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Does anyone have any experience staining the top of an acoustic guitar? I'm curious as to how to do it without it bleeding into the sides. I'm thinking maybe tape off the sides, stain the top, and then route the binding and purfling channels to cut away any stain that might have bled onto the sides. Any thoughts on this?

If you have plastic binding you can mask and scrap the bindings (it won't absorb the stain). If you have wood binding it might be better to bind after staining. You can also try to protect the bindings with a couple of coats of shellac but that would be very difficult to apply. Some people also use pin strip masking tape (available at auto parts store).

The other option is to not actually stain the wood but to apply your color as tint in the finish coats. I've done sunburst both by staining the wood and shooting clear over it and by putting the color in the finish - they give different effects and depth.

Staining prior to doing the bindings will be the hard way to go. Stain only penetrates the wood s few thousandths of an inch so scrapping them flush without damaging the stained surface will be difficult to say the least. I prefer to tint my finish rather than stain the wood.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

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