More Tele-scapades...Part I

[MichaelW]

Yes, I have a problem....I'm not at the point where I can admit I am powerless but I'm suspecting I am.....heh.

I have a couple more Tele projects to be documenting over the next few weeks.

But first up is to address an issue that's been bugging me.

I documented my P90 Tele build in this thread but two thing that really bugged me was the headstock decal and the "raw" maple look.



I just thought it looked damn fugly and I've been meaning to fix it for a bit now. I did the headstock on this guitar with truoil instead of lacquer but the results aren't nearly as good as using good old lacquer.

I also wanted to experiment a little bit with some stains.

So that was this weeks project.

The TruOil finish did "yellow" a bit with age it's been about 8 months since I built this guitar.


But first up was to strip it all off and strip off the Danish Oil finish I put on the neck.

Then I decided to experiment with some alcohol dyes to give the bare maple some color. I diluted with denatured alcohol and messed around with the color until I like it. Tested on a piece of scrap wood.



It's really hard to tell how much color is going on. I think I overdid the headstock.



This is after a couple of coats of color....it didn't go on real even. Most likely because I already had an oil finish on the neck.


I reapplied the Danish oil finish and let it cure 48 hours.


I think the color came out "ok".



Compared to a raw neck.


After the Danish oil cured for a couple days I hit with some 0000 pad then applied 3 coats of carnauba wax and buffed it out. This is my favorite "back of neck" finish.



Finished here, re-strung, with my new logo, glossed out nitro. Still looks a bit dark but I'm starting to dig it.

 

[DGWVI]

You're making me regret selling my Esquires.








Damn you

 

[swelchy]

Next project try adding some of the dyes to some lacquer and use a spray gun or if you don’t have the tools to do that a “Preval” works fine for a neck… do a test piece to see the depth of color after multiple coats… get your mixture to hit the color you want in 3 coats of finish… likely seal first coat no color and three topcoats will likely be the right amount of film build to have a nice finish…dye is pretty strong so it won’t take very much… literally drops of Mohawk NGR will shift color drastically in less than a quart of finish. If the color is in the finish it looks more natural instead of staining the pores of the wood… it gives the appearance that the topcoat has aged from UV exposure… Wood coatings is has been my main profession for 30 years until recently when I became a project manager…. I literally hands on refinished, matched existing paneling and replaced woodwork inside the “situation room” formerly in the whitehouse but now that wood paneling resides In The Bush library in Texas..

 

[jimilee]

That’s very cool. I have experiments with wudtone dyes and truoil

 

[HamishR]

I didn't know you could sand the skunk stripe right off a Fender style neck.