I finally completed my first project, well actually I went through three bodies and two necks but I'm finally done It's a mahogonay back, maple top with flamed maple veneer, maple neck, purple-heart fretboard and jabota headstock veneer.
I want to make the flamed maple veneer pop, you know, where the patterns on the wood have that 3D look. So I set up 9 flamed maple scraps to experiment on with different tecniques and colour combinations.
I purchased 3 water-based aniline dyes from LeeValley, Ebony black, light yellow and Honeytone Amber. I want a yellow-amber-orangy-like coloured top to contrast the purpleheart fingerboard. In retrospect, I should have bought some more colours for more possible combinations. Oh well...
I already sander the pieces of scrap from 220 to 400, raised the grain with a damp cloth and sanded again from 220 to 400. If you are doing this on a thin piece of veneer like I am, be careful not to sand through the veneer. In this case, the veneer is glued on MDF.
Here is what I plan to do on each piece:
1: yellow, sand back, yellow
2: amber, sand back, amber
3: black, sand back, yellow
4: black, sand back, amber
5: yellow, sand back, amber
6: amber, sand back, yellow
7: ??
8: ??
9: ??
The point of all this is to experiment and get some experience before actually applying any stain on the guitar. I'm also hoping to be helpful to others in the same situation and to also get advice from more experienced "stainers".
I will apply the stains probably tomorrow so there is still time if you want to make suggestions for 7, 8, and 9 or modify 1 - 6.
I will post pictures as I progress. Let's see how all this will turn out
Araz