Tuesday 5 August 2014

James' Les Paul Jnr DC: Butterscotch Wudtone

After sanding to 240 grit, pore filling with Timbermate and then finishing off with 360 grit, James' Double Cut Jnr was finally ready for it's colour coats. Similar to my own DC Jnr, James has requested a Butterscotch Wudtone body and neck colour - a great choice! The Wudtone was shipped from our friends at Pitbull Guitars in two bottles - a Butterscotch base colour, and some White for lightening it up.


On my last Butterscotch build, I mixed the two in a ratio of 2:1, so 1 third white to 2 thirds Butterscotch. Since the Butterscotch bottle was about three quarters full this time around, I mixed to a ratio of approximately 4:1 (i just topped the bottle up with White ;) ).


Once mixed, the colour was into the dish and wiped on with a cotton swab (t-shirt material). Last time I applied Butterscotch Wudtone, the colour seemed very washed out and it took many, many coats before a nice golden hue was achieved. On that occasion, I sanded both the neck and body all the way to 600 grit. This time around I followed the guidelines of Pitbull's resident luthier Dingobass and kept some tooth in the wood. This extra tooth, and a mix that's a little darker, has resulted in a much more satisfying result this time around. I tried my best to get as much of the colour into the wood as I possibly could, and this first coat is displaying a deep golden colour, with the grain highlighted nicely.



I'll consult James, but I don't think we are going to need many more colour coats the way this body is looking! The neck, on the other hand, is a different story. The guys at Pitbull warned me that the Rock Maple would not absorb Wudtone quite like the basswood, and they were right. The neck is much, much lighter, and will benefit from a few more coats to bring the colour up to par.


All in all, I'm pretty chuffed with the results so far. The grain is standing out beautifully and the colour is deep and golden. A couple more coats and we will definitely be on to the clear!!

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