I think the finishing approach was pretty standard for this type of finish.I used Colortone dye to stain the figured top black and sanded it back.Then had to practice on scrap to get the cherry red to match up between the mahogany and maple.Once I had a good match of dye, and the mahogany had been grain-filled, I stained the body\neck and top.The binding was also stained. I wasn’t really after an aged look, but did want a yellowed binding.Once all the color was down I sprayed 4-5 coats of satin on the neck & body, and 4-5 coats of gloss on the maple top and headstock.I used shielding paint in the cavities while the lacquer was gassing off, and after a ~30 day wait I dove into the wetsanding and buffing.I grabbed a wiring harness and pickups from sellers online and had things ready to drop in once the finish was buffed.I went with a Gotoh TOM Bridge\tailpiece, and Kluson tuners. Seymour Duncan ’59 bridge and A2-Pro neck pickups.There’s still a little fine tuning that I expect to take care of next string change but nothing major.Matching dye samples took some time, and working with the binding was a new twist as well. Not too many surprises but the anticipation was hard to work through. I can’t wait to show this baby off.
