daveq Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I'm having the worst time trying to decide on a color for my PRS'ish project. It has a nice quilt top and it's a nice bright/pale color (no need to bleach). Here's what the guitar is made of: 1.Quilt maple top 2.Alder body 3.Flame maple neck laminated with Wenge (7 piece) 4.Flame maple fretboard with wenge bird inlay at 12th fret 5.Wenge headstock with scarf joint It will have chrome hardware and black knobs. I was originally thinking that I'd do a cherry burst but I don't think I want to go that way now. Now, I'm considering these: A. Bright orange with a fade to darker orange/red at the edges B. Black burst (would need some tips on how to do this) C. Bright Yellow possibly with some fading effects D. The good 'ol Blue Burst E. Carri-burst I have no experience with doing a black burst. I also don't know if that would be a waste of a really nice bright colored top (which usually tends to go well with bright colors). I can't decide!!! HELP!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullmuzzler Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Hey, DaveQ! It's been a while since I saw your topic (or I'm stark-blind!!) Could you post some pictures of the unfinished guitar? Knowing your work, it looks great! Anyway, having a maple board, I'd go for black burst, for the contrast, along with a matching headstock. If the board was ebony/rosewood, I'd suggest bright yellow/amber stain. Can't wait to see it finished... Cheers! mullmuzzler | OSSMT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Has a black burst been done before? I've always thought something like that would be cool, but didn't know what approach would make it look best. I imagine if you dyed the top, being a little more liberal with the dye as you move closer to the ouside edge, then shoot opaque black around the edge before you clear it, it might look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Here's a pic of the guitar as it is now: No points for creativity on this - just trying to put together something in the neighborhood of a PRS. I did do a more aggressive carve though - just something I wanted to do. I have more pics but they aren't on the web yet. I have a feeling that I would need to layer the black dye over some clear to get it right but I could be wrong. I wasn't able to turn up anything on this search or on mimf. I get a lot of results for the word "burst" and "black" but nothing that I could find for "black burst". So, any opinions on what might look good? Sorry the rest of the neck isn't there for reference. It has a wenge headstock and wenge bird at the 12th fret. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piedpiperX2000 Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Heck yea that seems like an awesome project. If you like the "yellow/brown/red"-ish color combo; check this out for a finish. I'm currently working on building a copy of this.. "slightly different" hollowbody. http://www.abyssguitars.com/pic%20131.jpg Insane Finish - I think it would look BANGIN on your PRS .. ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerHunter Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 In this picture you can see what it looks like after a quick sandback in the center. I'd "think" that you could control the sandback to get your desired effect. I wasn't going for a burst finish so I ended up sanding it evenly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Beer hunter, is that a grizzly kit? It looks like it... if so, how does it sound? Im looking into buying one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Dave, with the combination of woods to include the fret board I think that A or C will be the better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 As much as I was wanting to do the black burst or the brighter orange/yellow colors - I totally wimped out and went with something more familiar. I'm in a bit of a time crunch so I wanted to allow more time to practice a black burst on a future project. I still want an orange quilt someday also. For this project, I went with the ubiquitous blue-burst: I'm so boring and predictable it's disturbing. Maybe next time. Thanks for the input. See ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhailgtrski Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 "I'm so boring and predictable it's disturbing." Yeah, but in a good way. Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerHunter Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 (edited) Beer hunter, is that a grizzly kit? It looks like it... if so, how does it sound? Im looking into buying one ← Yes this is a Grizzly kit. I think it sounds great. I want to build another. This time the LP style. I put 11's on this guitar so the sustain is awesome. The pickups sound like my Duncan Designed pickups but only a little hotter. There are no markings at all on them so I have no idea what they really are. I put up a website of the build at http://members.shaw.ca/ljeeves/grizzly_build_project.htm It looks and plays better than any guitar that I could have bought for the same price or more. Edited December 15, 2005 by BeerHunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenderSurrender Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 As much as I was wanting to do the black burst or the brighter orange/yellow colors - I totally wimped out and went with something more familiar. I'm in a bit of a time crunch so I wanted to allow more time to practice a black burst on a future project. I still want an orange quilt someday also. For this project, I went with the ubiquitous blue-burst: I'm so boring and predictable it's disturbing. Maybe next time. Thanks for the input. See ya! ← Hey Definitly looks like a great finish there, nice one ~~ TS ~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Beer Man Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 dave i think it looks freaking fantastic, did u use the poor mans burst method on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 Thanks. I did it mostly using an airbrush (after rubbing the first blue coat). There's more to it than that but that's the nickel tour. I'm working on finishing it up now. I hope it will be ready soon - can't wait to hear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Were you trying to go with the PRS "faded jean" finish, or just a light stain? It looks very close to what I do on mines on the black stage, but I add a lot of color after that. Very dark inspired my stain jobs are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Yes, partly. I really like the faded denim finsh that PRS uses. I wanted that in the middle and a burst (which I don't think PRS usually does on that finish) toward the edges. I'm surprised you mentioned that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 I've been looking to make that finish too myself. I talked to a guy at PRS, can't remember his name, but he wouldn't go into detail on that finish. I think that there is more to it that just "kissing" the top of the grain to make it brighter, I haven't figured it out yet, but I think that there has to be some white pigment introduced at some time in the stain process... Well, I'll be waiting to see this one finished! Glad you are up building again, I'm still debating if I should start one here, or just wait until I get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 My guess (which isn't worth much in the finishing world) is that you need to bleach the hell out of it. I don't know if they use a white pigment or not - very possible. From my vast experience in dealing with this type of finish (which is one project), I'd think that a well bleached piece of wood may actually be all you need. Stain it blue, wait for it to dry, hit it with some 800 or higher and clear. I think the critical thing may be to use a true clear though. Any clear that introduces an amber effect such as shellac will tend to take away from the white that you are shooting for. I did see Erlewine finish a Tele or Strat with a transparent white in one of his videos. Maybe PRS does something like that layered with blue? I'm not sure it's really needed though. For anyone who doesn't know my history - I am absolutely NOT a finishing expert. I'm very comfortable with woodworking and pretty much everything else needed for building a guitar but finishing has always been my greatest weakness. Take this advice with this in mind. Start building now!!! We need more threads in the In Progress section. There seems to be loads of "My first project" entries but not so many from people who have several under their belts already. I like to see the new people but I also love to see the progress of the more experienced builders also. Get going!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtommyb Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 trans white finishes ive seen on a custom shop strat they just put it in the clear coats was as simple as that. and the black burst ive been working on it and do lots of layers of black sand back then when its nice and deep start wire wooling it down... worked for me on my test piece im going to do the guitar when it warms up a bit as its freeeeeezing here at the moment. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 I think the critical thing may be to use a true clear though. Any clear that introduces an amber effect such as shellac will tend to take away from the white that you are shooting for. ← Yeah, over top of the blue it could start to look greenish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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