ProjectGuitar.com

Ebonizing describes two different methods. One is simply dyeing a wood black whilst the other is applying a chemical solution to blacken the wood. Both methods are only a surface finish and do not penetrate through the entire workpiece. An ebonized fingerboard may wear through after extensive playing. Dye Ebonizing When using the dye version of ebonizing, it is easiest to start with darker-colored woods. You can ebonize any wood, but a darker wood gets black more quickly. Additionally, closed-grain woods look more convincing than those with large open pores. Mix up a fairly concentrated black aniline dye. Alcohol-based dyes dry quicker and do not raise the grain of the wood easily. Spirit-based products such as Fiebings Leather Dye work just as well as common wood dyes. Water-based dyes are also an option, however the water can cause problems with grain raising on some woods, requiring a plain water grain raise and knocking it back with fine sandpaper. Brush a coat on the wood and let it set for about one-two hours. Take a rag and buff the wood to remove any excess that might have collected or sat anywhere. Feel the wood and check if any of the grain has risen. If so, knock it back with fine sandpaper. Apply a second coat. When that's dry, simply buff the wood with clean clothes and finally apply a finish of some kind. Chemical Ebonizing Not all woods can be reliably ebonized with this process, so test with a scrap piece if possible. Some woods turn odd colors which can be fun however we want them to go black! The woods that work most reliably with this method have a high tannic acid content. Woods like Oak and Walnut are ideal. Mahogany (Swietenia), Ash, Sycamore, Cherry, Maple, Pine and Beech also work, however they tend to turn varying shades of grey rather than black. Firstly, we need to prepare our smelly chemical mixture. Take a handful of steel wool and rinse it with hot water and dish soap to get rid of any oils or contaminants. Stuff it into a glass jar and cover with white vinegar (acetic acid). Poke a couple of holes in the lid and screw that on before leaving the jar for a week or two, swirling the jar a little every couple of days. The acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the iron in the steel to produce iron acetate. What you'll see in the jar is a scummy rusted flaky junky mess swimming in a greyish liquid. This is perfect for our needs. The longer you leave the solution to work, the stronger the effects however a couple of weeks is good. Strain the liquid into a clean jar through a coffee filter and discard the junk. To ebonize a wood, lightly brush on the iron acetate and watch as it reacts with the tannic acid in the wood and turns black before your very eyes! Walnut can turn a jet black within a minute whilst Oak can be variable with it being a lighter wood. The process may raise the grain slightly on the surface, so like the previous example be prepared to knock back any fuzzies with a bit of fine sandpaper and reapply. European White Oak lightly brushed with Iron Acetate If you wish, you can neutralize the acid by dabbing it with a cloth moistening with a sodium bicarbonate/water mix. This isn't hugely necessary unless you go a little too happy with the application. The fewer wet things you add the better. To increase the reactivity of woods with lower tannic acid contents, you can make a tannin tea. Simply soak lots of tea and stew it to death. Strain through a coffee filter and use the resulting super-tea as a pre-treatment before the iron acetate. Don't leave this mixture for days however, since it will go mouldy very quickly!

Tutorial courtesy of Wade Finch This swirling technique is for oil paint although I think urethane paint will work also - I don’t have any urethane paint to test with so I'll just say oil paint for now. Don’t use “Testers Model” paint! It is too thick and has clear gloss mixed in it, which makes it clot and become messy. Fast dry “PlastiKote” enamel is what I used but I'm always looking for other types of paint to use. There are other oils out there, but I don’t have the time to test them all.... First off you are going to need a large “something” to dip in. I say "something" because you can dip in anything that can hold a large deep amount of water. I use a 50 gallon "Rubbermaid” hamper for dipping - it is big enough for submerging the body and has lots of room on all sides so not to hit the body against it whilst dipping. It also has a lid which is nice for when you want to save the water for dipping later on. Secondly, it is useful to have a second person helping you....we'll get to that bit later on.... Once you have your water filled tub, hamper or whatever it’s time to add in the Borax (sodium borate/sodium tetraborate/disodium tetraborate). I use “20 Muleteam Borax”. Take your Borax and pour in about one cup (depending on how big your dipping tub is) and mix the water until you don’t see any Borax floating around. Let it sit for about 30mins. Borax is used as an agent that breaks the water's surface tension and lets the paint spread out over the surface. Next, test the water with some oil paint to see if you have enough Borax in your water. Only a little drop is needed!! You should see the paint start to disappear or dissipate and spread right across the water surface into a very thin film if you have enough Borax mixed in the water. If not then you need to add more Borax to the water. Once ready you can now test which paint colors need to be thinned - some colors are thicker and need help spreading. Adding a little “paint time extender” helps this. You can pick up this extender at a fine art shop. Once you have your color you want and tested, it’s time to do a test dip! Test test test! It is far better to spend time test dipping things other than your guitar body. Test dipping helps you get the feel of the dipping process and also helps you see how much paint to pour in to achieve the balance of your colors/lights/darks. Pour your dark color first then your lightsLet the first color poured dissipate before pouring your next colorOnce you have your colors down, swirl the paint around. I use a wood dowel with 4 zip ties to make a brush to glide across the water/paint. Swirl your paints! Don’t take too long - your paints will dry and skin over and you don’t want to dip anything into that! This is all up to you in making a pattern. Once you see what you like, dip your test object in and hold it. This is where it's nice to have another person helping you as you need to make an "escape hole" for your object so you're not pulling it back through the paint film a second time. You can do this by blowing the paint with your mouth or if you have that second person, get some newspaper and wipe the paint off the water surface leaving a clear water hole so you can pull out your item. If you don’t do this, the item will be covered 2 times and contrary to what you might think, won't look that great. Remember! Test test! Get to know the paint and the process. When you're ready to do another test use newspaper to clean the water of all leftover paint from the previous attempt. Make sure your guitar is sealed before you dip. If you don’t, you could easily end up with a cracked body or other problems. I put wax in the screw holes and in the neck holes; this makes a good water seal and can be removed after the dipping. Any unsealed areas where the wood is exposed to water can become a problem. You will need a piece of wood to use as a fake neck to dip your guitar body in with. It helps give you control and helps you hold the body down in the water. Make something to hang the guitar body from, such as a hole, loop or hook on the fake neck. Make sure you can hang it to dry easily before you start the dipping process. If your guitar body has a rear strap button, screwing a long thin wood screw or similar provides a useful standoff to prevent the body hitting the bottom of the container. This is useful as your hands will get tired and unsteady whilst the paint is being removed from the water surface to make a clean exit point! Now that you're jumping with anticipation and you feel that you're ready, it's time to dip your guitar! It’s that exact same way you dipped your test item plus what you learned from testing. You did test didn't you? After you have pulled your guitar body out of the water, you want to get the water to bead away from it off it as fast as you can. Blowing and twirling the guitar helps, heat lamps, hair dryers, etc. Make a space somewhere for it to dry for at least 24hrs before handling it. Now I'm not going to go into any detail about sanding other than that I sand the bodies down to the sealer coat. Follow normal guitar paint/sanding techniques to get your guitar ready. If you just sanded the clear coat off and don’t want to go down to the sealant, you can but you want to put a coat of primer or paint on before you dip. Like with a 777MC, it has been painted first with white then dipped.

As I have worked on my “relic obsession” (and make no mistake….it IS an obsession!) One of the biggest challenges that I had was figuring out the best way to get that ambered 'vintage' look. The goal I was shooting for was that of a ’62 Strat neck & the color of the headstock & back of the neck (I wanted to start with a rosewood neck first. I plan on tackling an all maple neck at a later time). The target neck has this cool brownish-goldish-amber finish (that’s quite a mouthful!). I wanted to make it look authentic; not only in color…but REAL vintage necks bring out the grain of the maple. The most common way to TRY to achieve this is for people to add amber to their clear lacquer. It looks o.k…but as I stated before I have a RELIC obsession & “o.k.” is just not good enough!! Also, the “amber-clear” technique actually MASKS the wood grain! Think of it as having plastic wrap over your Television screen….you can still see the picture, but it just isn't right! Well…. here is my technique on how to make it RIGHT: The first secret is that you have to stain the wood, not the finish. This is the ONLY way to really make a neck look like it came from 1962! Here’s what I did to create the “secret sauce”. I used ColorTone concentrated liquid stains from Stewart MacDonald. The colors you need are Yellow, Red & Tobacco Brown. The mix ratio of yellow, red, and brown water stain for "vintage maple" is more art than science. I eyeballed it & had good results BEFORE YOU START!!! YOU NEED TO USE SCRAP MAPLE! Don’t put this stuff on ‘till it’s how you want it to look on the scrap! You don't want to test it on paper, it will just soak it up & not give you accurate results. Now for the secret ingredients.... Start with full strength yellow in a bowl. Add warm water until the color isn’t too strong when wiped on your piece of scrap maple. Then add little drops of full strength brown and red to “amber” it. When you think it's right, test it on your scrap maple & put on the clear lacquer. Remember, it won't look right until it's sprayed with clear lacquer. If you REALLY want to bring out the grain, you can stain the wood and then sand most of it off again. The grain will hold the color & the rest of the maple will sand back to natural. For an even more DRAMATIC effect, try it with black or silver stain to really make the grain stand out. Then, when you wipe on your final coat of stain and don’t sand it off, the grain is like 3D & comes right out at you! This technique looks GREAT on a birdseye maple neck! You can wipe stain on with a clean rag or by spraying. I think it looks better & is far easier wiping it on. Once you got the color, clear & results you were looking for on the scrap, repeat the process on your neck! I have used "the REAL Vintage look" technique for refinishing a vintage neck AND for making a new one look old! You will be amazed at how much better this looks, especially if you compare side by side with a neck done with the “Amber-Clear” technique! Here are some tips: This technique raises the grain of the wood. Before you start staining make the wood damp to raise the grain. After it dries, sand off the rough spots with fine grit sandpaper.To avoid streaks wipe with the grain (lengthwise)For best results, let the stained wood dry at least 48 hours before applying clear.PRACTICE ON SCRAP!! I used an old maple baseball bat & got very good results (I guess that would make it a “Batocaster”)A Little ColorTone goes a VERY LONG WAY!!!WEAR Gloves! Otherwise you will "relic" your hands for a VERY long time. Please, trust me on this one!

First you need a nice piece of wood, wide enough to fit the widest part of your neck. The thickness can vary but I usually take a piece of 20mm thick. I usually use fretboard woods of 6mm. Step 1: The most important thing to begin with is shaving the surfaces of the piece of wood to get perfectly flat surfaces. Now shave the sides of the wood to get perfect 90° degree edge. This is important if you’re going to use the sides as a guide for a router. Step 2: Draw a line on the sides of the wood under the angle you want for your headstock I usually take 13° like a Gibson. Now cut the wood in two pieces on this line and do this as straight as possible. Step 3: Align the two pieces like the picture below so you can shave the tilted surface of both pieces. If you do it like this you can save time by shaving both pieces at the same time. Shave downward with the grain! Step 4: If both surfaces are perfectly flat, then glue the pieces together like the pictures below. The more you move the little piece, the thicker or thinner your headstock gets. I like my headstocks pretty thick for the stiffness, so I make them 16 to 17mm. Shave the excess wood off the headstock. Step 5: Now you can saw or rasp the shape of your neck out of the big piece. You can only make a neck volute if you used a thick piece of wood! Step 6: I like to use the truss rods with the small ends, unlike the big bullet truss rod like a 70’s Fender. Because of the small end you can keep more wood, and that is important if you want to use a top lock with screws which go through the neck. The more wood you have, the more stable the screws. In case of a top lock, I move the truss rod a bit back from the lock. From there I route a narrower channel for the truss rod adjustment tool or Allen-wrench. So just measure your rod, and route the channel out of the wood with the exact dimensions. Step 7: Place the fretboard wood over the neck wood. I always like to use a longer piece of fret board than the neck, because I’m never sure if it’s going to be a 22 or 24 fret neck. (as shown below) Drill a hole through the fret board into the neck on the exact places where the 1st and 15th fret will come. Not in the middle of course, otherwise you’ll drill into the truss rod . Make sure you have two drill bits of the same diameter as the hole you just drilled. Now glue the fretboard to the neck (don’t forget the truss rod), and keep the fretboard in place by putting the drill bits into the drilled holes. After gluing you can take them out again. I use the inner tube of a bicycle tire to wrap around the neck tightly to press the fretboard to the neck while drying, but you could use wood clamps. Step 8: Now cut out the neck and head stock shape you want. Just use a bandsaw or other shaping saw. If you want you can already drill the holes for the tuners. Step 9: Onto the slots for the frets and fretboard radius. There are lots of fret calculators on the Internet to calculate any fret distance for any neck scale. Calculate the scale you want, and draw lines on the fret board where the frets must come, and use a fret slotting saw to saw the slots. Be very careful and saw straight, or intonation will be a problem! A fret slotting saw automatically saws the right depth, so don’t worry to cut your fretboard in half. Now you can radius the top of the fret board Just choose a radius you like, for instance a fender radius is smaller than a Gibson radius. Take a piece of cardboard or plastic and draw the radius on it. Cut out the radius so you get a shape like the picture below. Now sand the fret board to match the radius on the template you just made. With different templates you can create a compound radius neck. Step 10: Last but not least, the back of the neck. Start rasping the neck on different angles from outside to centre of the neck. Look at the pictures below. For this job you can also create a template to check the radius. After rasping all the angles out of the neck, you have to smooth the edges with a metal scraper. After that use some sanding paper to finish the neck. Now the neck is ready for inlays and frets....

Start out with your plain holographic material cut down to the approximate size of your guitar's body. This particular finish is easy to do but will require plenty of patience and a massive amount of clear coating. Peel the backing off and slowly roll the material onto your body. It is not necessary for you to start out with a bare wood body - it is much easier to start out with a finished guitar body since the smoother surface allows the adhesive to stick better. You can either rub it down by hand or using a spatula - I prefer by hand myself. Trim around the outside using a brand new blade to make the job easier and reduce the chances of the material tearing instead of cutting. If you need to, cut lines and lap the material down around odd curves and contours on the body. You can see that has been done on the arm rest area of this particular body due to a contour that wouldn't allow the material to sit flat. Ideally the surface should be smooth however it is likely that you will encounter spots with miniature bubbles or bumps. Just pierce through these with a pin to release the trapped air and press out the bubble with your nail or a popsicle stick to ensure the material is adhered to the body properly. Don't worry if it is not perfect as they will disappear into finish and possibly make an attractive ray of reflection later! After you have trimmed the excess off, you're ready to get started on the painting part. Give the entire body a complete single coat of whichever color you desire, covering the material as well so that it is barely visible or completely obscured from sight. Funny how the flash shows the rainbow but without the high intensity light it's a completely black guitar! We're going to start working with Acetone solvent now - whilst it should be harmless to the holographic material it will wipe paint off and also destroy you in the process! Take the proper steps to work in a well ventilated area with no sources of ignition. Acetone is hugely flammable and concentrated fumes will melt plastics in close proximity. Including the lenses in your glasses! Whilst the paint coats you applied to the body are still drying, take out a tin or glass container (not plastic) along with protective gloves, Acetone plus lint-free cloth and/or other clean Acetone-resistant applicators. For big thick graphics use a clean cloth and rotate the clean part often dipping it into the Acetone as you wipe away your personal design on top of the holographic material. This is what you would expect to see using the cloth method: Use Q-Tips if you would rather have thinner, sharper lines darting across the body. Change them out often as they get clogged with removed paint. This is what you would expect with Q-Tips: After you have finished removing as much of the paint coat as you want, it is time to let the remaining paint dry completely for a minimum of a couple of days. Longer is always better of course. Now for the hard part which takes a lot of patience - clear coating. Following the instructions with your particular brand of clear coat, spray successive layers allowing each session of spraying to dry completely before the next. Generally, off-the-shelf rattlecans have a far higher solvent content which slows the curing process down considerably (weeks rather than days). Specialist car paint suppliers may carry "2K clear in a can" where the rattlecan has a separate compartment of hardener which is released and mixed into the clear prior to spraying. This cures ready for the next coat within an hour or two but requires specific attention to safety; full ventilation, no sources of ignition and skin cover! Read the safety information and if in doubt, ask your retailer or a specialist! Now that you have waited for your clear to dry, keep repeating the clearing process until you have built up a substantial covering layer. Yeah, it looks pretty nasty on top I know - plenty of nibs sticking up and all - but hey it'll all smooth out in the end! After all of your multiple clear layers have had plenty of time to cure you can start levelling off the top with a block sander. Do this by hand so that you will have plenty of control over the process. Read the advice below and also keep in mind the picture you see to the right is at the 800 grit stage so don't try to achieve this right off the bat cause you will destroy your finish. Mix up a spray bottle with warm water and a little basic ivory soap, or other neutral hand soap that doesn't contain oils, moisturisers or other "caring" ingredients. Start out your sanding with 400 grit wet-n-dry paper on your sanding block, spritz the surface lightly and proceed to knock off just the tips of the hills, nibs and high points. DO NOT sand down to the low points at this stage! You want to do this using mostly dry paper not completely wet. Just enough water to stop the paper from "loading up" with the gunk you're sanding off. Blow off the dust and lightly brush it with a clean cloth often so you can see the progress you're making. Once you have taken off just the tops of the ridges it is time to clearcoat the body again with a few good medium coats and again, allow the paint plenty of time to dry. Repeat the process of block sanding once the clear has dried using the next highest grit of paper - 600 or 800 wet now. The body will develop a milky waste as the clearcoat dust mixes with the water. Wipe the body clean often to monitor your progress. After you have knocked off the tops of your high points you should see the low areas become smaller. Always concentrate on the high areas, not on the low areas! Once you have naturally reached these low areas by knocking down the high ones, it is time to clean the top of any residue and apply another 3 good coats of clear. By now you're getting the idea of why it takes patience and tons of clear to get this finish to a point you can be proud of! Hopefully by this point you haven't gone through any of the edges. Edges are usually the hardest part to keep intact whilst preventing "sandthroughs". If this happens, whip out your spare color and spot paint where you have sanded through. Spray the area so that overspray heads away from the guitar and not further onto it! After drying clear over the top again with 3 medium good coats. Continue the process of clearing and block sanding until a minimum of 1000 grit. By this point you should have no remaining high or low points and the surface should appear smooth and even. From here you're ready to go through the grits wet-n-dry sanding 1200 grit to 2000-4000 and then buffing. You will now be finished! Your body will change colors completely as you walk by it or appear silver in color head-on in low light. It never looks the same and you will love the results!

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Hold the paper securely over your trem cavity and rub the outline of your tremolo cavity using the side of the pencil lead. A softer pencil is safer than a harder lead. Place your image over a piece of self adhesive felt. If you prefer the more "factory" look you can use a large piece of inner tube tire repair rubber. Using scissors cut out your piece following the lines you created when you made your image. It's better to stray outside the lines than into them! Place your cutout into the cavity to make sure it fits correctly. If it doesn't, remove it and trim the edge where it is bound up. While it is in the cavity, flip your body over and mark along the edge where you need to trim off the excess with a pencil. Grab your scissors and follow the line you just created.... Peel and stick - it's that simple!

Here are the basic tools you will need to get this job done. On the right are a few that aren't necessary but they do come in handy when working on this type of stripping project! Here is why this body is a very good candidate for using a chemical stripper. It has already been refinished by somebody else. Often that can be the case when you're buying second-hand out of a pawn shop or off an Internet auction. These are often really good deals too. Don't be surprised if you run into body imperfections when stripping one that has already been refinished. It is very common and we will deal with how to take care of those issues in another tutorial. If the body has a factory finish, it might not always be an ideal candidate for chemical stripping. Generally the modern paints used in factories are near bullet-proof after curing, and even when you get the top layers off you may well still have an epoxy sealant to deal with. If you want to get through to the wood itself, either strip as much off using this chemical method as possible and then move onto sanding or just sand through the lot. If you're just wanting to repaint the body, stripping the original paint down to an original sealant is a good thing - the factory work is usually a great base to work from! OK let's get started. Wearing your gloves lay the body down on your newspapers and start to paint the chemical stripper over that one side with your disposable brush. We're only doing one side at a time. You need to have a stack of newspaper under your body - you will change it out for every action that you take along this process. Since the grain of the wood in guitar bodies runs from top to bottom and not across, spread the stripper in this direction only. Paint it on working from one end across to the other rather than using a back and forth motion. This ensures that stripper that has already gone to work on the paint isn't being spread around onto fresh areas where it will be less effective. Some of the stripper will run over the sides - this isn't a bad thing since it will help loosen up the paint for when you get to that. Don't worry about it too much, but don't push lots of stripper over the sides as it will just fall off and go to waste. Next comes the most boring part! Cover the face of the guitar you have applied the stripper to with Saran wrap, and just let the body sit coated in stripper for at least 15-20 minutes or whatever the instructions on your product recommends. Go watch TV or listen to the radio - just give the chemical stripper time to do it's job. Don't leave it to sit for an excessive amount of time as it can dry up, become crusty and more difficult to remove than needs be. You may have noticed there is a glass bowl sitting beside the guitar. I used this to pour the stripper into as I am brushing it on to the body instead of pouring directly on. You will get less contaminated stripper if you do the work in sections at a time. It is also a great place to set your brush down and keep it wet while your waiting on the paint to separate from the wood. After you have waited for the required time you can take a plastic scraper and start to lift the paint up off the body, as pictured on the left below. Having two scrapers is useful so that you can remove the junk off the first scraper using your second. Bear in mind that many chemical strippers will soften and deteriorate rubber, so don't use a rubber squeegee or scraper! Metal scrapers risk gouging the wood, so stick to plastic. Be sure to work in the same direction that you spread out the stripper (with the grain of the wood), never against it by going side to side. The simple reason for this is you have a smaller chance of damaging the wood surface and you won't be pushing any of the paint back down into the grain. Now that you have scraped as much paint off as you can, go ahead and re-coat that same surface with another coat of stripper same procedure as the first time. You can let it sit for less time than you did before since it should already be fairly well-coated with the old stripper, which just needs a little "push" from a fresh application. After you have finished giving your body the second coat you can clean off your scraper(s) and paint brush, getting rid of nasty and hard paint debris that doesn't come off from drawing it across the newspaper. HINT: For some of you it may take several coats to get the body looking the way you want it to, be patient and repeat the last few steps over and over till you get to this point. Continue the process of application and scraping paint off the body until it looks pretty much clear of the majority of the paint. Once you think you've got the lot, take a rag or paper towel and clear out the excess from the cavities. Be thorough because the combination of paint and stripper will slowly harden into crusty junk that is very difficult to remove later! Now flip the body over and replace the top layers of newspaper, disposing of them safely. Before proceeding on the next side, make sure that you have a clean workspace so that you can begin the process from the beginning. Clean brushes, scrapers and a fresh bowl of stripper. The only difference is that you probably not have some stripper on the sides already working its magic for you. Just as before you will have to do the body along the grain of the wood and take it off in several layers. Again, wipe off the final remnants of paint with rags or paper towels, and dispose of them properly. Set your body up on a fresh sheet of newspaper, clean your workspace and get ready to do the sides. At this point you shouldn't have to brush that much stripper on the body since it has likely been dripping down from the top and bottom! Scrape away any loose paint and contaminated stripper first. Apply fresh stripper around the sides and scrape paint away until your entire body is clear. Now comes the easy part! Once you have wiped all the excess paint away from the body you can either lightly sand remaining paint from difficult areas or give your body an acetone bath. That's right - Acetone! It evaporates quickly, doesn't leave a residue, plus it works wonders in removing paint from wood grain. Once it evaporates, the body is safe to handle without gloves. Bear in mind the most important safety aspects of working with Acetone. It evaporates quickly and produces a LOT of hazardous fumes which are both explosive and dangerous to breathe. Read the safety notes on the container! Here are the basic rules to follow: Pick a place with more than adequate ventilation, your health is more important than the job.Wear your safety gear (skin and eye protection is important with strong chemical strippers which can burn and blind you instantly).Take your time and be sure to let the stripper do its job. Read the instructions!Start with a day where you have plenty of time to complete the work without having to come back to it another day.Keep changing newspapers as you do each step giving you a clean and organised area to work in.Clean your scraper often.Lifting the paint off the body is easier and better than just pushing it around.Be prepared to take as many breaks as needed. This is potentially dangerous work and keeping focus is important in carrying it out safely!Anticipate problem areas and work around them, you can save these for last.Always walk away for awhile if the job becomes to much. Seriously it can wait.(Editor's note: Never be tempted to blow chemical stripper from out of pickup leg routs with compressed air. Ask me why.)

While this is a fairly easy finish, do not seal the wood on your body or you will end up sanding it down again! The first step is to is completely strip the guitar's body and headstock of any and all finish and sealer. Using a common heat gun for removing paint, darken any area that shows promising figure in your wood. Take your time darkening the wood! It is easier to get good results going slowly than it is scorching the crap out of it! Pick up a quart of Minwax #33 Green Bayou water-based stain Clear Base and color codes 107-9 103-24 102-39 113-5. Time to stain, of course. For this I recommend using a damp sponge since you will have much better control over your stain. Whilst staining, use fine sandpaper (320-400 grit) to knock back any raised grain between coats. So you're asking yourself, "why the Green Bayou when this is a BSB tutorial?". Well the guitar pictured above on the left is an actual BSB where the one pictured above on the right is the tutorial body drying. So you tell me.... (hint: I had the color computer analyzed at the paint store) Be sure to even out the color as much as possible and don't sweat it if the stain refuses to take (residual sealer can do this) or is light or blotchy in some areas. For spots such as that, just lightly hit the body with the heat gun to hide the problem and re-apply stain. Before you re-assemble your guitar it would be a good idea to give it a protective matte clear top coat. I used Krylon brand. This will dull any areas that appear shiny and also help protect the stain from rubbing off.

You will need a few common tools to make this on your guitar. Other tools can achieve the same ends if needs be. Accurate ruler Awl/nail/centre punch 3/4" (19mm) and 1" (25-26mm) Forstner bits Jigsaw/scroll saw Files/rasps/sandpaper Router Straight bottom cut router bit 1/8" (3mm) roundover bit First of all grab a square and measure from the very tip of the upper horn down 5-1/2" (140mm), parallel to the center of the body. Make a horizontal mark 5/8" (16mm) from your line of measurement in, towards the center of the body as shown. This method works for both AANJ and standard neck joint bodies. Mark a line parallel to the center of the body from the beginning of the point you just marked. Make a second line parallel to it 1/4" (6,4mm) in towards the center of the body and then a third line another 3/32" (2,4mm) in. Make a line 90° from your first mark across the other two vertical lines. Using this as a starting point, draw a second horizontal line below it by 27/32" (21,4mm). Draw a third line 1" (25,4mm) below this second line, and follow up with a fourth line 13/16" (20,6mm) below this. You will end up with this marking layout: The first points where you will be drilling through the body are located at the various intersections of these lines. The first hole is located at the first mark made (top left in the grid). The second center is located 1/4" in and down 27/32" (second down, second in). For the third center point you will have to drop down 1" and go in 3/32" (third down, third in), and finally the fourth hole's center is be located dropping down the final 13/16" but moving back to the 1/4" marked line (fourth down, second in). Time to take out an awl, centre punch or a trusty nail to make starter marks at all four of these locations! You do not need to press hard or make deep indentations as these are meant only to prevent the drill bit wandering off centre in the following step. Looking at the next photo you can see that I have drilled out pilot holes for the hole saw drill bits used. If you have the appropriate sized Forstner bits, you can skip pilot holes altogether. You will need two sizes of drill bit - 3/4" (19mm) for the very last hole (located furthest away from the horn) and 1" (25mm) for the three points closest to the horn. Forstner bits are recommended for cleaner cuts. When cutting, place the body on top of a clean flat piece of scrap wood or plywood so that when the drill bit exits the other side it cannot push wood out and splinter the other side. If you're using a hole saw, start your drilling from the top, go about 3/4's of the way through the body, flip it over and continue your cuts through all of the holes from the reverse side. Your pilot holes will help the hole saw meet the first cut perfectly. With a Forstner bit, cut slowly by "pecking" a bit at a time to help remove chips in the cut. Do not apply excessive pressure when reaching the opposite side. Pressing too hard will cause wood to splinter out of the rear face! Now that all the holes are drilled out, we need to make a work support jig for the router and the jigsaw. I used some 2x4 and 1/4" scrap. Across the side of your 2x4, draw the outline of the edge of your guitar: ...now cut out that piece of wood. This is a side support caul which butts up against the side of the body. The top face of this needs to be parallel to the flat face of the body. This extends that surface outwards so the jigsaw and router bases stay level when working inside where the tummy cut drops away. Ideally it needs to be the same thickness as the body otherwise you'll have to shim it up with scrap. Using the jig you can properly support the base of a jigsaw to make the cut along the body at the base of the handle to remove the ridges of the original holes: If you have a tabletop scroll saw, you could also place the blade inside the holes and make this same cut. Now take out your router and a straight cutting bit and set the router's maximum depth of cut to 5/8" (15,9mm) using the depth stop: Using the jig you made as a support, cut a flat plane in several shallow passes from the outside rear of the body to just within the handle area. The final cut should be your 5/8": Now flip the body over and inspect your work so far, I left the jig in place so that you would get a better idea of what it looks like next to the body: Using a flat bladed file or rasp, smooth and round out the inside of the grips on your handle: You are now ready to do the finishing work. Using an 1/8" (3mm) radius roundover router bit (I prefer Dremel tools for this) go ahead and smooth out around the front of the body inside the handle. Soon you won't think twice about doing this to all of your bodys - it really is not as difficult as you might think as long as you have the proper tools and understand each of the steps. Good luck!

Special thanks go out to Sondra (my betrothed/candlemaking guru), Gabe Nickelson, pri0531 and Sebastian from the forum over at jemsite.com, for pointing me in the right direction. WARNING – WAX IS EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS NEAR AN OPEN FLAME - MOLTEN WAX IS HIGHLY FLAMMABLE DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK - BE INFORMED, SAFE AND WORK RESPONSIBLY Tools required to pot pickups: A double boiler (I used a large metal measuring cup place inside the boiler)Electric stove top or hot plate (open flame is a no-no)Candle making or candy thermometerRubber bandsPliers or tongsBeeswaxCanning waxPaper towels Remove your pickup(s) from your guitar. Wrap a few rubber bands around your pickup to hold the bobbin tape together while its being dipped. The glue or whatever holding the tape can melt and make a HUGE mess (or so I’m told).Fill the double boiler about halfway with water. Place the inside part of your double boiler into the water.If needed, break up the wax into small cubes. Use your judgment on the amount of wax to use I needed a pound and a half to provide enough liquid to completely submerge my pickup. And when it was all over I had quite a bit of wax left over. StewMac recommends a wax mixture of 20% beeswax and 80% canning wax. Mine was more 50/50.SLOWLY turn the heat on the stove and attach the thermometer to the inside of the smaller pot.Stir the mixture around until it’s a consistent liquid. DO NOT LET THE MIXTURE GET MUCH PAST 150°F/65°C – The wax melts at 148°F degrees so that’s as hot as you need it to be.Use the tongs to hold your pickup – BE careful WAX IS HOT – (duh). And dip it into the mixture. Wiggle it around until there are no more visible air bubbles. Repeat this every 5 minutes or so to make completely sure you're getting full saturation (sounds like an ad for Peavey).After about 20 minutes you should be good to go. Remove the pickup from the wax and place it on a paper towel to cool. Wipe off the excess wax.After a few minutes when the wax looks like its almost completely cooled remove the rubber bands.Let cool for another couple of hours. Put the pickup back in your guitar and Whola!!