Dying wood - questions

[coyote1]

Not particular to bass, but certainly to luthiery. I ordered a couple mahogany back covers for a PRS guitar. They come unfinished of course. They don’t need to perfectly match the existing wood, but I’d like them to come close. It’s a multicolored deal, oranges and darker hues getting to almost tobacco in some of the grain.

Do I start with lighter dye for longer times, wipe and let dry, and then move to darker dye for shorter timespans?

Does the dying process itself enhance the wood grain such that I need not concern myself with enhancing it?

 

[Bonkersville]

First I don't think your PRS is dyed. It's propably just tinted lacquer with a brownish grain filler. Dye on wood looks usually different. Many species sold as mahogany age naturally darker reddish brown than the one on your picture. I would guess that is genuine mahogany.

Do you know the actual species your covers were made off? And do you have pictures of them? Maybe with the guitar.

Oxidization changes the colour of many woods sold as mahogany. You might see changes on a freshly cut surface quite fast. But the final color tone will take long to develop. If it is quite colorful now, some hues can mellow out leaving a more uniform look.

 

[coyote1]

PRS uses paint, but thins it considerably and utilizers reducers. I don’t want or need an exact match, so to purchase dozens of dollars of material for two small pieces of wood is not on program.

PRS says the back for this guitar utilized orange and tobacco. I purchased RIT fabric dye, orange and chocolate brown (they don’t have tobacco). One mix is pure orange, fairly light, the other darkened with the brown. I did two rubbed ‘coats’ orange, two with the darker mix, and then one more with just the orange. It’s looking pretty good.

I will let it dry overnight, then compare and add either more orange or rare mix as needed. Once done I’ll do a few poly coats (my guitar was made right after PRS made that change; they’ve since reverted to nitro!) to help strengthen the wood.

 

[coyote1]

Not a perfect match, but close enough. Time to start adding layers of poly.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Well done, that looks so much better than I was expecting.
Great faux wood finish on those parts.
And that looks just so much better than generic black plastic.

 

[Beej]

Nice work @coyote1 , not a bad match at all.

 

[SoonerBill]

I think that little bit of contrast and grain difference works.

 

[coyote1]

Thanks! It dried quite a bit darker than it was when I was finished dying it. Which caught me by surprise, as I’d read that it would dry lighter.

Close enough for jazz.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

I really miss Paul Warburton…

 

[Bonkersville]

The new covers fit nicely. And most importantly it seems you and your PRS are happy with them.

 

[coyote1]

The new covers fit nicely. And most importantly it seems you and your PRS are happy with them.

They’ve not even been installed yet! That pic shows them simply laying atop the stock black plastic covers.

I just got gloss polyurethane spray, and applied the first coat. There will be sanding, then another coat, more sanding, and two more coats.

Install possible by Tuesday.

 

[coyote1]

Sanded this morning, sprayed 2nd poly coat… it’s starting to look like something. Will sand again this evening and apply 3rd coat

This is going so well that I’ll likely purchase a piece of walnut, so I can do the same thing on my Tobias 6 string bass.