Trying a new faded blue finish

scottish

WeirdScienceologist
I have a tele body I did a while back that has been sitting around, and now that the weather is better, I've started finishing it with the kiddos. Trying something a little different, going for a faded blue finish.We sanded down to 400 grit, taped off some nice natural binding, and tru-oiled it with a cue tip to seal it off. Rubbed on some Mixol tint diluted in warm water. Ive gotten it darker since this pic and the plan is then to pretty aggressively sand it back for an attempted "faded" finish. We shall see how it goes.

The plan is to do the final finish in tru-oil which I know adds a slight yellowish tint so its either gonna stay blue or go blue with a greenish hue, lol.

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Update today before some potential afternoon storms move in. Finished getting the stain nice and dark and saturated. Let it bake in the sun for 4 hours to dry and then sanded back with 600 grit. I might give it a couple more passes, not sure yet but I'm pretty close to the washed out/faded denim I was going for.

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I was going to do copper-tinted tru-oil on the back but I might tint a rub on polyacrylic so I don't mess with the top color now that i see it. Im not sure yet. The top is going no tint obviously, but I don't want too much of a yellow hue from the tru-oil i think. Decisions.
 

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In my experience TruOil doesn't turn yellow... It looks yellow when it comes out of the bottle. but goes on in thin coats. I don't use a Q-tip to apply, either. I use my finger. Good job on the color, looks excellent.
 
In my experience TruOil doesn't turn yellow... It looks yellow when it comes out of the bottle. but goes on in thin coats. I don't use a Q-tip to apply, either. I use my finger. Good job on the color, looks excellent.

Yeah, it's not yellow-yellow by any means. I've used it a lot, most recently on a natural spruce top. It added a definite yellow/amber hue...not color, the best I can describe it is hue. I'm 95% sure it won't make a difference or might actually complement it if it does.
 
Looking pretty dang good so far. Reminds me of a Tele build I did a dozen years ago. As soon as my wife saw it she referred to it as my denim guitar.
Can't wait to see pics when it's completed.
 
The kids and I ploughed ahead with the true oil. We wiped on a couple of thin coats on the top and binding to seal so I could do the back (alder). Reverse taped the top from the binding with a couple of rags to protect it. We used tru-oil tinted with Mixol copper metallic and did the back and sides. Im really happy with how this is coming out. Once the back and sides dry, I'll do a thin coat or two of plain tru-oil, and then light sand, then build up the finish a bit.

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looks great! love the color of the top, and youve managed to keep the "binding" very clean
 
Awesome looking. Like what Dean calls "Faded Denim" almost

I LOVE masked binding too!!!
 
Thank you guys. I'd also like to take this as an opportunity to highlight that this is not hard to do, nor does it need to be expensive. So, I encourage anyone who has wanted to but shied away from it due to it looking intimidating to give it a shot.

-You can easily pick up a body with good-looking topwood for cheap these days. There are lots of US-based shops cranking out strat and tele bodies on Ebay and Reverb. Obviously, you cant assume the tonewood quality, but for a learning experience, it doesn't really matter. I have stopped routing my own bodies because I'm beginning to find it AS expensive, or MORE expensive, to get body blanks and book-matched tops separately. Not to mention the wear and tear on router bits.
-YouTube tutorials...there are tons of them
-You absolutely 100% do not need to spray anything unless you are a nitro die-hard
-Yes, you can finish with an orbital sander, some good finishing-grade paper, and a delicate touch. Yes, you can wet-sand with an orbital. I will still hand sand when you really get into the finishing grits
-Dyes and tints are cheap, comparatively to most things
-Wipe on PU, PA, or my fave, tru-oil, I think all provide more than acceptable finishes and don't deaden the wood (this is my personal opinion and its definitely not to say its right or that anyone who disagrees is wrong), and they are also cheap, comparatively.
-Take your time and it is pretty straightforward

Realistically you could do a body like this for less than the cost of the gotoh bridge, tuners, and pick-your-brand pickups you are going to put in it. I am not a luthier, an artist, or an expert, or even a very good guitar player. This is just a hobby I really enjoy.

Is it going to look like a PRS etc...probably not. Is it going to look like you built it in your backyard, if you take your time, definitely not.

So, all that said, give it a shot.
 
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A couple more light coats of tru-oil wiped on with a super light 320 grit scuff up in between. From here, I will wet sand with tru-oil, which works to apply and buff in 200-grit increments up to maybe 1200 or 1400 grit. I won't post any more pics until all that is done because it isn't going to look much different. The next time you see it will be before it goes in hiding for 30 odd days to let the tru-oil fully cure for final buffing.

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Well, I finally got around to finishing the damn thing. She has a set of La Brea's in her, and it sounds amazing. Very happy with the way this turned out and was definitely a fun project. Now I just need to play more, lol.
 

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