Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 I just ordered some color tone dyes from stewmac.com, and im not sure how to go about a burst from a blue to a black edge. i dont have any kind of expensive spray equipment so i was planning on just using rags and sponge brushes. Ive looked everywhere for a tutorial, but they all tell you how to do bursts with actual colors using a spray can. Its a quilted maple top, so i wanted to do the quilt waves from blue to black as well... theres a tutorial on project guitar showing how to wipe on the black, then sand it down and wipe on the blue... This is also scary to me, so if someone wants to post some pictures of wipe on burst finishes that would be cool too. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 search in this finishing forum. i don't remember exactly where but there is a tutorial by Myka on doing bursts with ragged on dyes. That's how he does his bursts. My advise, use a scrap piece and try it. You have to work while the dye is still wet so you can blend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 alright yeah ill check around... i have before but i guess i just need to search harder. But yeah.... i definately need to practice... im just worried about how much a scrap peice of quilt maple will cost me... i know whatever it is its probably worth it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Yeah i just found that MYKA guitars tutorial... That answered probably every question i had... Pictures of wiped on dyes are still appreciated though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 28, 2005 Report Share Posted August 28, 2005 Follow the link to Mykas site, all his guitars are wiped on stain. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC02223.jpg this guitar is my last one, it is stained with colortone stain black top bring the grain up, and then blue and a black edge about 1/2" thick then a darker blue edge to make it like a burst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostInTheMachine Posted August 29, 2005 Report Share Posted August 29, 2005 (edited) I think there is something on one of the brighter burst guitars on his site. I tried a to do this and the results were sorta botchy. Ya have to keep the dyes very wet. Edited June 15, 2009 by GhostInTheMachine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 (edited) maiden... holy crap that is EXACTLY what im going for... that kind of blue is exactly it... you said you used color tone... how did you mix it... alcohol or water... and what what kind of ratio for that darker blue look... im afraid its gonna come out too light OH YEAH.... do i need to use Grain Filler with a mahogany back?.. im gonna do a blue to black burst on the back as well... and im not sure when to use grain filler/the dye/sanding sealer...how do i go about doing this with the maple top... do i need to tape it off so no grain filler get on the top... lol... so many questions Edited August 30, 2005 by Ledzendrix1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 I wouldn't recomend the stain for the mahogany, I tried it and even thought I bleached the mahogany it turned a beautiful golden tone and when I applied the blue, no matter how much or how even I tried it didn't looked good. I would suggest a clear coat with black filled grain like http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01768.jpg or just a black back. like I did on the Kelly. Stain was the Stew Mac Colortone, and I added stain to 4 oz of water until I reached the tone that I wanted. The mix ratio that they recomend is way too weak. I think that a 25 stain to 75 water should get you close to the one I did, now I did those top very wet, and once I finished the whole top, I let it sit for a few minutes for it to soak, and then with wet clean rags I started to "clean" the excess stain and this brings up the highlights on the top of the figure. Ahh, and I also stained black the top, and then sanded back before starting with the blue. Just practice on the scraps that you get after cutting the initial shape of the body. This is the best way to hone your abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Stain was the Stew Mac Colortone, and I added stain to 4 oz of water until I reached the tone that I wanted. The mix ratio that they recomend is way too weak. I think that a 25 stain to 75 water should get you close to the one I did, now I did those top very wet, and once I finished the whole top, I let it sit for a few minutes for it to soak, and then with wet clean rags I started to "clean" the excess stain and this brings up the highlights on the top of the figure. ← A note on this: I find I need very little stain dissolved in water (much less than 25%) to get nicely workable results. The advantage, to me, of a 'lighter' stain is that I can simply re-stain over the top with a bit more if I want it marginally darker. I don't shoot for a stain mixture that'll give me the colours I want in one application; I'd rather do it in layers. Yeah, you get more solvent on it this way, but it gives me some extra control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 I have tried this way too, but for the finish I did, the way I did it has been the easiest one to achieve that finish. For both my guitars I used the same stain, and I can't argue with the results the one above and this one http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01900.jpg there are a lot of ways to stain, so no one is incorrect about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Fair enough. Just pointing out that many roads lead to Rome. One of my other reasons for being a bit more 'stingy' with dyes is that StewMac won't ship the damn things internationally any more, so I'm kinda stuck with the colours I already have (red, blue, amber, black), and I've as yet been unsuccessful in finding metal-acid dyes/stains anywhere here. I know Target Coatings still ship transtint stuff (same stuff, different label) internationally, but their shipping charges are really quite insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 (edited) yeah ive heard that mahogany doesnt take to stain very well... but im not gonna have any scrap wood cuz i ordered this body from warmoth unfinished... i even called a local luthier and he said he doesnt use figured maple (probably just getting me off his back)... but is there any other wood i could use to practice on that i could get easily? And is there a non-stewmac brand black grain filler i could use for the mahogany i can buy at a hardware store? and how do i apply this incorperating the quilted maple top?... do i tape it off... cuz i think im gonna do the natural faux binding like myka does on this... i dont think splatters of black grain filler would look very nice on that Edited August 30, 2005 by Ledzendrix1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 yeah ive heard that mahogany doesnt take to stain very well... but im not gonna have any scrap wood cuz i ordered this body from warmoth unfinished... i even called a local luthier and he said he doesnt use figured maple (probably just getting me off his back)... but is there any other wood i could use to practice on that i could get easily? And is there a non-stewmac brand black grain filler i could use for the mahogany i can buy at a hardware store? and how do i apply this incorperating the quilted maple top?... do i tape it off... cuz i think im gonna do the natural faux binding like myka does on this... i dont think splatters of black grain filler would look very nice on that ← In that case...good luck! Plenty of luthiers out there don't use flamed maple, or at least don't go crazy with the stain jobs, so it's not that uncommon. David Myka explained his 'faux binding' method very well with pics in his stain tutorial already, but the short version: mask off everything but the binding, seal it with your sealer of choice, unmask, clean any sealer that got under things, mask the whole top+ edges, grain-fill the back, seal, then start working on the top. If you're gonna stain the top, do yourself a favour and at least get some 'boring' maple from the local yard, or something, just to get a vague feel for how the stains will work. It's not going to be the same as testing on scrap, but it's going to be better than testing on a completely different species of wood. Also, why do you want black grain filler per se? Me, I like natural coloured stuff. If you want to, you can always tint whatever grain filler you find locally with a compatible stain and make your own black grain filler, or use epoxy (which, again, you can tint). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted August 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 yeah im still working everything out... im debating between just dying the mahogany black, using the black grain filler, or just using clear grain filler... what do you guys think would look best with the blue/black burst... then the natural maple binding... im not sure... black i know would look good... but im wondering if the natural mahogany whether it has black grain filler or clear grain filler would look goofy... if anyone has a good picture that would help too... thanks alot - Louis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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