Hey guys!
Here's the deal… i'm about to get this: http://www.guitar-museum.com/uploads/guitar/117/230284698498-2.jpg
Its an Ibanez RG520QS. Mahogany body RG, very sweet guitar. It has a thin veneer quilt top on it, which i plan on sanding through down to the bare mahogany. Its transparent blue, which, knowing Ibanez, is probably just a tinted clear they shot on top.
I am wanting to steal the aesthetic of my buddy's white Les Paul special DC (kinda satin whitewash finish, adding a black pick guard, etc). It looks like this: http://www.mygear.com/img/item_pictures/large/36037.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/19/ba/d1/19bad17abffb037a5421f9c4e445ac56.jpg
its a really cool finish! It is kinda of like a thick see thru white finish. You don't exactly see through it, though… you can just kind of see the pores of the mahogany showing through. it looks killer in person. It is satin, not gloss.
How would i go about doing this? I assume i will start with either sanding the blue finish off, or using a stripper to do the bulk of the work for me. But considering i WANT the grain pores, what do i need to do there? I assume the body was grain filled before the finish was shot, so i will need to un-fill them, if that makes sense! WHats the best plan there?
and then, how could i get a finish like that white?
Thank you all so much for the help. This board is the best.