How to Stain a Basswood Guitar

Heads up for anyone using this as a guide: apparently I have been pronouncing basswood wrong most of my life. Don't be like me! (and yes I say it wrong in this video)

Is there one for mahogany? Body.

I have a solo kit that I'm doing....my question is, can I dye the maple top and get a burst, even though the veneer is so thin. There is no thickness to the veneer, so sanding the dye back will just go through the top veneer. Will 000 steel wool work or is this just not possible. Any idea's.

Why remove the sealer? You don't need the stain to soak into the wood. Stain can be applied over a sealer. How's how finishes are done on other wood instruments like violins. That also makes it easier to fix or change in the future. If you soak the stain into the wood, then it's effectively permanent.

Hi Brad. Love your videos. They are really helping me. I just stained a basswood body. Can I put a water based polyurethane over Danish oil? That was my plan, but I wanna be sure. Cheers.

How to stain a guitar? First, buy some stain. Then stain it. Problem solved.

On a basswood body like this with not a lot of grain pattern visible, is it possible (does it work) to use the “stain black and sand down” trick to see more of the grain? Thanks man, great videos.

Hey Brad! Thanks to your video guide and personal advice, my first build was a success. We raffled off the guitar (named Lexi after our late niece) and raised more than $1500 for the American Cancer Society! So, I bought two more Tele kits from Solo. One is a mahogany body, the other a basswood. I have a plan for the mahogany body, but I'm curious to know of it is possible to ceruse the basswood body. Does cerusing only work on open grain woods?

Build question for Brad or anyone:

Building a telecaster. Almost decided to forgo the drilling for the through stringing on the bridge. Just went to Lowe’s and the didn’t have drill guides or the portable drill press... probably going to order those from brads link. But could I do my dye and finish before that? Really want to work on it now and don’t want to wait two weeks for shipping. Would drilling string holes after dye be bad? How bout even after a wipe on poly finish? Thanks in advance for any responses.

I've been using True Oil to protect/finish my guitar projects after staining, but unfortunately it looks like Birchwood Casey no longer makes True Oil the way it used to. What would you recommend to protect/finish basswood after staining?

I have used two kit guitar basswood bodies but used warmoth necks on them, they came out really nice. But now I want to build another one and use the neck that comes with. Is it feasable to use the necks that come with after a re radius and fret upgrade?
I think the necks are basswood too and it seems very soft. Wondering if anyone else has used them. Thanks.

You talk way to much...

when faced with a light piece of wood in an otherwise well matched top. you can just mask off the darker portion and apply a darker, mix of your dye (more pigment less water/alcohol) to better match the pieces. I've done this a number of times with good results.

Just saw Grammar police attacking you, next they will accuse you of not turning your toilet paper in Right Direction. when will the Pettiness end and People Appreciate those like you trying to Help Others. Keep up the ZGreat Work and Watch out for the Thought Police and keep making these Fun and Entertaining

Mine looks Great but it took Massive Amounts of Grain Filler to get it to workable Smooth, but grain and weight with a Amber tinted to Mahogany usually best finish

can i mix it with acrylic paint?

Great video! I'd like to see a follow up video on how to finish it. Polyurethane or what would you recommend for "basswood"? :) Thank you

Lesson is don't stain Basswood that does not look good. thanks

I have a basswood guitar with a flamed maple veneer with a satin poly finish.. and I want to dye it any tips?

Great video Brad. I'm getting a kit with basswood body and ash veneer which I assume will be paper thin. I'd like to sand and stain it like you did here but don't want to sand through the veneer. Any thoughts on how to manage this? I'm thinking lightly sanding with 150 then 220 grit then use my water based tinted stain. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi brad thanks for the videos.
Have a couple of question :
How long between each coat of stain?
If I decide use 2k spraymax clear coat(the exact one you use) as the
Finish,how long do I need to leave the stain to cure? Also do I need to light sand the stain before clear coat?

Many thanks

I have 2 basswood guitars but I doubt I'll ever strip them and refinish. Still, I'm watching this in great detail. Thanks, Brad! 👍

FYI hand sanitizer using ethanol should be at least 60% ethanol to kill bacteria, etc... Just saw that somewhere yesterday.

Another awesome video. Thanks so much! What would be a good finish for basswood after the staining (as it tends to dent quite easily)

Hey Brad, I will be doing a Mango wood strat body kit, and I wonder what colour should be most appealing in terms of staining. The pickguards will be black and the neck is maple. Thanks mate!

Hello Brad. Back to the Frankenhondo. Not being familiar with different woods used in guitar bodies, is there a guide or something that would help me identify what I have?

Seal first, sand, then stain...?👍

Hello! can i email you and can i ask for a favor to specify my guitar body if which type of wood is it. thank you! anyway, i’m a subscriber for a long time! 🙋‍♂️

Watching ur videos bro make me have those guitars 🎸 ☺️☺️✌️keep it up! Brother

Everclear? You mean the 180 proof liquor?

Hey Brad, if I sent you a picture of the guitar I am looking to project could I get some advice regarding sanding and the kind of stain I plan to use? It was my dad's guitar and while your videos are helpful I'm not confident that I know what I'm doing yet lol

Hi Brad. I have just prepared a Basswood guitar body for finishing and I am going to use Angelus Leather dye for the colour. I am concerned with splotchiness with the colour on the Basswood. I was thinking of using the violin makers technique of applying gelatin to the wood first to seal it, and then apply the dye. Do think this will work or could there be problems. Normally I would experiment first with a piece of scrap wood, but unfortunately I do not have any scrape pieces of Basswood to test. Any opinion would be helpful. Thanks for the great videos.

I been Painting & Finishing since 1972 if you're staining dissimilar pieces of Bare Wood use a Shellac Wash. Apply 1 thin coat of Zinsser Seal Coat ( it's a 2lb cut 100% wax free Shellac) using a Wooster Yachtsman 2" or 2-1/2" White China Bristle Stain & Varnish Brush. Clean/wash Your Brush with Denatured Alcohol. This Shellac Wash might sound Crazy, but it works like a Pre-stain only better. Apply Your Zinsser Seal Coat Shellac Wash then lightly sand Your Wood with a 320-400 sanding Sponge just enough to knock the raised grain off. Shellac barely raises the grain so You'll barely have to sand. Do not wear thru Your Shellac Wash. Applying a Shellac Wash before Staining Controls the penetration of Your Stain or Dye disguising the different color pieces of wood and giving you a uniform color. You need to apply you were staying or die with a brush not wiped on with the rag and not wiped off afterwards. If you're using something like Minwax stain and it's too dark when you applied with a brush then you can take some natural Minwax which is just to clear oil the stains made from and mix it until you lighten up your stain to wear the color is the color you want when applied with a brush keeping in mind that a brush applied stain or die will come out much darker than applying it with a rag. the point of using the brush is after you have your shellac wash on you can brush it on there and you won't be able to tell that you have different colors of wood because the shellac wash controls to penetration and applying the coat with the brush helps this even more. after you have applied Your Stain or Dye spray 1 or 2 coats of sealer. Zinsser Seal Coat is the Best and comes in a spray can. Spraying Your Sealer locks in Your Colour. A Brush can sometimes move Your Stain or Dye around but Seal Coat as a Shellac Wash is Best Applied with a Wooster Yachtsman Brush as is Your Stain also. Wax Free Shellac like Seal Coat is the Best Sealer and it's a great Barrier Coat over old Finishes, Paint, Stain, Lacquer, Varnish, etc because Shellac sticks to anything and anything sticks to Wax Free Shellac
God Bless!!
Jimmy in NC....
(910)-818-3279
Call anytime 24/7/365

Im planning on ordering 6 or 7 various guitar kits, (I'll be using your link) but I want to know what the best way/product to get vibrant colors on the wood like greens, blues, purples, like alot of the LPs Darryl B uses in his videos

Great as always Brad.

Dude you'd better hope your wife doesn't catch you using her measuring spoons! Lol

My Fender Telecaster bass is made from Bsswood. Still heavier than my Les Paul, I bought it a few years ago the day it was put out for sale after being in the storage of a local indie store I’ve ben buying from since 1984. It was a special order, and never picked up. Also have read that Jeff Beck’s #1 white Strat is also made from Bsswood.

I'm a big fan of cheap Basswood body's as they take paint very well indeed! And if you get a one piece body they can sometimes have great figuring! Good job Brad! Keep safe brother 💪

i'd suggest cutting the low end out of your audio. very boomy. should clean up the audio nicely :)

Great job again Brad... Awesome, awesome!

👍👍Thanks for useful tips and detailed information.

I haven't tried it yet because I don't have 10 kit guitars like you do, but you might try bleaching the darker pieces of basswood to a lighter shade so they match better. In fact I think you should try it and make a video about it.

Brad....which type of sander would work the best to sand the body? A rotary or a vibrating one. Thanks for you videos. I really enjoy them.

Working on my first kit and literally had this question today after sanding it. How will I know I'm through the sealant from the factory. Thanks for showing this and explaining it! I had to go back at it with a heavier grit. I see you started with 80, whereas I was around 200. I like your explanation about taking off that sheen or slight shine to a very matte true wood look. Thanks Brad! Keep these videos coming! So appreciated during these trying times when we're all doing projects!

Brad
Honest question as I'm not sure is this not bass wood name and pronounced like the wide mouth bass the fish?
Could be a Canadian pronunciation. . . . Anyhow love your vlogs. I know in bass wood said fish name or is it basewood and I'm not aware of this so many exotic and different woods some I rarely run across as they are REALLY high dollar.
Once I put gold handles on a solid ebony cabinet in a oil executives personal office zero error day on that one absolute perfection a must. Solid gold pulls and handles and a many hundred thousand dollar cabinet. Gulp
Best David
Alas for now my work is more humble. Hoping to get back into that kind of work again soon.

My son and I did a Solo music gear tele stained in purple. It came out great... after re-sanding it about 4 times because of all the sealer spots we missed on previous passes. In particular, the side curves around the horns. Sand, sand, sand.

Just so you know I tried, I was going to buy Mohawk sanding sealer from here, but you didn't have it listed. Keep up the great videos and I'll keep checking here first before I add any new tools, finishes, etc. to my shop

I'm about ready to try staining a tele body amber... wish me luck.

This video came out just in time. Yesterday I finished removing the lacquer and a sealer from my Squier VM Jazz Bass and now I'm thinking about putting something different on it. The body is basswood, very bright creamy color and very soft. Since I'm watching your videos about painting guitar with a spray cans and so on I will use that body to experiment on it and learn. Thank you Brad! BTW watching your videos from the other side of the globe, from Poland.

A good tip for anyone looking to stain a cheaper guitar with filler/sealer just wipe some water on the guitar to see where the water soaks in and discolors the wood to make sure you don't have any areas where you maybe didn't get all the sealer off nothing like staining the whole body just to find places where you didn't sand through all the sealer it can be pretty rough to get through it on some guitars and sorta hard to see sometimes just let the water show you where to sand and let it dry before staining