Crimson Guitars Stunning Stains

[willliam_q]

I’ve just bought a couple of different Crimson Guitars Stunning Stains Shots which they’ve described as a pigment so will await delivery.  I got the denim blue and the purple, I’m aiming to do a similar finish to BigDGuitars Northern Lights finish.  I know it’s nothing like the PRS northern lights but I really like the colour.

BigDGuitars Northern Lights YouTube

I’ll need to mix with water for the staining part but was just wondering if anyone had experience of mixing these with lacquer to create a tinted lacquer?  
I think these are water based but as this is a pigment maybe it’s different?

The reason I ask is the veneer I used on the headstock is covered in glue from it seeping through, ill sand back the glue but I’m not sure there will be much wood figure left so think a lacquer pigment might work better than stain.  Thoughts?

[ADFinlayson]

You can’t mix water based stains with lacquer to tint, you need alcohol based stains. Alcohol stains will also be better for producing the northern lights affect because they don’t mix as well with previous dry stain coats. In fact the best way I’ve found to achieve it is to use a waterbased stain for the base colour, let that dry fully over night, then stain with the contrasting alcohol stain because water based won’t mix with alcohol based. 

ive got all the crimson stains, the denim blue is so light that it really does very little when mixing. The pithos blue is quite green, very “Caribbean” looking, the royal blue is by far the best, and can be lightened up by diluting. 

the quilted semi hollow les Paul I’m working will be a northern lights (ish) purple. I’m going to do a base coat of water based royal blue, slightly diluted, sant it back a little, then use crimson red alcohol based stain for the top layer. Red will contrast much better with the blue, then if it needs it I might give it a small amount of purple, possibly in the middle or as a burst. 

[Bizman62]

The shots may not work when mixing into lacquer. Although the water content is pretty low, it's still there.

I don't know how well it would work if you mix it with alcohol as even the strongest alcohol has a few percents of water. That might work at least if you first apply a thin layer of lacquer, let it dry and then apply a thin coat of lacquer again and while it's still wet spray a layer of said spirit mix, covering it with a more generous layer of lacquer while it's still wet.

[willliam_q]

I’ll take the advice on board. It’s good to have someone reply who has experience with crimsons stains so thanks.  I’m not really after northern lights but more the effect that BigD got when he was trying for it.  I don’t really like the northern lights on prs, I find it a bit bright and garish.  I prefer BigDs colour.  

so I might need to order up some royal blue and maybe even crimson red and experiment a. It to see which I like best.  

[Prostheta]

At work, we avoid water-based products like the plague. This is mostly a production issue though, as the period of time for water to disappear is too long for quick turnaround. In addition, water raises the grain of woods....especially Maple, Mahogany, etc. This complicates finishing if you end up having to knock back the fuzzies. I'd go with alcohol-based every time. They seem finer and blending can be achieved by remobilising previous work.