Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: sambo on January 12, 2006, 08:46:48 PM

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 12, 2006, 08:46:48 PM

just wondered if it's ok to just use normal wood stain on your guitar???

i want to change the colour of my melody maker without paying hundreds of pounds. there's no flame/maple top or anything fancy, the grain is visible and 'feelable' if that makes any sense to anyone- (you can actually feel the grain).

would staining it damage it in any way at all??????????

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: Ratrod on January 13, 2006, 05:57:15 PM

The stain is soaked up by the wood. Once you've stained it, there's no turning back. There's plenty of staines you can use. Even textile dye. Leather dye can also be used but be sure you wear gloves (seriously).

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 13, 2006, 06:22:38 PM

ok thanks for the info.

one problem that just smacked me in the face was that my guitar's black (cant believe i didnt realise this in the first place lol)

i have no experience with staining/dyeing what so ever so this may sound like a stupid question but would it be hard to stain/dye over black or would it be better to strip it first?

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: Ratrod on January 13, 2006, 09:46:55 PM

Is it solid black, transparent black or stained black? If it's stained black, you'll have a problem. If it's one of the others, you'll have to strip it.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 13, 2006, 11:49:19 PM

to be honest im not sure but it definately isnt translucent black- either stained or solid- (probly solid)- what would the problem be if it was stained?

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: Ratrod on January 14, 2006, 11:16:29 AM

The stain is soaked up by the wood. I don't know how deep that goes but to get rid of it, you'll have to sand it down. If the stain goes deep, you'll end up with a thinner guitar.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 14, 2006, 11:54:59 AM

ok so is there any way of telling if it is stained?

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: Ratrod on January 15, 2006, 03:32:29 PM

Show it to an expert. It can be quite hard to tell sometimes. Stains always have a more 3D look than translucent finishes.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 15, 2006, 03:33:49 PM

k thanks

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: The amazing Phil on January 16, 2006, 05:24:23 PM

I know the guy with the green tele in Status Quo sanded it down and painted it with kuprenol which is for fences, that seems to have worked out ok for him.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 16, 2006, 05:25:59 PM

lol haha kool. what colour was that? maybe you i could get a nice muddy brown! lol.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: The amazing Phil on January 16, 2006, 05:27:15 PM

What colour did the guy in Status Quo with the GREEN tele stain it? Hmmm, it's anybody's guess! :lol:

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 16, 2006, 05:30:22 PM

hahaha dear me i must have something wrong upstairs. im young im supposed to be alert and energetic- whats wrong with me!?!?!?!?!?!

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: The amazing Phil on January 16, 2006, 05:47:02 PM

Haha, I know how you feel man, I do stuff like that at work sometimes... tiredness bogs down even the fastest minded people.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 16, 2006, 05:49:57 PM

lol.

anyway thanks for that bout the GREEN fence staining stuff that was actually a realy help. now i've just got to decide whether i can be bothered to strip and re-stain my guitar. having said that im gonna be installing my BKP when it arrives (in a few days hopefully   :D ) so i might just do it then. what do you think- would some stupid bright colour be better than plain black???

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: The amazing Phil on January 16, 2006, 05:56:43 PM

Thinking about it, I'm not sure but Brian May might have used something similar too. As for wether you want your axe that colour, I'd imagine it'd work ok so long as it didn't make the guitar too rough. I'd deffinitely do a lot of research into it first though, maybe even go as far as to paint some scr@p wood to see how it looks/feels.

Title: guitar re-finishing.
Post by: sambo on January 16, 2006, 06:00:07 PM

yer good idea with the scr@p wood thingy. thanks again for the info.