Peacock Blue or Black/Blue layered finish

[Taps07]

Greetings fellow TB'ers!
I hope everyone is doing well. I have recently aquired a cost friendly 7 string bass and had the creative urge to, "go to town" on it and recreate it in my own image. I was originaly going to just do a natural finish but half way through the process (20 coats later) I decide that a colored finish was the answer. My question now is how to achieve a peacock blue or a black and blue layered finish on this bass. To get a general idea check out this basscentral.com link http://www.basscentral.com/spector/usa_bo.shtml.
particularly the USA NS5H2 Black & Blue / Quilt Maple Top / WIDE and NS5-H2 USA Bolt-On Bahama Blue (bahama blue peacock blue same difference) 5A Quilt Maple Top. I know these are quilted tops but im just trying to recreate the finish the the flame. So I pray that that some TB'er here will provide me with valuable insight on how to complete this maticulious process.
Thanks guys!

[Musiclogic]

Strip it back to wood, sand to 400, wetsand with 600, when dry dry sand the fuZz with 600, dye black, sand back to natural with the black still in the figure, begin spraying washcoats with blue tinted lacquer wash, until color is just slightly darker than you want, then begin spraying clear coats to finish desired, wetsand and polish.

[pilotjones]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

Strip it back to wood, sand to 400, wetsand with 600,

When you're wet sanding on bare wood, do you forego the drop of dish soap in the water that you would use when wet sanding a finish? Or is it not a problem?

when dry dry sand the fuZz with 600, dye black, sand back to natural with the black still in the figure, begin spraying washcoats with blue tinted lacquer wash, until color is just slightly darker than you want, then begin spraying clear coats to finish desired, wetsand and polish.

Do you spray a little dark because you expect it to fade with time, or because it looks dark until you get the clearcoats and the buffing done?

[Musiclogic]

No soap with bare wood, as you would need to saturate wood to get soap out, and no gaurantee you get it out, thus it would probably screw up the dye or finish by presenting a possible reactive or color block depending on the type of soap and it's base. You spray a shade or two dark, as the clear will draw some color and slightly lighten it, thus counteracting this out of hand so as not trying to pad or color over clear which will lead to blotchiness or streaking after wetsanding

[Taps07]

Wow thanks a lot Musiclogic. Next question what kind of dye can i use? any particular preference?

[Musiclogic]

Analine dyes or Metal acid dyes. Analines are readilly avaiable from wood, crafts, and luthier stores, Metal acid are available from LMI and Metal speciality stores and can be toxic. Analines are probably a better choice for beginners, and easy to work with. See Youtube for tutorials on dying wood.

[Taps07]

Thanks again, after further inspecting the body of the bass, I've decided that a peacock (aquamarine) would be a more flattering color to go with, so instead of using a black stain, would I instead use a green?

[Musiclogic]

The black is more about making the figure pop under a dark color, I would go with an amber instead, but try on a sample piece first spo you understand what you want to go for first. The blue is darker so that would be a better dark choice under Aquamarine, a,d make the color just a touch greener , there is a lot to consider when doing this type of finish. Practice first on scrap

[Tdog]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

The black is more about making the figure pop under a dark color....... there is a lot to consider when doing this type of finish. Practice first on scrap

Very True.....Sometimes the the black dye can make the overall color appear dirty (with certain colors). You can also try a stronger dilution of aniline as your dark base.

[bassingeorge]

You picked my favorite bass color!
That bass would look soo nice with a peacock blue, turquoise color!

Kind of like this Ritter?



Or this???



I'm desperate to know HOW can you do this?
I understand the basics of "popping" the grain or figure by staining it black first, sanding then the color....but this looks like a whole 'nother beast!



It looks sooo elegant!

[Musiclogic]

The Ritter finish on the blue black is a blotching technique, and is done in multiple stages coloring swatches seperately then sealing and finishing over the top. I don't know Jens specific technique, but this is done in many facets of woodworking with figured pieces.

[Taps07]

It would be so awesome to get a step by step technique for the blotching, your right, BassinGeorge, Jens has to be one on my favorite luths all the way down to the finish. I dont know if I could acheive a finish like that with the flame maple on my 7'er

[bassingeorge]

They just look so 3D!
I love his finishes!
He does a Silver finish! Maaan! BEAUTIFUL!

Someone post a pic by pic tutorial on how to do a blotching technique!