Sanding Sealer

[jonwhitear]

This is a timely thread for me. I'm finishing a GSM-1 at the moment. My first attempt was with Feast Watson Prooftint in mahogany with a black burst. This was after applying Ebony Timbermate, but no sanding sealer.



The timber took up the stain very unevenly, and it didn't look good, as much as I tried to like it. So I sanded it back, and this time applied sanding sealer before the stain. It's not exactly like for like, as I've decided to go with a natural black burst rather than mahogany. Here it is after the sealer was applied and sanded back.



And here it is after the black burst.



The sealer went on easily, and sanded back to a very smooth finish. It made applying the stain much easier and more consistent.

[Cliff Rogers]

Glad that worked.

I think the natural timber burst is the best & will be even better once the hardware, knobs etc are installed.

[jonwhitear]

Glad that worked.

I thing the natural timber burst is the best & will be even better once the hardware, knobs etc are installed.

Thanks Cliff. Yes, I'm much happier with it now. The black burst isn't perfect, but I think it'll look fine once the build's finished. I did do a mock build with hardware after I'd finished the stain and put a coat of oil on, just to get an impression of what it'll look like when done, and I think it's going to look great. Somewhat different to what I initially had in mind, but I'm getting used to guitars letting me know how they want t be finished ;-)