Pore filling with a different color than the wood stain color

[Gary]

I am finishing my Les Paul guitar. I want to stain the back , mahogany, a purple color and highlight the pores with a yellow tinted pore filler material. Does anyone have any experience on this? I assume I will first stain the back with a water based stain, Transtint. Would alcohol be better? Then seal it with some type of sealer. Any ideas on the type of sealer? Then fill the pores with a yellow tinted pore filler. Any ideas on the type of pore filler? I will obviously start on a piece of scrap , but any advice would help me from reinventing the wheel if anyone has any experience with this type of finish.

 

[Georg_Figel]

Type of sealer: What type of clearcoat are you planning to use later on?
Sometimes that's the limiting factor that makes deciding on a sealer easier.
But any compatible sealer should do (compatible to the clearcoat that you want to use at the end).

Pore filler: Maybe Rustins Grain Filler in "natural" color.

 

[Joe67]

I do stain/filler combo often.
You can mix Transtint with alcohol or water but water is a little more forgiving IMO. Not really that important as long as you like the color/results.
Next I do a wash coat 3 parts thinner to 1 part Mohawk vinyl sealer. This locks in your stain color and prevents any influence from the filler.
This is a very thin coat and does not require sanding, just maybe a white scotch brite if necessary.
Next I do Mohawk oil based grain filler, the reason being is that it does not need to be sanded. You dont want to be sanding after stain, even with the wash coat.
I would read the PDS on the mohawk website as it gives more insight to the grain filling technique than the back of the can does.
Get the "natural" color and use Transtint to make it any color you want.
Let it dry overnight.
Hit it with some sanding sealer, LIGHTLY sand (dont burn through) and then your clear coat, I use nitro.
Thats how I do it.

 

[bruce bennett]

generally , Pore filling is done PRIOR to staining. and you would never use a lighter colored pore filler if your using a darker color stain.
but please feel free to experiment to your hearts content and photo/post the results Even the bad results please

 

[Midnight Shadow]

I do stain/filler combo often.
You can mix Transtint with alcohol or water but water is a little more forgiving IMO. Not really that important as long as you like the color/results.
Next I do a wash coat 3 parts thinner to 1 part Mohawk vinyl sealer. This locks in your stain color and prevents any influence from the filler.
This is a very thin coat and does not require sanding, just maybe a white scotch brite if necessary.
Next I do Mohawk oil based grain filler, the reason being is that it does not need to be sanded. You dont want to be sanding after stain, even with the wash coat.
I would read the PDS on the mohawk website as it gives more insight to the grain filling technique than the back of the can does.
Get the "natural" color and use Transtint to make it any color you want.
Let it dry overnight.
Hit it with some sanding sealer, LIGHTLY sand (dont burn through) and then your clear coat, I use nitro.
Thats how I do it.

I do basically the same. I use this approach for woodworking projects and also sone furniture. The difference for me is I use shellac and not a sanding sealer per se. I also French Polish my acoustic guitars. A dark almost black on rosewood or mahogany. I alway wait at least 24 hours after I put the pore filler in before I move on.