When you walk around in a nice guitar shop it’s hard to not drool over the lovely finishes some manufacturers seem to produce. Incredibly glossy with a flame or quilt top that almost looks 3D. The first time I stepped in a guitar shop that carried Paul Reed Smith guitars I could hardly believe that these figures were Mother Nature’s handywork! As a matter of fact I had to touch the top in order to believe it was flat and that the 3D effect was part of the wood. Since I couldn’t afford a PRS for years I decided to build my guitars with parts by Warmoth and have them finished by a friend of mine. He finished five guitars I currently own and the result was absolutely amazing. Lacquering a guitar was a special ‘recipe’ that was a secret to me that I had to unlock.
So when I felt particularly confident after doing the clearcoat on my single piece flamed maple topped Les Paul, I decided to do my own stain job on a quilt maple top Les Paul body. I always kept some advice in mind: if you screw it up, you can always sand down the clearcoats, sand down the remaining stain and start over. Stains don’t sink in very deep, so it takes just a few rounds with an orbital sander to get rid of old stain. So I ordered a very nice body (actually, a pair, but the second guitar was supposed to just get a clearcoat, no stains; it’s an incredible shame to stain flamed Koa, in my opinion!). And after some months of waiting, they landed on my doorstep. I immediately started work on them, and these are the steps I took to get the final result.

A lovely quilt maple top I was able to select myself. I had it routed for three humbuckers (my favorite pickup combination) and a Floyd Rose (my favorite tremolo system).

Flamed black Korina!

A clear coat binding, waiting to happen! The back is a lovely laminated piece of flamed black korina with a flamed maple pin stripe.

Alright, let’s get cracking! First step: black coloring. I used a water-soluable coloring and diluted the black just a little. After all, the color I’m aiming for is my favorite: purple mist burst. I just want the grain to pop a little, and black will do just that.

The next step is to cover the diluted (and slightly sanded back) black  with a thick layer of purple.

Now, it’s almost all sanded back. But we’re still not there! Hold on, it will get better.

After a lot of work I sanded the burst itself. I decided to burst a little around the pickup cavities. Just for the fun of it. The pickup rings would cover it all eventually, I just felt that it would be a nice touch for me to know…

First clearcoat shot! I chose nitro because it’s very easy to work with. You can shoot it very thinly and polish it with amazing ease to a high gloss.

Eighth layer of the clearcoat. I use micromesh to sand between each layers.  I also make sure that after each sanding I get rid of all the dust particles. If they get trapped under the clearcoats they won’t go away (the superfine particles will melt with the wet nitro, but most wont) and that will leave you with white specs in the finish.

The back after staining. The darker markings are just shadow of my windowsill. I specifically chose not to use a pore filler. The less ‘stuff’ between the wood and air, the better it is (or at least, that was the theory).

After careful masking, scraping and staining, I present you: the double faux clearcoat binding!

There she is! After ten clearcoats and no polish yet. On the right a little sneak peek of the left guitar’s twin.

Finally, done. My five favorite guitars of all time. The guitars are loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups. The bridge pickup is a based on the 59/Custom hybrid, but made out of the Pearly Gates and the Custom 5. The neck pickup is a 59/Jazz hybrid with an Alnico 5 magnet. The middle pickup is a Phat Cat, modded with Alnico 5 magnets for a bit more chime, bite and clarity. The controls are incredibly easy. Just two volumes and two tones, like a regular Les Paul, but under the tone pots I have two push push pots: one for a coil split and one to engage the middle pickup. The Phat Cat gets routed to the volume pot of the pickup that’s engaged through the three way toggle, so the volume pot acts as a master volume; no blending here. I found that to be the most useful set up for me.
The Pearly Gates/Custom hybrid can be ordered through the Custom Shop (I’ve seen one pop up on Facebook a couple of weeks ago). The Pearly Gates/Custom 5 pickup is one of my favorite pickups for the bridge position of a Les Paul if versatility is needed. The pickup is very much like the 59/Custom Hybrid but with a bit more warmth, a bit more aggression and ‘dirt’. All thanks to the Pearly Gates coil! The neck pickup, a 59/Jazz hybrid,  is an incredible neck pickup. Very bubbly and warm, clear and transparant yet creamy if I want it to be. I’d be surprised if the Custom Shop didn’t provide this pickup as a possibility too, but to me, this pickup is the best match for these two guitars in combination with the other two pickups!
The three guitars in the back were custom built for me by Crimson Guitars in the United Kingdom, but deserve a description and a story in an article of their own!