Compact J-style Bass

[neptoon]

yeah, i don't get a long weekend, either...federal holidays don't always apply to armed forces personnel

[EricssonB]

Originally Posted by neptoon

yeah, i don't get a long weekend, either...federal holidays don't always apply to armed forces personnel

You're in the wrong career field.

[neptoon]

well...as luck would have it, i transfer off of my submarine next month to take a job at kirtland air force base out in abq looking forward to seeing how the other side lives

[EricssonB]

Originally Posted by neptoon

well...as luck would have it, i transfer off of my submarine next month to take a job at kirtland air force base out in abq looking forward to seeing how the other side lives

Well good luck with that above water/on land thing.

[CH Design]

I'm not sure how this will turn out. This is my first attempt at anything other than a natural finish.

The test piece freshly sanded.


Wiped down with mineral spirits to clean it off. This probably wasn't necessary for ash, but I figured it would be a good habit.


The dyes that I ended up getting. I hope the merlot doesn't end up being too dark.


First coat of black is on and drying. It looks black. I guess that's good.

[CH Design]

And 2 hours later its still black!




And after a quick sand it looks like this.


The first coat of merlot is now on and drying. It doesn't look quite like I was hoping. It may take two coats to darken it up, but I think it's still going to come out more purple than deep red.

[CH Design]

No bad, but not what I was hoping for. I'll give it another coat in the morning and see how it looks.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by fretless_guy

And 2 hours later its still black!




And after a quick sand it looks like this.


The first coat of merlot is now on and drying. It doesn't look quite like I was hoping. It may take two coats to darken it up, but I think it's still going to come out more purple than deep red.

From the looks of it, you should have sanded more of the black out. The board still looked darkened after you sanded it. The more black you sand out the brighter the red will be.

I'm not a huge fan of stains/dyes anyway. I would rather use a dark grain filler and then spray it with a red tinted lacquer.

[CH Design]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

From the looks of it, you should have sanded more of the black out. The board still looked darkened after you sanded it. The more black you sand out the brighter the red will be.

I'm not a huge fan of stains/dyes anyway. I would rather use a dark grain filler and then spray it with a red tinted lacquer.

Interesting point. I thought I actually sanded too much of the black off.

[CH Design]

2nd coat of Merlot dye.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by fretless_guy

Interesting point. I thought I actually sanded too much of the black off.

The goal is to get the black completely out of the wood except in the deep grain.

The second coat looks better though.

[CH Design]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

The goal is to get the black completely out of the wood except in the deep grain.

The second coat looks better though.

Ya. I think I need to leave it on a little longer or do 3 coats to get it where it needs to be. Thanks for the tips.

[lupien]

Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

[CH Design]

Ticked a few small things off the list today. Neck blank is tapered and control cavity cover is done.







I'm still not entirely sold on the Merlot. I picked up another colour that I'll play with to see if I like it any better.

[carlis]

The dark red one looks cool to me...

[Beauchene Implements]

Looks killer!

[TN WOODMAN]

That blackened/sanded/pre merlot stain is dead on Peavy T-40.

[neptoon]

diggin this

[CH Design]

I think I like the Cinnamon a little better than the Merlot.



Oddly, when you look at them on an angle, the look very similar.





I still have a few things with the application to figure out. I need to find a way to eliminate the streaks and get the colour more even.

[CH Design]

Yup. Just didn't a little YouTube research on using dyes. I'll need to change a few things.

Should have wet and re sanded the wood to knock down the gain so it doesn't raise when you put the first coat of stain on.

Should use a light coat of shellac or wood conditioner to help prevent blotching.

Should run down dry stain with a paper towel to get rid of any particles that might bleed into your next coat.

Should wet out the surface completely, wait and wipe off excess. If you want a darker colour, wait until that dries and repeat.

Should seal the dyes with a light top coat of shellac to prevent them from blessing into the finish. Although, since the dye I'm using has a small amount of acrylic resin in it, I probably don't need to worry about this step.