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I just dyed this guitar top, and am having issues with color matching across the face grain on the left hand side.  It is quite evident.  Other than blending with sand paper, does anyone have an information on how to ameliorate this situation?  It is slightly evident on the 'upper bout' portion as well.  I am totally new to this, so any advice born from experience is eagerly accepted.

I used a Transtint dye mixed into 70% isopropyl alcohol.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

Stephen

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Though it might be too late for you, the easiest way is to dye over a finish. Making sure the guitar is completely sealed and then mix the dye in with what ever clear you are using. Then clear over it once you have the results you like.

Yeah,

I was planning on using a dual process where I dyed the wood first to really pull out the figure, then overspray with the color to make it more uniform.  Do you think it is worth it to scrap the pre coat, and just do the sealed spray coat?

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

[QUOTE=Ziegenfuss]


ameliorate [/QUOTE]



Whoa, I've never seen this word and I'm fairly proud of my vocabulary. Thanks.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

yeah, it is just another word that means " to make something better" or " to lessen the effect of"  at least this is how I use it

Stephen

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Hi Stephen,

I'm guessing that you're applying the dye to the whole top and not just in the lightened areas. So if that's the case I am thinking there is something that has impregnated the wood in those lighter areas that is prohibiting the even absorption of the dye. If that is the case you will need to extract the substance, probably body oils from the player’s forearm, if the body is new than it’s likely some other substance that has come in contact with those areas.

If it’s body oils, an appropriate solvent can be used to pull the stuff out as best as possible. Therefore you may need to re-sand, extract the area and reapply the dye.

If no coating has be applied to the dye you might try reapplying the dye in those lightened areas only until you reach the shade you like.

Beautiful looking top, well worth the time and effort to restore.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Ameliorate = improve. Perfectly good word as words go.

The dye should re-dissolve in alcohol, so you may want to try a swab wetted with alcohol to 'blend' the dye into various areas. unless you're sanding back until the stain/dye is only left in the end-grain, sanding is a very, very ineffective way of blending colours and adjusting tints. If you want to direct stain, you should really, really practice on scrap until you've got the technique down. You may have a little more luck using water to dissolve the dyes (transtint is soluble in water and alcohol and thinner and lots of other things), since it doesn't flash off as quickly.

Bit late, but there's a reason you avoid testing out finishing on guitars, and use test plates. Not that this guarantees success, or that I follow my own excellent advice at all times, mind you! The best way to get a real 'even' look is to tint the finish, shoot it on, NOT to sand it (sanding colour of any kind = messy and not the way to ensure an even colour coat), and shoot clears over it. Keep in mind it's also difficult to judge final colour look and intensity before shooting clear over stained wood!

I did test on maple scraps, and the other top that I am working on simultaneously worked out great...so I am a little lost.

I was planning on taking the top coat off again anyway, leaving only the low spots, to increase the dramatism in the figuring, so I will try to clean it up to the best of my ability.

On another note: when spraying dyes, can you achieve the contrast in the figuring that you get when you direct apply stain?

Thanks so much!

Stephen

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Most wood gets a little splotchy when you directly apply dye. Some species more so than others. Spruce is a real hard wood to dye evenly. Sanding will remove most of the dye but not all. I would sand as much off as I could stand, then seal and start applying tinted lacquer to get the desired color. This does not provide high contrast, but it does provide for real chatoyance, which is more interesting to me.

For those who've done this, do you think that a wash of naphtha before anything else would have shown something like this?

Carlton,

What is interesting, is that I hit it with Naptha at least twice in the process, and I never saw anything like this.  Even in my pre-stain to pull out the depth of the figure, I did not even notice it...That may be more the issue.  It was there all along, and I totally missed it.  The grain of the wood there is a face grain, but the splotch doesn't constrain itself to any specific grain pattern.  Essentially, I believe all I can do is not stain it so darkly on the approach to that spot in order to blend it in...Oh well

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Stephen,

Well, that's a fine kettle of fish, isn't it? Definitely a strange problem. If you end up stripping it, try a wash coat of dewaxed shellac before anything else (Zinsser Seal Coat is good), and see if the coloring is even. If that turns out okay, you might even be satisfied with the way it looks under the shellac, which has a tendency to really "pop" figured wood. I believe you can stain over shellac, too. I haven't done it though, so someone with experience would have to guide you in that.

In any case, that's going to be a really nice guitar!