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I ahve a color question. I am planning a build with heavily bearclawed sitka tops (2 dreds). I want to get that more ambered look, similar to an eric Clapton Martin, just not quite as dark. I know Marting uses an aging toner. How dark or how close would an orange shelac make the sitka--or maybe a yellow shelac???
Any advice??

I'd lean more towards the yellow with maybe a drop or two of garnet shellac mixed in. That will be more of an amber tint than orange shellac. Orange is very orange and, in my opinion, just makes nice tops look wierd.

Thanks Paul

Make sure you look at any dye or toner on scrap in daylight as the warmth of incandesent bulbs & the weird blue-green tint of most flourescent tubes can really fool you. I was bitten by this recently.

I would recommend mixing 1/2 amber & 1/2 regular brown water-based analine dye - but in a fairly weak solution. Build up the color with multiple coats over a good & thorough coat of shellac on the top. If the dye gets past the shellac you will have a splotchy top - really. Some amber dyes are quite orangey (is that a word?) and the brown dye component will keep you from going too far towards orange.

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