Gresh

Outstanding, thanks very much. That is exactly what I was looking for!!

I was wondering the same thing. I have completed the headstock veneer on my project with quilted maple. It turned out really good...but I must admit it took two tries, the first one slid on me and I didn't catch it soon enough. An hour with an iron and a chisel and about 20 min of sanding got me back to square one. Second time was a winner. It was good to start on a smaller area prior to moving on to the body. I learned a lot by doing it that way. My veneer is gorgeous but it is pretty rough...great for holding glue....bad for finishing. After I sand it down a little to smooth it out, do I then need a sanding sealer prior to staining? or does that come after staining, or both. I may not stain it at all and leave it natural but I want it to shine like a mother. The Reranch site covers this area but they start switching around on what you have to do with different varieties of wood and never really give you a step by step process for any one type.

Hey Gabe, Sorry to hear of your frustration, I know exactly what you mean....no one around here stocks anything either. That's why I had to risk mail ordering some. The quilt that I ordered from Flamingoveneer.com is simply stunning. They didn't give me exactly the dimensions I asked for which required me to do some stuff I am not really comfortable with, but I can't complain about the veneer's figuring. I also ordered a ripple quilt which is sort of a cross between a quilt and a flame. The figuring isn't really consistant but they sent me a bunch of it so there are some good spots that can be used, even as a one piece top. Seriously, I would call them and explain what it is you are after. I'd bet they get you something useful, or have them send you several sheets to pick from. It's pretty cheap and they ship quickly. I spent $50 and I have premium quilt to do 2 full guitars with headstocks, plus I've got all the other stuff which is enough to get maybe 3 or 4 more good sets out of.

OK...before I do something stupid....need some advice. 1. I've got my veneer bookmatched as close as I can get. When I glue this down, if there happend to be a slight gap is there a way to fill it without it being totally obvious? What could I use as filler? Would a good sanding sealer coat fill that up nicely if with whole body was coated prior to being cleared?? It has been a challenge getting this bookmatched due to the waviness of the veneer so I used some clamps and some very flat boards to sandwich the veneer together to flatten it for sanding the joining edges. Getting this down flat on the body is going to require some serious weight, I am actually considering using myself while holding some sandbags, watching some videos for a couple of hours. Anybody got any grand ideas?? 2. I've also got the head stock veneer ready to glue, but I am wondering how to cut the holes for the tuners properly. If I use a drill I am afraid the veneer will split like crazy, but maybe that is not an issue after being glued down. Maybe use an exacto to get it close to size then a dremel sanding drum to finish it off??? 3. How to go about exposing the binding on the face of the headstock? It's a very narrow border edge of binding that I would like to have show, ie not covered by veneer. My idea is to use a dremel sander to sort of bevel that edge down to the surface of the binding. I will have to be very careful and tape off precisely or it won't look right...this seems too risky. Would a Dremel with a router bit work if I could index off the headstock edge itself? Tough to explain what I'm trying to do, sorry.

I plan on using Titebond as called out in the veneer tutorial. Any one have any better advice?

Thanks Brian, I'm not worried about the contour at all, the veneer is very flexible. What I am worried about is not all of the surface making contact with the guitar body due to waves and curls in the veneer itself...it is not flat right now. It is not far from it but I guess my fear is that if it isn't dead flat prior to gluing, I risk not getting it down correctly and if I try to put a lot of weight on it to make sure I am afraid it may split on me. Will the glue itself provide enough moisture to help it flatten while curing? I am dealing with two pieces of highly figured quilted maple, the figuring is very very strong but the veneer is a little wavy. You are saying I can go for it and everything will turn out OK? Can I bake it down with an iron after the initial gluing if it is still wavy after removing the sand bags? I just don't want to mess this up. Thanks

My veneer has arrived and it needs to be flattened prior to glueing it on the body....right? I've read where I can mist the veneer with water and press it using some flat plywood, absorbant paper, and a good bit of weight (cinder blocks or tool boxes whatever) changing the paper every 4 hours or so. What do you guys recommend for flattening? Also, I have consecutive sheets of veneer so I can do a bookmatch, but the edges need some attention. I am thinking I can align the sheets back to back so the bookedge is facing up, clamp them betweem two boards with planed flat edges, and run a tool down that edge and sand them flush to the boards. What would be a wise choice of tools to trim with to give a clean cut....or should I just sand them down by hand with a block?

Thanks Brian, Sounds like the sand bag route is the way to go for simplicity, plus I already have a big bag of it from our last snow. How about clear coating it once the staining is finished. Sand throughs make me nervous and I read where some folks run the body up to an auto body shop with a booth and have them clear it for them. Your opinion on that?

Hey Gabe, I ordered from www.flamingoveneer.com They have photos online of each lot that they get. Call them and they will tell you if each sheet is representative of the photo. THere are three magnificent lots of quilt they have now, the most expensive being $6.50 per sq. ft. THey also have some nice curly maple right now. If you want to wait a week or so, I can let you know how accurate the online photos are based on my order's appearance. I was very specific as to my requirements regarding sheet size and orientation of the figuring and they didn't even bat an eye...I guess they are used to picky people. At any rate, stay tuned and I'll let you know how it looks in person once it hits the door.

Howdy everyone....new comer here but I recognize many of you from Jemsite. At any rate, I have a long drawn out project that is finally coming to fruition. Here's the gist of it: RG7 Basswood body...already stripped Ibanez LA Custom Shop Neck from Dino Cazares (also stripped of paint, except headstock) All black hardware Two sets of veneer coming next week, couldn't decide which one so I ordered both. One is a premium peanut quilt, the other is more like a ripple curl/quilt. Both are full sheets that will cover the entire body without a bookmatch, with enough left over the do the headstock. I plan on doing Kevan's 3-D tutorial to the letter. However, would it make more sense to use one of those vacuum bags to really get that veneer down tight? Or is the sand bag trick good enough? What are the pro's and con's to using the vacuum bags. Will the veneer split if it is cut larger than the actual body (due to the bag pulling the edges down too sharply)? Is it necessary to use a sanding sealer prior to staining to prevent the grain from raising with water based stain? Next ?: Once stained, is there a need to use a sanding sealant prior to clear coating? Next ?: For clear coating, I have heard of folks running down to an auto refinishing shop and having them clear it. Is this a good idea or not, how about the fine sanding between coats...is that not necessary if professionally coated in a booth and dried in an oven? Any suggestions should I elect to tackle that myself, what brands/type of clear coat should I use and how difficult is it really? I want to get this going as soon as the veneer arrives, I've been putting it off too long and I just need to jump into it with both feet....but I don't want to ruin it either. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Gresh