The pictures are going to get fewer and further between. It's difficult to take photos when you have all sorts of junk on your hands and you don't want to destroy the camera.


Anyhow, I mixed up some 1lb cut shellac, and mixed in a bit of "Vintage Amber" dye. It's a Transtint color, but I get it from StewMac. They claim the color is different than standard Transtints and more closely matches standard guitar colors. I don't know...all I know is that I that their Vintage Amber and Cherry are dead on what I'm looking for, so there's really no reason to spend time experimenting with anything else. Then I sprayed one coat.

Here it is after one coat. It looks like a stronger color than it actually was in person.







Then I lightly sanded it back, went back into the booth and sprayed 3 more coats. The last coat went on nice and wet. It sounds like a lot but it's only a 1lb cut. Basically, it's just a color vehicle and light sealer...there's really very little build to speak of.







And the back..... Then it all has to be set aside to dry overnight.







In the meantime, I went ahead and did final sanding on the neck, grain filling, and final final sanding. Then it got it's first two coats of TruOil. Very light coats wiped on with a clean bit of cloth. For grain filler, I used Timbermate, cut with water until I got the consistency about that of molasses....maybe a bit runnier. I didn't quite have the right color so I mixed in a couple of drops of dark mahogany Transtint until I got it just right. This has got to be the easiest grain filling technique in existence.







Today, I went back and sprayed 2 healthy coats of 1.5lb cut shellac, and here's what we have. It's starting to come alive. Remember that this was not a highly figured board...a highly figured board with this treatment, using black dye instead of the brown I used, would look unreal.

Tomorrow, I will come back and do a preliminary leveling of the finish. Most of the 2 coats from today will get sanded off. I won't get it completely level, but I will get rid of any fuzz, dust, etc. Really just a wipe sanding, and then some minor leveling to get it reasonable for the top coat. My topcoat will be Target EM6000. I will probably spray about 10 to 15 coats, 3 or 4 coats a day, and then it will sit for a week. If I have to do any major leveling or sanding along the way because I screw up, then it will be closer to 15 coats. If I do a good job, I can get away with 10. The TruOil will get about 10 or 12 coats, 3 or 4 coats a days, and then it too will sit a week.

Once everything is dried and cured, the body will get leveled and buffed (with my new buffing arbor...WhooHoo...should be here Saturday) and the neck will get rubbed out with steal wool to a dull satin. When it comes to necks, I put feel above all else, and I just love the feel of a smooth, satin neck.