Getting Gooin': The Old No.7 One

Step 1: Lovely Bit of Ash That

Well, I only had moments today, in between sanding toilet walls, waiting for elusive delivery chaps to arrive from Kent, attending swimming galas and removing stair gates (the bratskis are 9 & 6 - probably about time) but I set my stall out and got started on The Old No.7 One.

As it happened I had a nice swamp ash Tele body, and so I set to making it blackish.

Step 2. Ooh, Shiny Black

What I want to do with this is a little different in that I want to make it old and distressed looking rather than relicked - quite a difference honey - which will take longer than the normal staining but I think will pay off.

The only trouble is it looks a complete mess as I go along, as you can probably tell from the WIP fotos.

Anyway, the recipe so far is:

Take one lovely swamp ash body.

Sand it lots.

Step 3. What D'ya Call That Then, Son?

Stain it the blackest black of all.

Wait for that to half dry and then sand it some more. This is the odd part, and is because I want the black to be patchy in a chaotic and random manner. So I sanded it with my eyes closed..

After I got the glass out of my finger tips, I next let the bedraggled stain dry and then sanded it back a little more, but all over this time.

Apply a lighter shade (I love Dark Oak as it hasn't got the warmth of a browner stain, and I want this to look like old wood.) using 0000 wire wool, which works it into all the teensy corners and dank spots.




Let that dry, and have another go with the wire wool.

Step 4. Are You Really Sure About This?

And that is about how far I've gottonised with the body.

From there it will be a a case of repeating the 'journey' - I saw X Factor at the weekend - on the front and then hard waxing it like a good 'un, bit more sanding and waiting and then bit of strategic beeswax for goodly treasure.

What I'm hoping (and if it doesn't work it will be back to the sander in a big way) is that we'll end-up with a body that looks like the wood from an tarred and aged Jack Daniels cask.

I won't be painting planks on, but it's that kind of stored in a cellar for a century or washed up on a beach look I'm aiming for, and with a bit of luck and a bit more strategic distressification, life could be good.

After that, things will really start to get interesting..

La la laaaa