Gr-1sf

[Gunut75]

Ok, so, my documenting skills suck but I'm going to give it a go. I've spent the last year building non-PBG because I got a few of them for crazy cheap, and practice is working towards excellence.
Got a couple teles drying in the other room, and I can't touch them. Time to fire this kit up. Started the sanding tonight. Think it's going towards a transparent green or blue dyed face, with a nice brown/red hue back, sides, and neck. Headstock will match the face. High gloss all around.
Just ordered some ebony grain filler to pop the grain before dying.


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[Simon Barden]

It's a basswood plywood body with a figured basswood veneer on the top, so it is unlikely to 'pop', unlike a maple veneer. It's also as thin as any other veneer used, so be careful with the amount of sanding you do to it. On my ES-3, I went through the veneer between the pickups after a second (very necessary) sanding exercise, so I ended up using solid colours.

So maybe try some popping with just a weak black dye/stain. The basswood doesn't need grain filling per se, though some filler around the edges where the grain has splintered slightly is normally beneficial.

The pickup hole outline typically has very narrow mounting tab cut-outs, that fit the kit pickups. But aftermarket pickups tend to have wider mounting tabs, so you might want to consider enlarging those cut-outs if you are fitting different pickups before you start applying finish.

I'd also consider where you want to mount the front strap button. I wanted mine to be on the front of the top bout (e.g. as per a LP) rather than on the back of the body or on the heel, so I added an internal block before I glued the neck on. Detailed here:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...l=1#post196665

Again, something best done (if you want to) before the finish goes on.

[Gunut75]

Wow, is DOES have a veneer top?! Good to know. I only did a very light initial sanding with some worn 320 to smooth the grain. It's surprisingly flat.
You are correct about the edges. A little hair there. I'll look into the pickup holes, and the strap button. I do prefer it in the position like a les paul as well. Thank you.

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[Simon Barden]

You could just call it the top layer of the plywood (rather than veneer), but it's been selected to be a sheet with a nice figure to it, as basswood can often be very plain looking. But it's definitely not a very thick layer, so treat it like a veneer to be on the safe side.

[Gunut75]

So, I have birchwood casey sealer & filler (one product). Do I simply apply that, then go to dying the wood? Mild black dye like you said, sand back a touch, then green. Then a poly clear once it's all dried.

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[Simon Barden]

A good sealer is going to seal the wood so it won't absorb the dye. I've used the Birchwood Casey sealer stuff over a stained maple veneered body that I had darkened, sanded back and then stained red (my ES-1 build). That seemed to work OK. But I'm far from an expert on this.

I'd always recommending testing it out on some scrap wood first to see what happens. Also (unless you've done this before) to make sure that the sealer doesn't react with the poly, as not all finishes are compatible. It probably is fine, but obviously the sealer is designed to be applied under Tru-Oil, not poly.

[Gunut75]

I just ordered an IB-6S...........lol. geezus. Cheers!

[Gunut75]

Got some basswood squares to mess with.

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[Gunut75]

Did a bunch of test panels with keda black dye (water), and a water based green, blue, and red. We'll see tomorrow. Doing the colors in a couple hours.
So, about masking the binding. What do I use for that? Do people mask it with something, or scrape it clean after the dye is applied? Mask it for the clearcoat? I'm having trouble finding info on this. TIA.

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[McCreed]

So, about masking the binding. What do I use for that? Do people mask it with something, or scrape it clean after the dye is applied? Mask it for the clearcoat? I'm having trouble finding info on this. TIA.

re: masking, the short answer is yes. You can get "fine line masking tape" (a 3M product) that comes as narrow as 3 & 6mm, up to 24mm. There are other brands with different widths as well. Check autobody suppliers. Another alternative is cutting your own narrow strips from a standard 24mm painters tape if you have the patience. (I don't )

Masking the top edge of the binding can be very tedious as it's quite narrow, so what I have done is just roll the edge of the tape over from the side as much as the tape width will allow. Scraping will need to be done regardless of masking anyway, so I'm just looking to minimise the bleed as much as possible.

I've read of people applying poly (or whatever clear is going to be used) over the binding by hand with a small paint brush to seal it, but that sounds more laborious than scraping to me. Plus you run the risk of sealing places you want the stain to go.

Clear coat will be applied over the binding, after it has been scraped clean of the colour bleed.

Just be aware that with the plastic binding on these kits, have a tendency to have microfissures where the binding bends, and the stain/dye can bleed in. Some of it will scrape or sand off, some you'll have to decide if you can live with. Simon B has talked about painting over the binding with white paint to get it perfectly clean before clear coating.