Luke's Spalted Maple LP

[lukemichael]

Ordered the kit a few weeks back and am stoked with the spalted cap! So keen to get into it. The plan is to go over it with Coolangatta Gold. Was hoping I could get some advice on maybe putting an undercoat of Ebony Timbermate and sanding back, as I'd read a few other guys have done on here. I'd be a bit weary about it as I can now see how thin the cap is and would hate to ruin that beautiful spalt.

I've ordered a pair of Tonerider Generators, some Sprague Orange Drops, and upgraded pots. The plan is to have fully black hardware which will complement the spalt really nicely.

Unfortunately I have about another week left of study before I can get started on it, however tempting it is to just do a bit of sanding, I'd rather not rush it and ruin it.

Luke

[wokkaboy]

Hi Luke welcome to the forum, what a beautiful kit you scored. Love the plans you have. I'd apply the ebony timbermate these spalt caps aren't very flat in their natural state. Don't do any pre-sanding on the cap, apply the timbermate and you should be ok.
Coolangatta gold and black hardware will look very nice.
Take your time and you will end up with a great guitar !

[lukemichael]

Thanks wokkaboy! How exactly does the timbermate work, as I haven't worked with it before? Would I put it accross the entire cap or just a few areas? Then sand it back how finely?

Another question I had was how long for curing time for the staining process. I'm in Melbourne and it's starting to get pretty cold, nothing over about 15 degrees during the day. How many days would you recommend for allowing the stain to dry etc?

Luke

[wokkaboy]

No worries Luke,
you mix the solid timbermate from the container with water into another container and mix a slurry. Not too thick and not too thin. Wipe it all over the cap. You can even wipe it over the whole body would go well on the mahogany body.
Let it dry overnight and I'd sand the cap from about 180 to 240 or no more than 320 grit. Back and sides you can sand to about 320 grit.
Might pay to make a hanger for the body get some cheap pine as wide as the neck pickup and roughly cut the shape. Use two wedge shaped pieces of wood to keep it in place.
In terms of curing DB recommends about 3 days in summer so might need about 5 days curing in cooler weather.
If you can leave it indoors to cure it should cure faster. The Dingotone has a lovely natural smell to it and doesn't contain any dangerous chemicals.
Attached are some close ups of a set neck (glued) neck hanger and wedges to hold it in place

[keloooe]

Or for the hanging you can find a screw in hook that has the same diameter thread as the strap button screw and use that to hang with!

[wokkaboy]

you could Pest but a wood hanger with handle gives you control over the body while you stain it.
Warning Luke its not safe to put in a vice, its purely for hanging and staining on a clean rag

[lukemichael]

Thanks so much for that advice wokka! It worked an absolute charm! Spent the weekend working on the timbermate undercoat, sanding back and applying the stain. Turned out better than I ever thought! I think I may have sanded slightly too much, I would have liked a bit more darkness in the grain, however I love how it's brought out the flame maple on the sides as well as the spalt in the middle, amazing! I'll be leaving it a solid week before I start the intensifying coat, hopefully sometime on Sunday. The only warm place in the house that I've been able to hang it is in my room and I've found the smell to be really nice actually! Beautiful citrus smell. Makes me glad knowing there's not a whole load of chemicals etc in the dingotone. (The images don't seem to be uploading, I'll try another post)

I've uploaded all the photos to pinterest to keep the image quality high!
https://www.pinterest.com/lukebulley1/spalt-maple-lp/

[wokkaboy]

thats come up really nicely Luke, well done. You didn't bother cutting a headstock shape ? The G types are the easiest to shape with only the top of the headstock to shape. It will really personalise the build.
Also the binding and neck binding you will need to steel wool the stain off.
That pinterest site is a pain in the butt kept coming up with a log on screen you couldn't close.
That ebony timbermate is nice and dark !

[lukemichael]

Ah, I had completely forgot about that! Thanks for the reminder, will have to do that this weekend too. Was going to ask what the best way to remove the stain from the binding, but was also thinking it might actually look good with it stained like that. What're you're thoughts? I'll have a go at posting the images on here again.
Another question, what have you done with the fretboard in terms of piling etc? Is there anything that you would recommend in applying to it?
Really happy with how the ebony timbermate looks overall, will definitely use it again if I have any future builds (I'm thinking the spalted prs kit)

[stan]

hey Luke, welcome, great looking kit you ended up with.
0000 grade steel wool should clean up the binding and not harm what you have already done.
Up to you, but I'd clean it up, it will add nice contrast.