healthy right now. But the block oil looks like what I would need.

The flamenco guitar is absolutely beautiful. I love the mirrored graining. My LP has one good streak of green on the backside, but was relatively even in grain. They're some light marks which come through in the sky on the front. But I think it adds character and texture.

Your wife is totally right about the two different light woods not matching. Even just differences in the tone of stain can make it look... Off. It is just distracting to the eye unless there's enough of a difference that it is obviously on purpose. So light and dark usually works, but subtler differences usually don't.

I started experimenting with the AC last night on a piece of scrap pine. I didn't prep it very well, and was surprised by how smooth the AC made it despite the lack of prep. I also found that the AC seems protective enough that I can use it over woodburned areas and still sand with losing the burn. I have some of my paint concoction drying on the scrap ATM. Just double checking it doesn't do anything weird before I use it on the headstock.

My paint mixture is Golden acrylic glazing medium mixed with craft acrylic paint in a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio (equal or more paint than glaze). If I was using a more full bodied artist's acrylic paint, I would use more glazing medium probably 3:1 or 4:1. But bc I am using craft paint (usually metallic craft paint) it's pretty translucent already, so 1:1 is pretty good. I started using this bc I could make it translucent enough to not cover my wood burning lines while still being vibrant. I use Prismacolor colored pencil underneath the paint-glaze to really make the colors pop or add contrasting colors under the paint. Whenever I use just watercolors or watered down acrylics, it tends to bleed. Straight acrylic covers the wood burn lines. Just using colored pencils looks like crayon drawing. So this solves all of those problems for me! I've experimented with using water based dyes with the glazing medium, and that works also.

Simon: That's a neat trick with the clear AC! I have some dark water based wood dye that I can play with and see what happens.