Speedball Black Guitar Finish

[Will_White]

I've been meaning to ask you about your pickup rings, do you get them custom made, or are they an off the shelf product and If so do they come in full-size humbucker size?

 

[NKBassman]

I dig it. Looks great!

Looks like not much at all of the original grain is showing through... But it's hard to tell on my iPhone. Is it pretty opaque?

 

[Rôckhewer]

The tiny particles of steel wool are almost impossible to get up out of the open grain, so they keep oxidizing under the finish

I would think that you might want to filter that mixture before applying?
Coffee filters?
Old T-shirt at least?....

 

[BTL]

@BeeTL, by the way, P90s are my favorite pickup. You've got a killer plan going there.

Thanks!

The Fralin Hum Canceling P90s I have custom-built with a nickel cover on a dogear baseplate (HCP90D) are pretty spectacular:

I've been meaning to ask you about your pickup rings, do you get them custom made, or are they an off the shelf product and If so do they come in full-size humbucker size?

I have all of my hardware laser cut by Hipshot.

I have five pickup rings available: Humbucker, HCP90D, TV Jones, Thunderbird, and Lollar Regal (WRHB).

I haven't started marketing them as stand-alone parts yet, but I plan to.

I dig it. Looks great!

Looks like not much at all of the original grain is showing through... But it's hard to tell on my iPhone. Is it pretty opaque?

The finish is opaque...100% black.

The texture of the grain is definitely there, but doesn't show very well in the final photo.

Because it's made using shellac and lamp black solids, Speedball Black does build a little bit.

However, it would take a lot of ink to fill the grain and get a completely smooth result.

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

I've always thought that blue Quink would make an interesting looking finish. I wonder if it would work as well as this?

 

[Tom0Blam0]

Just out of curiosity, I am going to try this technique on my bass and I'm wondering if I'll have enough ink to do 3 coats (it's a stingray style body) if I use this: Invalid Link Removed

I was going to stain a fretboard, but I think I'm going to do the body instead.

This is a finish I have used around the house on small pieces of furniture and picture frames.

I started this project at about 3:00 pm today, and it's now just after 6:00 pm.

I plan to assemble the guitar tomorrow.

The finish combines Speedball Black India Ink as a base coat and and Minwax Satin wipe-on Poly as a clearcoat.

Tools and supplies are:

- Speedball Black India Ink
- Minwax Satin wipe on polyurethane
- 0000 steel wool or similar
- Cotton rag
- 3/4" artist's paint brush.

That's it.

Here's a video that discusses the general process of "ebonizing" wood in depth, with the segment on India Ink starting at about 21:00



It's VERY simple, and to demonstrate I went old school with a lazy Susan and screws in the body to suspend it off the surface while I painted the back.

1. Brush on three coats of Speedball Black, brushing with the grain and burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

2. Wipe on three coats of Minwax Satin polyurethane, burnishing with steel wool in between coats.

3. Enjoy!

Getting ready:

View attachment 2512953

After only one coat of Speedball Black:

View attachment 2512954

After 3 coats of Speedball Black and 3 coats of Minwax Satin, burnished with steel wool:


View attachment 2512955

View attachment 2512956

Thanks to @fretno for introducing me to this technique.

What grit sandpaper did you go over the body with before applying the finish? I'm going to do this to a bass I'm working on but I wanted to make sure I put the ink on at the right time. thanks!

 

[TundraMan]

Just out of curiosity, I am going to try this technique on my bass and I'm wondering if I'll have enough ink to do 3 coats (it's a stingray style body) if I use this: Invalid Link Removed

I was going to stain a fretboard, but I think I'm going to do the body instead.

What grit sandpaper did you go over the body with before applying the finish? I'm going to do this to a bass I'm working on but I wanted to make sure I put the ink on at the right time. thanks!

I once colored a walnut top black using Fiebing's leather dye (same stuff Stew Mac used to sell to color fretboards black.) After I finished it with clear nitro it looked great.

 

[BTL]

Just out of curiosity, I am going to try this technique on my bass and I'm wondering if I'll have enough ink to do 3 coats (it's a stingray style body) if I use this: Invalid Link Removed

I was going to stain a fretboard, but I think I'm going to do the body instead.

What grit sandpaper did you go over the body with before applying the finish? I'm going to do this to a bass I'm working on but I wanted to make sure I put the ink on at the right time. thanks!

I'd say the body was sanded to 220 or 300.

The first coat will seal the grain and raise some fibers, so it's kind of like a sanding sealer.

It looks like the Higgins is waterproof while the Speedball requires a topcoat.

I buy the Speedball by the quart, so I never really paid close attention to how much I used.

It doesn't take a lot, but I can't say if 2.5 oz is enough.

 

[Tom0Blam0]

2.5 oz was plenty. I think the one thing I wish i would have done differently would have been to use a stain to get into the pores a little better. I'll post some pictures when I'm all finished.