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I am close to start finishing this walnut guitar. As you can see in the photo when wetted it does bring out a bit of orange and I would like to make it a bit 'deeper orange, stronger, more contrast) without having to use a stain. so I am wondering about coloring seal coat shellac and either padding or spraying 2 to 4 coats. I'd rather not get involved in staining. after the shellac I will be using the target/emtech sealer and the 6000 gloss and buffing.
If you think this can work what pigment colors would I use to achieve.

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Mike McNerney

Mike, Shellac comes in a variety of colors from blonde to dark garnet, even amber/orange, no need to use dyes. You can use any dewaxed shellac for a seal coat.
Here's some examples of whats available.
http://www.shellac.net/dewaxed_shellac.html

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Jeff Jewitt also covers this in his sunburst course which could be useful for you. He shows how to tone the sides and back using a spray approach.

He does show using shellac as a sunburst medium. It’s basically a 1 part 2lb cut shellac and 1 part alcohol. Does that become a 1lb cut? Well, anyway… then adding in like 1/2 to 1 tsp of color tone or transtint.

Maybe the pumpkin orange as a toner?



Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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A light coat of a drying oil can bring out and intensify the natural colors of the wood. Allow the oil to dry for a week before topcoating. I have used oil under solvent based finishes, so test on scrap for the finish you will be using.

Do what you can to enhance the chatoyance of the wood, and trust that, over time, it will develop it's best color.

One of the reasons I like oil-resin varnishes is that they tend to have a refractive index that matches the wood pretty closely, which brings out the 'light' of the wood. If you're using a shellac seal coat the old French furniture makers method of filling helps. Oil the wood fairly generously with linseed or walnut oil, and then wipe up as much as you can. Put on spit coat of shellac, and use alcohol on a rubber with pumice to do a French polish fill. Add only enough shellac to keep the surface from getting dry and 'gritty'. The alcohol will help pull up excess oil into the pad. Once you've filled the grain a couple of times (it will shrink back a lot between coats) you can sand back to the wood (but don't pull the filler out of the pores), and then varnish. The small amount of oil remining in the wood won't be enough to add too much mass or damping, but it will enhance the chatoyance.

what about my white holly binding do I need to mask or pre coat before oil or stain if I chooose & what tape will work

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Mike McNerney

I don't bother to mask off the white lines on my guitars, but then, I don't use any sort of stain either. Stain just hides the wood under a layer of more or less opaque color, and walnut is such a nice wood that's a shame.