Official Luthiers Forum!

I am ready to finish the body of my semi-hollow body, f-hole Tele.

I have 1/4" curley maple top I plan to pop using dye, sanded to 1000 or 1500 (Bob C. recommended this to alieviate the possible problem of 'splotching' that occurs w/maple. No binding-I want to show end grain.

PROBLEM-Remainder of body is ash I want to dye solid. How do I accomplish this, keeping the line between maple and ash clean and dye from ash not spreading to, or getting on top?

Rounding edges. Do you round edges of front and back edges to round off- If so, what bit and how, if not, how do you round?

Is it difficult to remove wood for arm indentation on front and hip indentation on back.
Thank you all very much,

If you don't bind the guitar, round over the edges. Feel free to go to 3/8" - 1/2" roundover for the back, maybe a bit tighter (1/4") on the top. I believe 1/4" is standard for telecasters.

Pick what you want to dye first, back or top; seal the other with a few wiped coats of shellac (masking the rest), then dye. If you want a solid colour on the back, though, you might just want to stain the top, seal it, mask it off, shoot opaque finish on back and sides (just until the colour's done), then shoot clear on everything.

Yup, Mattia's got it. Stain the entire guitar. Seal it all. Then tape off the top and edge. Spray the solid color on the back and sides. When color is right, seal that. Pull off the protective tape and carefully scrape the ash/maple joint, to eliminate any bleed-through (if any). Clear coat everything.

I used a 1/2" roundover on my Tele (on the back), and liked not only the look, but also the feel. But like Mattia said, no rounding on the top due to binding.

Good luck!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

If you are not binding the top a 1/4" round over bit will give you a nice soft edge.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Yup, and you can scrape the edges with a razor blade. Gets a real nice wood binding look, kinda like a PRS guitar

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com