ATL-1SW Build (First Timer)

[McCreed]

I was quite surprised how much it made the grain stand out.

Did you grain fill that?

[Fatboy]

Nope, just sanded down through the grades.
As well as the crimson stains I bought some of their gold grain enhancing filler.
In my mind (I'm going to Carolina) I thought do the stain first then add the filler as I read that stains needed to
soak in to be effective so that is what I am doing.
Might be wrong but that's how it is going on.
On my test piece of maple when the filler is applied over the stain it creates a gold hue and makes
the wood a lot smoother so it must be filling the grain.
Did the sides and top tonight, wanted a light amber top and darker around the edges.
Did not quite come off but not shabby to look at.
Think I will let it dry off and sand it all back a bit to lighten it.
I realise that the top will have to only have the sandpaper threaten it as the veneer is thin.
Maybe after that I will do a bit more staining then a couple of coats of grain enhancing filler.
Rub down again then Crimson hi build finishing oil for as many coats as I can be bothered to do haha

Sorry, no pics tonight, no energy after a busy day at work.
Time for a livener.......

[Fatboy]

Well it has been a couple of days of roller coasting with stains etc.
It was going well on the whole with a finish similar to the last photos above.
Got close to what I wanted, even the OH said 'that's nice, I like that'.
Wish I had taken some decent photos....sighs.
Anyway, I was keen to fill the grain with the gold grain filler from Crimson.
Very little 'how to's' with the filler on their site so I thought, 'lets give it a go, what's to loose' - grits teeth.
Put a coat of the filler on, it is very gold.
Sanded it off to find that it had indeed filled the grain with gold but the sunburst finish has now gone.
Bugger.....

The instructions say to use two coats but after sanding the body is very smooth so I think I will stop there.
The bad news is that if you add any more stain it just disappears.

Not sure what is going on there but that is how it is.
I have a suspicion that the filler is 'solvent' based so I might drop Crimson an email and ask them.
It could be that if I used a solvent based stain it might stay on but the water one just vanishes.
The photo of the neck end of the body had black and red stain applied to it after the gold and this is what it looks like.
The good news is that if I wipe the body down with a damp cloth it does have a glossy red and gold effect.
I am hoping that it will turn out like that after I have applied the gloss finish haha.
Time to have to have a bit of a rethink on the front, no gold stain going on there !

As a point of interest I masked the mother of toilet seat binding along the long edge with
masking tape and used the latex type of Frisk masking fluid on the short edge which worked very well.
There was a small amount of creep on the masking tape side but the frisk stuff seemed impervious.
Only some minor scraping to do.

The photos are not quite how it looks, taken in artificial light but I have tried to balance back
to normal light using Affinity but can't devote much time to that.
The pics should give you all an idea though (if anyone is still reading haha).
There is an old worn vibe to the finish now which i like (the OH does not like it haha).

Onwards and upwards, I heard today that the acoustic being made for me will be ready at the
end of this month.
That took him seven months, I have only been doing this a couple of days
and I am almost finished....

[Simon Barden]

Afraid I can't help on the Crimson stains as I've never used them. Might be worth thinking about spraying the burst on instead with tinted lacquer. Or leave the back as it is as you've got a nice top and the back is still interesting, even if not quite the way you wanted.

Who's making your acoustic?

[McCreed]

I don't know anything about the Crimson Guitar products (other than who they are) but typically grain fillers are intended to go on bare timber prior to staining.
Grain filling is done primarily for two reasons. First, to make the timber surface completely even and smooth, and second, to accentuate the grain pattern (particularly if using a contrasting colour to the timber (for example ebony filler on ash).

Because the filler needs to to sanded flat after each application (sometimes 3 or more times depending on grain depth) having any stain under the filler will likely suffer from sand-through, not to mention the masking effect the filler will have on the absorption of and colour of the stain.

As for the veneer, that should not need any grain filling. The only prep that should be required is check for and remove any glue spots, and very light sanding. P240 is as coarse as I'd ago, and no finer than 320. Between stain/dye coats, hit it very lightly with a fine synthetic sanding pad. Sanding pads are sometimes referred to as "synthetic steel wool. Some use actual steel wool but I don't/won't use it for any woodworking especially guitars.

[TZK321]

Looks nice. It might not be what you were trying to do but it still looks nice. I had a similar experience when my tan maple veneer turned gold from Tru Oil. I'd say accept it for what it is and move forward.

[Fatboy]

TZK321 - Thanks, after sanding the filler back a bit (less gold) I quite like the aged 'relic' look on the back and sides.
I have sanded the top a bit and lightened that - a sort of Tele butterscotch colour which is nice also.
So I will stop while I am ahead and apply some gloss stuff which should bring it out.
I'd like to say that I meant to do this but that would be lying haha.

McC - Thanks for your wise words, wish I had asked the question before I started !
It all makes sense now you explain it.
Crimson make solvent stains which most likely could be used to bring the 'burst back but
most likely best to stop while I am ahead.
Checked the top for glue stains and all seems OK, sanded it with 240, stained and have used 320
twice to lighten the stain. I'll leave it there until the gloss is applied.
Your advice is warmly received, Ta.

Simon - Thank you for your wise words also, much appreciated.

The acoustic is being built by a chap called Allan Boyle in Shropshire.
He is a small scale builder, made about 40 geetars so far.
I met him last year at a Stefan Grossman workshop in Yorkshire.
He had two of his guitars there and one that he had made for a lifelong friend of mine who was also at the workshop.
The quality was incredible, so much so that my friend, Stefan G and myself ordered one each that weekend.
He also picked up 3 other orders from others at the workshop.
Next time we go it will be called the Allen Boyle workshop.
OM style body, rosewood back/sides, AAA spruce top, ebony fingerboard etc, can't wait to see it and play it.
Will post pics if interested when I collect it.

Off tomorrow, I will try and take some photos in daylight so you can see what the Tele looks like.
Thank you all for your interest and help. Pip pip !

[Fatboy]

Off today, the sun was shining so I thought that I would take some pics in natural light.
Even thought it is not what I had in mind I still like it.

[Fatboy]

And some more....the gold in the grain looks quite spectacular in some lights.
That was the effect I was looking for, shame about the 'burst....Oh well.

The OH said ' is the gold to impress your fans when playing' - I of course said yes.
Shame I mainly play on my own in the spare room haha

Got a couple of spare hours this afternoon, some headstock hacking and first coat of gloss methinks.

[Fatboy]

Crikey, it is getting busy around here with build logs.......mine was pushed to the second page haha
Spent the last few days refining the finish and started on the neck..
Headstock now finished, and front face stained.
Before I go further I will be drilling holes at work on their pillar drill
for the string ferrule/bushing thingy.
That way if I scuff the finish I can sand it down and add another coat (or two).
To do that I have had to finally mark where the bridge will be.
I do hope it is correct, no going back now.
Anyway, thinking ahead, my next task but one or two is to fit copper tape to the cavities.
Question is, how do you earth the bridge ?
Remove the insulation and trap the bare wire between the bridge and body ?
Stick some tape to the body, solder a wire to it and screw the bridge over that ?
In the real world I would solder a tag to the wire and screw that to something.
What are your preferred methods chaps ?
Cheers, FB.