Suggest a finish for this body......

[edstraker123]

Been dabbling with partscasters lately and picked up this body last night which I believe is Sipo Mahogany.  It's meant to be similar in nature to Sapele, but I'm struggling to find any images of an electric guitar body made from it. Just wondered if anyone has any suggestions as to the most appropriate finish -  gloss or natural oil, stained or coloured, grain effects etc?

 

[TheGreek]

Nice grain...would be a shame to hide it. 

Personally I'd find a satin finish to make the most of it.

[edstraker123]

I've just done a satin on a walnut body i've currently got on the go but wondered whether a wet look gloss would bring the grain out more . Would it take a colour do you think without ruining the grain ?

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by edstraker123

[PaulThePlug]

Natural 'n Satin...

You only need to stain or paint bad wood...

Edited September 30, 2020 by PaulThePlug

[Bigguy2017]

It's lovely grain but a bit of a boring colour - a red stain to bring out the grain pattern then a satin lacquer ?

[edstraker123]

it would probably go quite a bit darker with a finish on but I must confess I was thinking red too !

[Owen]

Just oil and a black guard. 

[Tvrtastic]

This rocks my boat 

[durhamboy]

Sipo, also called Utile is a species from Africa and is related to true mahoganies. It has about the same weight per square foot and around the same hardness rating. 

Looking at some pictures of it wet or clear finished it darkens quite a bit with some rich chocolate brown tones. It might be worth just wetting it to see what colors and contrast clear finishing could give.?

I'm with PaulThePlug, only paint or stain bad wood. (or the boringly plain stuff and this sure isn't bad or boring.😉)

[HazBeen]

1 hour ago, owen said:

Just oil and a black guard. 

+1