www.KitGuitarsForum.com

Asking the audience. I am working on Guitar #2, an Indian rosewood kit from Martin. I was wondering what stain/color some of you have used on rosewood? I want something natural that will bring out the real beauty of the wood.

No stain necessary, something clear as a finish

Kevin Sjostrand wrote:No stain necessary, something clear as a finish

+1

I use the stain in the filler and that can make the grain pop. I do stain and my favorite is minwax special walnut , it has a nice red brown and helps pop grain but you don't really have to . CF Martin does stain

Do you guys have examples posted on here of these approaches? I'd love to compare the finished products.

here are some of mine
staining can also be used to blend color difference. It also gives a deepness to the grain. You don't need to use a dark stain something light can even help add to the grain separation. That is what I like to see , so the grain is more pronounced.

I typically do not stain the rosewood but I will stain the Mahogany neck to match he rosewood as on this guitar. The neck is stained with a custom mixed dye stain. It and the rosewood are filled with a black paste filler which gives the grain less of a pop and I think looks a little better on the Indian rosewood.

The nice thing is when you make a guitar , you make your guitar or at least what you think is right for you. there really is no right or wrong answer. Find what you like and go with that.

I agree John. I just see so many beautiful results here and want to see the approaches to get achieve their color and pop. Thank you both for showing. They both look great and I'm still undecided. But at least I know how you are getting from A to B.

one thing you can do , to help you decide what is best for you , is to save some scrap pieces and use them for test samples.