H's LPA-1. How much more black?

[wazkelly]

Wow, top effort.

What colour are you going to use for pickguard and PUP selector switch plate as cream would look good but would also require cream PUP surrounds too?

[UpperCaseH]

Wow, top effort.

....am I just doing the weird perfectionist thing that I always do when I feel like I know a bit more about whatever I'm working on? All I see is flaw here, flaw there, etc.

[wazkelly]

You are the only one who can answer that question. If it bothers you now, most likely it will in the future and therefore best to deal with it now and do what you feel you want.

That said, need to take the least amount of damage path back out of all that burst colour and hopefully some thinners (if oil based) will help to remove a lot of the colour with the remainder residual being faint enough that any sanding back is significantly reduced.

[UpperCaseH]

An hour with rags and Good Off



Of course, some ran onto the back so I need to re-do that again too. But even so, I'm not at all unhappy with the way the ink came off. I'm gonna give it a light sand and try to remove the patchiness a bit, and if that happens while keeping the little bit of colour in the grain I'm gonna go with a very dilute black FW stain over the top or maybe even just straight TO.

If that doesn't work, it's gonna be blaaaaaaaack like the back and sides.

[stan]

you've done well, i like it

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks Stan, and thanks Waz for the advice.

I wasn't so much disappointed in the execution of the ink burst as I was in the final way the colours interacted. I could have lived with the minor streaking/swirling, but the yellow/red/black ended up looking too much like a cheap knockoff with a wood/burst vinyl graphic on top.

Well, that's what it looked like to me, anyway. I think the ink was a bit thick and that made the colours a bit bright, which made the whole think look kinda false.

[FrankenWashie]

That is a rather cool weathered sort of effect going on there H. As you say if all else fails, go Johnny Cash on it.

[wazkelly]

Good save H.

So you used inks? I thought you had used Feast Watson stains. If inks, just give it another wipe with a fairly damp cloth around the neck end to see if that takes a bit more of the black off.

Here is a left field idea.....if you were gonna go translucent black, just ink pad black the whole face, and as it is drying use a dry cloth and rub all over the top trying to soak up as much as possible. 12 - 24 hours later do the same with a 'just damp' but not wringing wet cloth to soak up whatever ink that has not penetrated.

This should help pop the grain and also produce a greyish black wash effect, and if it is somewhere near what you want simply TO top coats and job is done. As always, test on a scrap bit of timber, preferably something with a bit of open grain. Alternatively you could do the same with diluted down Japan Black but I tend to feel that will come out darker than the crazy idea above. That Ash top is too pretty to hide under a very dark colour and a lighter wash might be all you need to accentuate things.

[UpperCaseH]

Yeah, the colours were india ink and the black was calligraphy/artists ink.

After 24 hours, they were not coming off with water. Goof Off took them off nicely, but not with the "dampen the rag, rub" that I used for glue spots. I had to kind of flow it onto the surface using the rag as a dam, let it sit for 10-20 seconds, and then rub.

I've done a test of the dilute FW on some pine and also inside the control cavity, and it looked OK wet. I'll see how it comes up tomorrow when it's dry and then decide what to do next.

I'm still tempted to do the "piano black" thing over the whole guitar. It looks pretty good on the back when the light hits it, and I reckon it'll be better still with that tru-oil semi gloss look, but I'll definitely try another lighter stain or ink first and see how it goes.

[wazkelly]

Piano black would look good but the grain would only be visible at various angles unless of course you end up with the typical Ash grain wave effect. With the top being a veneer that might just work too.