Having done Fender style sunbursts a million times, if you want to get a 3D effect start by rubbing yellow or amber (Stewmac's Vintage Amber dye is VERY authentic, you most likely won't get this mixing it yourself) into the wood. For figured wood rub a darker shade of yellow or orange dye into the grain then sand back. DO NOT use black unless you want the figured portion looking green or purple. Black is ok for darker colors such as red or blue or purple, but NOT amber or yellow or any other light shades! Whatever you do rub Stewmac Vintage Amber into the finish, and then seal it with a coat of finish. If you rubbed yellow into the grain then you must spray vintage amber over the sealer to complete the center portion. Yellow just doesn't look right, the stewmac vintage amber offers the perfect shade for Fender style sunburst.
If you have figured wood binding to mask, seal it with a coat of shellac then tape it with green tape to prevent the dye from seeping into the grain. Take the tape off and spray on your seal coat, then reapply the tape when spraying the burst itself.
For the black portion you should use pigmented black for the best result, or you can use a highly concentrated LMI brown dye. Mix the dye in lacquer thinner (add a small amount of denatured alcohol to help it dissolve) and add a small amount of lacquer to it. This allows the mix to spray properly and you won't have issue with runs or drops.
Spray with a touch up (HVLP or otherwise) spray gun with around 0.8-1.0mm nozzle. Set the spray pattern circular and set the paint flow on the light side, you're not trying to spray a wet coat. Try to spray the lighter shade before the darker shade (that means amber, red (if necessary), and finally black/brown) to simplify gun cleanup between colors. I might add you should use the best gun you have for this operation, not those 20 dollar HF spray guns!
I don't use any templates, just free hand with a good gun. I find that template limits me too much and a slight misalignment can create a bigger problem than it is supposed to solve. Spray the edge outward from the center of the body so that you don't have overspray all over the center portion.
For electric guitar bodies such as Stratocasters, check the edge inside the cutaways, and the tip of both horns to make sure you haven't missed a spot... this is quite common. Check with a strong light, check again when you sprayed your first coat of clear.
www.reranch.com provides very good tutorials on not just sun bursting, but also general guitar finishing techniques. Finishing is one of the hardest aspect of guitar building, so if you master this, you can do anything.
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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.
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