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My Surf looks Seafoam - is amber the answer?


BadgerDave

Question

I'm using Gracy's rattle can nitro and trying to match the body color on this Warmoth Tele body.  The body is Surf Green, finished by Warmoth in polyurethane. 

I shot a base coat of Polar White and I've added 4 coats of Gracy's Surf Green. It's looking very much like Seafoam to me, though I know these colors aren't standardized.  I'm thinking of spraying  a coat of StewMac amber vintage tint to "green" it up a bit.

Any other suggestions?

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45 minutes ago, kizanski said:

I think once it's cleared, the head and the body are far enough away that you'll never see the difference.

Probably, but I know it will bother me.  I can't mix chrome and nickel hardware on the same guitar - even if it's only the tuners.

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6 hours ago, BadgerDave said:

Probably, but I know it will bother me.  I can't mix chrome and nickel hardware on the same guitar - even if it's only the tuners.

This is the New Normal.  You're gonna have to let some shit go.

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10 hours ago, BadgerDave said:

 I'm thinking of spraying  a coat of StewMac amber vintage tint to "green" it up a bit.

That's what I would try. Spray a test swatch first and determine how many coats it takes to get closer to the body hue. Shouldn't take much...

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10 hours ago, chromium said:

That's what I would try. Spray a test swatch first and determine how many coats it takes to get closer to the body hue. Shouldn't take much...

Exactly what I'd try first.

And to my eyes, that body color is definitely more Sea Foam than Surf. 

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Also, if you don't already have a can of the amber tinted clear it might be cheaper/easier to cut losses and just grab a can of Gracey's seafoam green for the headstock.  Warmoth's color does strike me as more of a seafoam hue (despite what they call it), and the Gracey's nitro you used on the head definitely seems more true to surf green.

As an aside, I'd be curious what you think of Gracy's products. I've only used reranch in the past, but was considering Gracey's heather poly for a project...

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Seafoam green:

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Bel Air green (maybe it's faded from sunlight):

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Have you compared and contrasted seafoam and Bel Air green to see what's closer to what you're looking for?

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7 hours ago, JohnnyB said:

Seafoam green:

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Bel Air green (maybe it's faded from sunlight):

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Have you compared and contrasted seafoam and Bel Air green to see what's closer to what you're looking for?

Pretty good comparo there. 

This JB Strat on DGS' website looks about right, except that it's photographed in a relatively dark room, making it appear just a hair darker than it would look outdoors on a sunny day.

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Thanks for the replies. 

The Gracy's products are very good quality, no problems there.  I bought them because ReRanch wasn't shipping a couple of weeks ago when I looked.

I've always seen Seafoam as a darker shade of Sonic Blue, with almost no green at all.  Surf, to me, is primarily green, like the Tele in my photo.  Warmoth and Fender align with my expectations, but I've seen examples from other sources that vary, or even reverse, these. 

The experiment with StewMac tinted amber was a failure.  It turned the color to almost lime green.  Interesting, but not what I'm after.  

I decided to just add the decal and shoot clear nitro.  It seems to be turning slightly darker.  Maybe the nitro will yellow a bit with age.  Do you think leaving it in the sun would have that effect?

Here's the current status.  I need a few more coats of clear before I start the final sanding.

 

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3 hours ago, BadgerDave said:

I decided to just add the decal and shoot clear nitro.  It seems to be turning slightly darker.  Maybe the nitro will yellow a bit with age.  Do you think leaving it in the sun would have that effect?

I have not attempted that yet with a nitro finish, but I did do that with a tru-oil finish on an old Musikraft neck - probably an aggregate total of ten hours in indirect sunlight in the winter months (~70 deg).  Not sure I'd attempt this in our Phoenix summer months, though! :)

Original color was very similar to the bottom neck.

r6G2bce.jpg

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1 minute ago, chromium said:

I have not attempted that yet with a nitro finish, but I did do that with a tru-oil finish on an old Musikraft neck - probably an aggregate total of ten hours in indirect sunlight in the winter months (~70 deg).  Not sure I'd attempt this in our Phoenix summer months, though! :)

Original color was very similar to the bottom neck.

r6G2bce.jpg

Wow! Even the hardware yellowed under the sun! 😉

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The Warmoth looks to me like an accurate Seafom Green (originally a 1956 Buick color) and they are probably buying base coat from a manufacturer using that code, probably TCP Global. That Gracy's is close but I think it needs the pigment formula tweaked if you want it to match, ambered clear isn't going to push it in that direction. Warmoth's topcoat is water clear and stays that way.

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For the right "San Dimas" hue with an oil finish, use the Watco Danish Oil with the "Golden Oak" tint in it.

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On 7/1/2020 at 2:12 PM, Stike said:

The Warmoth looks to me like an accurate Seafom Green (originally a 1956 Buick color) and they are probably buying base coat from a manufacturer using that code, probably TCP Global. That Gracy's is close but I think it needs the pigment formula tweaked if you want it to match, ambered clear isn't going to push it in that direction. Warmoth's topcoat is water clear and stays that way.

This one's older than a '56, but the color looks about right:

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On 7/4/2020 at 8:01 AM, Jeff R said:

For the right "San Dimas" hue with an oil finish, use the Watco Danish Oil with the "Golden Oak" tint in it.

Jeff - thanks for the tip. I've got a new birdseye neck coming for another build, and will give this a try...

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