BGuitars

Yeah, I was trying to find a white dye, but I guess there's no such thing lol

Ok so what I did first was I used a rag to wipe down the wood first to raise the grain and just clean it. Then I took Rockler's transtint dye (black) mixed with water and rubbed it onto the wood with a clean rag till the whole thing was covered Black dye After that I used 220 grit sandpaper disc on my orbital hand sander to sand back the black but leave the black in grains. After that I used a clean rag and spread white paint I got from home depot. Glidden moonlight white. I then applied about 2-3 coats and let dry between them. At then end if the stain looked too opaque and I couldn't see the stain. I wet the white paint rag and rubbed it on the white paint to dilute it slightly. I wanted to see the grain through the white paint. That's as far as I got today.

Alright, so this is my 2nd guitar and I'm trying to figure out the whole finishing thing. I don't know much about painting so simple or explained answers would be helpful. I've got the stain and paint how I want it, now I want to make it shine and be glossy. Because I used paint it's slightly rough right now. I figure I need to sand it down before applying anything else. I just don't know what I should use that won't take off the paint. I've got up to a 220 grit orbital hand sander, but I figure I'll need like a 320 grit or 400 grit sandpaper and do it lightly by hand. my question is, am I on the right track and if I am what should I do next towards getting that shining finish. Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6

So I recently happened to decide to make my 2nd guitar. THe first one was just a old beaten up strat I bought off a friend for 50 bucks. So this time I decided I'd try and build one from scratch. I modeled it off a PRS305 with some slight changes. I wanted a white/silver/chrome color theme and for it to be a semi-hollow. Keep in mind I didn't plan on selling it, so some design oversights I can live with on this one. I wanted a white stain on the flame maple top. The body is swamp ash. I'm still waiting on the neck from Carvin to come. I decided on the design on the right. It'll be walnut with an ebony fretboard. I didn't build this in house because I didn't have the tools or know-how yet. I plan on adding white pearl binding when everything else is done. I used Lace Chrome Domes for the pickups and a TonePros Tune-O-Matic Bridge/Tailpiece pack. The pickups I bought from MIJ guitars. This is also only my 2nd build and I'm not super experienced with woodworking. So go easy.