black top

[deadedith]

Someone posted pix of a guitar they had finished in black - the top only, I think. I cannot seem to locate it in the archives. Anyway, I'm interested in doing the black top and was hoping for some guidance from that person or anyone of you that has tried it successfully.
Thanks
Dave B

[Tony_in_NYC]

It was Ken from Nocturnal Guitars. With all of the Ken's running around, I lose track of which one it was. Actually...it was Ken Hundley and I cant find a link to the pics here either. However, check his site, nocturnalguitars.com. Its on the main page. Zebrawood OM

[deadedith]

Thanks Tony!
Dave B

[Ken Hundley]

Sorry to say that guitar has progressed no further. It was damaged from two falls (one from a squirrelll that got in the garage and knocked it over, one cause I bumped my head on it while it was hanging "out of the way". Most of the damage was repaired easily. I have one area I need to splice in some zebrawood (which should be easy, it all looks spliced anyway). I also need to scrape off all of the finish. I think I have mentioned this before, but I wanted a tru-oil finish and could not find ANY of the small bottles of wipe-on. The only thing I could find was the rattle can. You spray it on, then rub it in. I did EXACTLY as the directions said, and it never cured. If I pick the guitar up and hold it by the bout for thirty seconds, it leaves a permanent fingerprint in the finish. I strongly advise against using this on a guitar.



Spraying the black was actually fairly easy. The pearl inlay was set into black-dyed epoxy. Scraped flat, I masked it with simple packing tape, leaving a little of the black outer rim of the inlay route exposed. I also masked the back and sides, leaving the entire top, binding and all, exposed. On the neck, I covered the fingerboard and the head plate. I sprayed two light coats of sanding sealer to seal the wood, I didn't want to worry about uneven absorption of the black. I tinted some bullseye sanding sealer with opaque black, and sprayed two more thin coats....enough for complete coverage. Let them dry a couple days, as the carbon black in the dye dries slower. Sanded lightly to remove the nubs, removed the masking on the roset and head plate. I also sanded (very carefully) the binding so it showed from the top.

I then started spraying the trui-oil. After each spray, I would rub it in...takes a day to dry one coat (you can see why I am so dang frustrated...I refinished the padauk twice before changing to WB lacquer, and have to do the same to 2 more guitars). At this point, just follow your normal finishing schedule for the entire guitar. You don't have to use the sanding sealer, you could seal/build coat with your normal finish....I just couldn't do that with the tru-oil. It looks far more cool than I thought it would....I was actually a little peaved when my sister called and wanted it black. I had already put the box together, and had chosen some wonderful bearclawed sprcue. It looks good though, and will look better when its finished. I really love the black neck with the zebrawood fingerboard. We'll see how it holds up!