Big ideas... but small experience

[Tim Rattigan]

Alrighty there guitar building fans...

I've just purchased myself the spalted maple single-cut (Les Paul) kit, and it's my first time for a few things...

I've assembled a strat-copy (bolt-on neck) before from a friends half-started project - I'm happy enough with how it plays for a bunky - but it's time to step up.

I've got no issue with the electronics side (I work in electrical engineering) but I'm pretty thin on the ground when it comes to the physical stuff e.g. gluing necks, setting up action, woodwork finishing etc.

The spalted maple veneer on the kit looks amazing, but I want to stain it silvery-grey.. has anyone had any experience with how maple accepts that kind of colour? I've googled around quite a bit, but it's really hit-n-miss what's out there.

I've attached a concept photo of something similar to what I'm trying to achieve, and a couple of intro shots of the guitar kit.

My first real question tho, how hard should the bridge/saddle anchors need to be banged in? I mean, I get it that they have to be tight, but I'm worried that the pre-drilled holes are actually a little too snug, and I really don't want to have to smash the anchors down and potentially damage the wood. Obviously I haven't hit them all the way into place for the test fit, but is it common to need to sand out the holes slightly to get them to fit a little easier?

Thanks in advance good people, look forward to barraging you all with a constant stream of questions!

Cheers,

Tbo.

[stansby40]

In my experience it is not necessary to expand the holes for the bridge and the anchor bushes just tap them in with a piece of timber and a hammer. It may feel tight but you should not damage the mahogany below the veneer. Of course it will be one of the last things you do after the finish is completed but it is good for them to be tight.

[Simon Barden]

Hi and welcome.

I’d start a build diary and ask further technical questions there as more people read those on a regular basis. A lot of people will say hello in this section and not revisit the post again.

Never tried staining that shade so I can’t say exactly how well stain alone would work. I’d suggest getting hold of some maple veneer and trying out the stain on that first. It may depend on how yellow the maple is as to how good a light grey you get.

I don’t know for sure, but it looks to me that the flame maple guitar in the picture was first lightly stained black, to pop the grain, then sanded back so most of the non-flame wood was back to natural. It’s then been sprayed with a tinted grey or black lacquer. There appears to be a very slight burst around the edges to me. Then there will have been several costs of clear sprayed on top.

I plan to do a very similar finish on a Tele body I have that has a maple cap.

It’s easier to do on a capped body as veneer used on the kits is so thin (0.5-0.6mm) that there’s a limit to how hard you can sand back. You can do it if you’re careful, but you only get one go at it.

Your spalted top won't require any black staining and sanding back as spalted maple is different to flame maple. The spalt pattern occurs in dead maple trees that have started to rot and a fungus gets in and caused the dark patterns. Those dark areas can also be fairly fragile, so be gentle with the veneer as you can get layers falling out.

Spalted maple doesn't have the grain features of flame maple that take up stain differently to the non-flame areas, so there's no need to stain and sand back as it won't achieve anything, as the stain take-up will be pretty even. Your dark spalt areas are already the highlight on the wood.

My suggestion for best results would be to forget about stain and use a lightly grey-tinted clear lacquer (if you can find one). But you may manage it with a very dilute grey stain. But stained spalt maple will look different to stained flame maple and stain take-up will be more uniform, so you'll end up with large areas of a similar colour. With splat you may find it hard to get close to that flame maple guitar finish with either stain or spray.

If you chose to stain, before you do any staining, you must check for glue spots on the veneer and remove those. Hopefully you’ve read some build diaries and encountered the problems they can cause. You’ll need to remove the glue from any areas with it on before staining or you’ll be left with obvious light patches on the top where the stain hasn't taken.

Rub over the top with a rag moistened with methylated spirits, turpentine or a turps substitute. This will darken the wood where absorbed, but glue areas will remain light. These tend to occur around the edges and along the veneer join line.

[Simon Barden]

I find that the kit holes are a bit on the tight side. There's normally a small solid section on the bottom of the inserts before the splines start and you want the hole to be the same size or only just smaller. Measure the width of this section to check the size hole you need. If you haven't got any digital callipers, get some. I use mine all the time on my kits. The cheap digital callipers from Amazon/eBay are certainly accurate enough for this sort of work. I normally run a 12mm (IIRC) drill into the holes to widen them slightly to what I find makes for a good fit where they can be easily tapped in but are still firmly held. But don't go larger than that un-splined centre section.

And don't tap them in at this stage of the build or it will be very difficult to put your finish on the top. Wrap electrical or masking tape around the screw-in posts so that they sit in the holes well enough without the inserts.

And certainly don't forget to fit the bridge ground wire before you tap in the treble side bridge post insert.

[RocknRolf]

Welcome Tim, looking forward to your build, cannot help you with the questions, but (secretly) planning my next build with a similar finish! Have fun!

And Simon, thank you for your detailed responses always very helpful and generous!