Luminos Stain...Pretty Dang Cool!

[Masta' C]

I recently mentioned Luminos stain in another thread. It's a Spanish-made product that you can buy on Amazon in a variety of colors. It cures to a durable, water repellent finish and is UV-resistant. Only a handful of their total options are shown HERE.

Anyways, I picked some up myself to try and, so far, I am very impressed!

Here is the "Coast Green" (i.e. seafoam green-blue) finish after 2 very light initial coats, a quick sand with 400 grit, and 2 more finish coats:

I'm using a foam brush and put this down on a raw ash body sanded to 400 grit initially.

The color is developing wonderfully and the finish has a perfect Satin sheen that looks right at home on a guitar. I could have stopped one coat earlier to allow more grain coloration to show through (think: Fender "blonde" type finish), but I'm going for a little more vibrance and consistency. It also looked really cool after light sanding...very "relic'd", if you will.

Needless to say, it's incredibly easy to apply, cleans up quickly with water, and I'm impressed with the results after just a few coats!

 

[ICTGoober]

So was it your intent to NOT seal the ash first? Just checking....

 

[ehdwuld]

Maybe my ignorance
but why would you seal something before you stain it?

It seems counterintuitive
Sealing it prevents the stain from penetrating

Correct?

 

[ICTGoober]

OP says stain - a simple look at the photo reveals it's NOT a stain, it's actually some kind of finish. And since he used 4 coats - it's NOT a stain. It's a coating.

The OP can come back and reply if he cares to defend himself and the stuff he used.

Just used a translator for the phrase "Color Y Proteccion Para Tu Madera" - "Color and protection for your wood". It IS a finish, NOT a stain.

 

[NegativeEase]

OP can do whatever the he wants and no defense is required.

Mistake, on purpose or whatever -trying new ways is how innovation and progress happens.

 

[Masta' C]

The OP can come back and reply if he cares to defend himself and the stuff he used.

I genuinely don't understand how you have "customers"...I can't imagine anyone wanting to deal with you in real life

OP says stain - a simple look at the photo reveals it's NOT a stain, it's actually some kind of finish. And since he used 4 coats - it's NOT a stain. It's a coating

Actually, the manufacturer refers to it as a stain. If you want to challenge someone on why they classify something as a stain vs finish, feel free to reach out to them. I'm just sharing my experience with using the product.

So was it your intent to NOT seal the ash first? Just checking....

Yup, I wanted the texture of the natural grain to show through. As you can see, it has a lot more character this way, but is still perfectly protected.

 

[GuitarStv]

I think it looks pretty awesome! Sorry that ICT Goober is being a dick. Hardtail jazzmasterish body?

 

[Gtrjunior]

I think it looks pretty awesome! Sorry that ICT Goober is being a dick. Hardtail jazzmasterish body?

It is his M.O.

I can’t believe he hasn’t been banned yet.
Seriously, every interaction he has here on the forum is dripping with contempt and ignorance.

 

[ICTGoober]

My customers KNOW I'm a dick and they LIKE that I'm a dick. It's part of my appeal. Seriously - my business card says right on it - "Professional Curmudgeon".

And OP - words MEAN things, okay? It matters. If everyone sticks to the proper words and their meanings, we'll all communicate more clearly. That is the point of communication.

And having the grain show through is fine with me. Just wanted to make sure you meant to do that. Done it myself, but since it wasn't sealed - that body can never never have a transparent finish that shows the grain. That's all....

 

[ICTGoober]

Seriously, every interaction he has here on the forum is dripping with contempt and ignorance.

Every single one? Contempt AND ignorance? THAT takes talent and perseverance.

 

[Mincer]

Let's get back to the OP, please.

 

[Masta' C]

My customers KNOW I'm a dick and they LIKE that I'm a dick. It's part of my appeal. Seriously - my business card says right on it - "Professional Curmudgeon".

And OP - words MEAN things, okay? It matters. If everyone sticks to the proper words and their meanings, we'll all communicate more clearly. That is the point of communication.

Listen, brosky, just because you take pride in being a "dick", doesn't mean we enjoy it nor should we have to. In fact, I think it's plenty clear the large majority don't enjoy it at all.

As for the finish, your goal and my goal for this body are clearly different. Most people, myself included, don't finish bodies expecting to change it drastically in the near future.

If I want a version with a transparent finish, I can just buy another body like a sane person. In fact, if I wanted a more transparent finish, I could have stopped at 2-3 coats while the grain was still very much showing through. The mfr recommends 1-2 coats for a transparent finish, that's all. I wanted a slightly more modern, vibrant, and consistent finish than that, but one which let the texture of the Ash show through and that's exactly what I have achieved with additional coats. I'm very happy with how it's turning out!

 

[NegativeEase]

My customers KNOW I'm a dick and they LIKE that I'm a dick. It's part of my appeal. Seriously - my business card says right on it - "Professional Curmudgeon".

And OP - words MEAN things, okay? It matters. If everyone sticks to the proper words and their meanings, we'll all communicate more clearly. That is the point of communication.

And having the grain show through is fine with me. Just wanted to make sure you meant to do that. Done it myself, but since it wasn't sealed - that body can never never have a transparent finish that shows the grain. That's all....

You're an enigma ICT -you're very knowledgeable, I respect your opinion on most guitar topics, and your really affable on some topics like nostalgia things (TV, Cars, olden days etc) -but on guitars, you seem to get a boner beating up on people's luthier methodology -especially young people who ask basic questions. :lmao:

You have so much to offer -so much experience to help, I think more people would listen if you didn't go off the rails on people.

 

[alex1fly]

Sometimes things get lost in translation - whether it's internet-speak, language to language, etc. Don't think anyone's goal today was to log on and witness an argument about wood finishing terminology translated from Spanish. This stuff should be fun and if it ain't fun, put the screen down for a minute :banana:


OP - looks awesome! Love the color, sheen, and how the grain comes through. Nice job getting a smooth look through several coats. That's tricky in my limited experience and takes a lot of patience. It looks like how I want GFS bodies to look, except I haven't had good enough luck with their products to warrant a parts build from their catalog.

Question - can you feel the grain as well? Or is it completely smooth?

 

[NegativeEase]

I recently mentioned Luminos stain in another thread. It's a Spanish-made product that you can buy on Amazon in a variety of colors. It cures to a durable, water repellent finish and is UV-resistant. Only a handful of their total options are shown HERE.

Anyways, I picked some up myself to try and, so far, I am very impressed!

Here is the "Coast Green" (i.e. seafoam green-blue) finish after 2 very light initial coats, a quick sand with 400 grit, and 2 more finish coats:

I'm using a foam brush and put this down on a raw ash body sanded to 400 grit initially.

The color is developing wonderfully and the finish has a perfect Satin sheen that looks right at home on a guitar. I could have stopped one coat earlier to allow more grain coloration to show through (think: Fender "blonde" type finish), but I'm going for a little more vibrance and consistency. It also looked really cool after light sanding...very "relic'd", if you will.

Needless to say, it's incredibly easy to apply, cleans up quickly with water, and I'm impressed with the results after just a few coats!

I think this looks incredible OP.

 

[beaubrummels]

I like the color. But the picture looks grainy.

(See what I did there?)

 

[Masta' C]

Hardtail jazzmasterish body?

Custom oversized Fender "Meteora" style body with Tele bridge and pickups!

I'll post pics tomorrow once I have finished with the final coats (decided to sand and coat each side one more time just for fun...it's super easy)

I wish I took progress pics so peeps could see the in-between look at coats 2 and 3. If someone wanted a "transparent" finish, 2 coats is perfect. For a Fender "blonde" style finish, where the grain is fairly subdued, but still visible through the finish, 3 coats works great!

I was looking for an alternative to the Wudtone system and stumbled across this stuff. You can achieve a very similar appearance to many of the Wudtone products without taking more than a week to apply.

 

[Masta' C]

Question - can you feel the grain as well? Or is it completely smooth?

You can just barely feel the grain, but it's very smooth overall.

I put it on raw Ash and the product is water-based, so the initial 2 coats raised the grain slightly, which I then knocked back with an initial sanding. The 2 subsequent coats went on very smooth. It looks and feels like a professionally-applied finish, but the work to get there was minimal

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Lol...ICTGoober was just questioning the OP's intent, I think cause it's solid finish with the grain shown up is not common. I have one with the grain unsealed and it's in transparent burst not solid. How often do you see seafoam green with the grain you can feel with your bare hands? The only one in solid finish I can recall is Van Halen's Frankenstein which was crudely home made.

But damn lotsa forum bros get butthurt over silly things.

 

[NegativeEase]

Lol...ICTGoober was just questioning the OP's intent, I think cause it's solid finish with the grain shown up is not common. I have one with the grain unsealed and it's in transparent burst not solid. How often do you see seafoam green with the grain you can feel with your bare hands? The only one in solid finish I can recall is Van Halen's Frankenstein which was crudely home made.

But damn lotsa forum bros get butthurt over silly things.

C'mon, everyone knows ICT's M.O.... his use of the word "defense" of the OP carries a completely different weight than ANYONE else on this forum.

If you are not acknowledging this fundamental difference -you are living in a fantasy world this morning.