Translucent Color Advice?

[Fleetdog]

I've been reading here for a long time but this is post #1. I have a Saga tele style kit I'd like to put a bright green translucent finish on. I've seen several posts here looking for help getting through the sealer to the veneer on the PRS style but I have no veneer and no desire to sand that much. I just want to do finish sanding on the sealer and start blowing some color on there. I know Reranch suggests spraying alcohol based dye over sealers but I don't know if the sealer stuff Saga uses will let that work. I've also seen a few promoting Dupicolor sprays but I don't like the look of that green too much. Has anyone successfully colored any Saga guitar with alcohol dye or with auto "candy" paint? Worst case scenario, I'll screw up a clear green, prime, and spray on a solid green; however, I'd like to have the clear work. Thanks for reading!

[jer7440]

I believe you can tint Nitro lacquer with analine dies. It's often called a toner coat. Check out this tutorial.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6194

This guy is doing a sunburst, but he is spraying tinted lacquer over a sealer coat.

Ok. my bad. Upon reading that tutorial more carefully, I don't think he was tinting lacquer. It looks like he was sraying alchol based analines and sealing between colors. Check out this tutorial as well.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...pic=9113&st=165

On about page 12 he talks about adding a blue toner to the clearcoat.

[johnsilver]

Fleetdog, I suggest you get the Guitar Finishing Step by Step book from Stewmac. It tells you how to apply a transparent color (toner) to a guitar, and it contains lots of formulas to achieve certain colors. I used the book recently to apply a transparent cherry red finish to an SG I made (there is a thread in the In Progress section - An SG for my Son) that has pics of the process I used. I can't speak directly to a Saga kit.

[al heeley]

You should get a far better finish by using an aniline-type dye to stain the wood and then clear-coating over the top, than by colouring the lacquer. Better in terms of getting grain-effect and colour depth/density.

You can get both solvent-soluble and water-soluble dyes that can be rubbed on to the wood. Stewmac's book is a good recommedation from johnsilver.

Hope I'm not being rude, but a saga kit is not likely to have a really nice grain or figure to show off, it may be better suited to a less transparent finish.

[Fleetdog]

I was actually quite surprised how good the grain does look on this guitar. I mean, it's just basswood so no flame figure or anything but it's a 3 piece body and the grain is consistant across all 3. Applying directly to the wood is not an option since the sealer stuff they put on there is nice and smooth and put up a fight even to a drill bit! I'm not looking for any sort of mile deep gorgeious grain appearance, just a nice rich green that lets a bit of grain peek through.

[al heeley]

Aah. Is it that thick protective coat of polyester that looks slightly milky when rubbed with fine sandpaper? You will not get much of a coloured grain effect unless you remove the lot, I'm afraid. And if it's what I think it is, there's a lot of effort involved in getting that coating off.