Ideas for finishing a tele pine body?

Creed_Clicks

Hi all, I am going to get a lightweight, 5lbs or so tele body, pine, and unfinished, and thinking about how to finish it. I'd like to go a bit different to having a natural looking finish.
I had been thinking of a black stain. Yes, this would still look somewhat of a natural finish, but would it be easy to do? Would I have to have some sort of protective coat there too? I've never done this, and might get someone else to do it, but would buy the raw materials....
A dark / black stained finish would appeal to me but not sure if it could work on a pine body...

Roland

Moved from Parts£ to M&M

Marshall

A certain amount will depend on the pine itself. If there are any knots in the wood these are unlikely to take a stain to much extent which might not matter too much if they are very dark as then they may blend in well with a dark stain. However knots can sometimes not blend too well with stains which is why an opaque finish (lacquer or other paint) is often used on pine to give a non-natural solid colour finish. 

Likewise any resinous parts in the wood, which can be even more problematic for a finish; some say this is one of several reasons why Fender stopped using pine for the early Telecasters. 

If if it was me and I was set on a solid colour/non-natural finish and assuming no major resin issues, I’d probably opt for a nitro finish using spray cans as sold by Steve @ Manchester guitar tech https://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/ , building up with a sealer coat first (after sanding and filling in any flaws for a consistent surface to spray on), then primer, colour of choice and finally some clear coats to finish. 

Creed_Clicks

@Marshall I think that might be the best option. A solid finish. I'll check that link.

alexh

Could you do translucent dark colour rather than stain so the grain shows through? A dark butterscotch type effect. Burnt toffee!

GoldenEraGuitars

Creed_Clicks said:

Hi all, I am going to get a lightweight, 5lbs or so tele body

I would be looking for something around 4lb tbh... 5lb isn’t really lightweight. There’s nothing wrong with a 5lb body but if you’re really wanting to go “light” then 4lb is a more realistic number 

springhead

Here's my pine bodied Tele.  I used Wudtone stain:

Creed_Clicks

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Hi all, I am going to get a lightweight, 5lbs or so tele body

I would be looking for something around 4lb tbh... 5lb isn’t really lightweight. There’s nothing wrong with a 5lb body but if you’re really wanting to go “light” then 4lb is a more realistic number 

No danger of neck dive with 4lbs? the one I had without hardware was around 2.9kgs and I can feel the heaviness of it it’s noticeable to me 

GoldenEraGuitars

Creed_Clicks said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Hi all, I am going to get a lightweight, 5lbs or so tele body

I would be looking for something around 4lb tbh... 5lb isn’t really lightweight. There’s nothing wrong with a 5lb body but if you’re really wanting to go “light” then 4lb is a more realistic number 

No danger of neck dive with 4lbs? the one I had without hardware was around 2.9kgs and I can feel the heaviness of it it’s noticeable to me 

Never had neck dive with any of my tele builds. 

Creed_Clicks

Picked up a 2.5kg pine body. 

Funkfingers

Fender used a clear satin finish on redwood.

https://i.imgur.com/rzVDyFR.jpg

NoStringsAttached

Have you considered shou sugi ban?

paulnb57

Halfords Satin Black Aerosol, don't laugh, trust me. It will do the black you fancy, no primer or grain filling, it will sink into and highlight the grain, thank me later!....

Creed_Clicks

paulnb57 said:

Halfords Satin Black Aerosol, don't laugh, trust me. It will do the black you fancy, no primer or grain filling, it will sink into and highlight the grain, thank me later!....

paulnb57 said:

Halfords Satin Black Aerosol, don't laugh, trust me. It will do the black you fancy, no primer or grain filling, it will sink into and highlight the grain, thank me later!....

Easy to do ?

paulnb57

Exceptionally easy to do
Assuming its all sanded and good to go
Attach a length of 2x1 timber into the neck pocket, screw a cup hook into the end grain of the 2x1 at the "headstock" end, screw a similar hook somewhere with enough room to hang it all to dry....
Use the faux neck as a handle and spray the edges first as it soaks up the paint more, lots of light coats is the way to go, no need to sand in between coats, first coats will seal the wood, gradually build up the coats until you are happy, I can do a Tele with one large can...about seven quid...IMHO it look great as the paint sinks into the grain.
Im just off out bit will post a couple of photos later.......
Any other Halfords paint is utter shite IMO but the Satin Black is great!....

paulnb57

@Creed_Clicks these are all Swamp Ash but you should get a similar result....for colours other than Satin Black I went to my local car paint supplier and had them mix the colour I wanted in Cellulose, far better than any other off the shelf paint, with the exception of "proper" Nitro from Manchester Guitar Tech or similar.......

Body must be perfectly sanded though as any sanding lines or scratches will show......I"ve never had to sand a body from Guitarbuild....

https://i.imgur.com/FNBncn8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/haXKyYG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UAVY0VE.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hEbFyRy.jpg

Oh and I have an Ash Tele to paint soon, so could post photos of the process if you wish......