Guitar refin - stain not paint

[Wayniac]

Hi guys - I have a nice flamed maple top on a guitar that i would like stained.
I know of Mike Learn, Bell, and a few others that do great airbrushing.. but for a stain finish.. where would you go that is fast, professional and reasonable?

[Wayniac]

Anyone? Beuller?
Or do I have it wrong - like Chlorine or Purple haze finish is actually a light paint coat under the clear coat?

[j2379]

most trans guitars were painted not stained, i believe PRS's are stained. i dont know anymore, but IIRC you need special clears to go over stains...& yes that still doesnt answer ur question

[Axewielder]

Staining should be well within the abilities of your local luthier, even if he doesn't have a paint booth.

[jimmbo118]

Staining is not that complicated to do yourself. Afterwards, a great clearcoat job will make it shine like there's no tomorrow. Like most things with refin, preparation is 90% of the battle. I have some photos that I took of a strat body that I stained for a client.I'll try to get one up here in the next few hours. I think staining is a real classy way of going about refinishing;that is, if you have some REALLY nice figuring on the wood to start with.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You probably don't want "stain" exactly, if you are talking about something like Purple Daze or Chlorine. On flame Maple you are probably wanting dye and then maybe tinted clear over that, depending on the color.

Something like Purple Daze or Chlorine is done with dye applied to the figured top, then clearcoated. I think that they are using a tinted clear on the back and clear on the front on those specifically. If the wood isn't figured much (the dye won't do much) then it may be a tinted clear, like a semi-transparent blue. Or you can do weird stuff like dye the top red and then do a blue tinted clearcoat. There are a lot of ways to arrive at a colored finish that shows off the wood grain.

Anyway as to who can do that, the same people who do quality guitar finishes probably. I've never seen Mike Learn do a clear/trans finish but I wouldn't be surprised if he could. Sully did a really neat purple dye/clear Strat body IIRC.

[Wayniac]

Thanks guys!
I was kinda thinking it might be a 2-stage process like Brian Moore or PRS do... open up the pores and do a dye.. then sand it so the dye just stays in the figuring of the wood.. then stain or tint/clearcoat over.
Picture a body like a Charvel 25th - a tight Chevron flame.

[GuerillaPete]

Thanks guys!
I was kinda thinking it might be a 2-stage process like Brian Moore or PRS do... open up the pores and do a dye.. then sand it so the dye just stays in the figuring of the wood.. then stain or tint/clearcoat over.
Picture a body like a Charvel 25th - a tight Chevron flame.

Sounds like a cool project. Please document it for the JCF to use as a learning/reference tool.