Question about natural colored basswood bodies??

[hyesac]

Does anybody know how a natural colored or oiled basswood body would look, would it look ok? I love the natural look on bodies instead of painted, but i was thinking about strpping the paint off my rg570 and just putting clearcoat on it and thats it, is this a good idea, any input would be appreciated!!!

[darren wilson]

Basswood is a very light and plain-looking wood. Quite often it doesn't have much in the way of visible grain at all.

It's a very porous wood and will drink up a lot of stain if you try to enhance it that way. Ibanez has usually enhanced grain by light spot-burning with a torch.

Because it is a very soft wood, unfinished basswood will also dent, scratch and bruise very easily compared to most other woods. Leaving it unfinished is generally not advisable, unless you want it to really show a lot of battle scars. A good thick clearcoat would protect it, but without something to enhance the grain (think JEM 7RB or BSB), it's really going to look pretty boring.

[NatasataN]

And it will most likely be 3 unmatching peices of basswood glued together, wouldent look too good /

[Project Guitar]

Chances are your RG 570 has a thin veneer covering over however many pieces of wood were used to construct the body on both the top and the back.

However on the back you will see a different grain pattern where the tummy tuck contour is simply because they only veneer over the main portion.

Just take your time and sand lighly once your into the primer and you'll do ok.