Preparation for Dying

I'm tempted to make a joke about being sure my will is up to date, but I won't.

Realizing how incredibly thin the maple veneer was, I was reluctant to sand it before I applied dye to the guitar. I knew I was going to be sanding after applying the dye to create the grain popping effect, and I feared sanding through. I did end up lightly sanding along the grain with 400 grit using a small sanding block.

The ragged edge at the neck and cutaway.

I also gave the ragged edge of the cutaway some attention. I used the sanding block to even up the edge. The guitar body tapered right at the and of the cutaway but the binding remained straight. Because of this the binding gradually rose away from the surface. I scraped the binding with a No. 11 X-acto blade until it and the guitar were even.

Sanding the cutaway edge.

Scraping the binding to make it even with the body.

I wiped down the guitar with denatured alcohol to remove dust and fingerprints. I then masked off everything but the face of the body. I used 3M green tape for concrete. It was really sticky and holds a tight edge. I did not want the dye to get past the binding onto the sides. I was all ready to apply the dye.

3M green tape

The sides of the guitar masked.