I have had this guitar sitting in the shop for over a year. Its high time I get it done. The guitar is almost completed. It is a mahogany body with a quilted maple top. All the routing and drilling has been done for a long time. It just needs a finish, and that’s why we’re here today.

For the finish I’m going to do a faux binding leaving the bare maple edge exposed. In order to do that, I masked off the top to prevent any sanding sealer from getting on the top. This would affect the quality of the finish. Then I applied a couple coats of clear sanding sealer to the sides and the back. After that, I taped off the rest of the body so I could get to work on the top. With the top sanded to 400 grit I applied some black Transfast, water soluble dye to it. As soon as it was dry, I sanded most of the dye off, leaving only a bit of the dye in parts of the grain. Then I applied a really deep red dye, also a Transfast dye. This is where things got really sweet. Next, I untaped the entire body and sanded a very small roundover on the edges of the top. This created a tiny reveal of maple around the guitar body. Next, was on to the finish. I applied many, many coats of clear laquer to the body. I also did the neck and control cavity cover as well. I lost track of the coats but I remember at least 12, (I think there’s somewhere around 14 or so) I sanded in between every 2-3 coats.

The finished product was awesome. The next step for this guitar will be final polishing after the laquer has cured. I will wait at least a week before touching it. I am very pleased with how this turned out and can’t wait to be able to play this one. Now, I must go order parts. Thanks for stopping by.

— Affiliate Links to Products Used —
Transfast Red Dye – https://amzn.to/2IElVJg
Transfast Cardinal Red Dye – https://amzn.to/2MLzdJs
220 Grit Sandpaper – https://amzn.to/2MGU3tv
Deft Gloss Laquer – https://amzn.to/2XICiLs
Rubber Sanding Block – https://amzn.to/2XEyrz3
Rubber Gloves – https://amzn.to/2KeEWFK