I finished applying the first coat of the stain today. I decided upon a deep brown mahogany finish. I used a sponge brush to apply the stain, trying to make it as even as possible. I noticed after the first coat, that some areas didn't adsorb the stain as well as others. In some places its lighter or spotchy, but I think it will just add character.

In order to apply the stain, I needed to sand the guitar body first. I used 100, 150, and 220 grit sand paper in that order. Sanding by hand is never fun.

If I finish this guitar I'm working on, I'm gonna make one of these. Its a mandolin-telecaster, or telemando or something.

Today I tested some funky wood stains my father had in old mayonnaise jars. I used alder test blocks to match the actual guitar and varried the amount of coats I applied. I liked the Brown Mahagony stain the best (most left block, lightest coat) and will use that on the guitar.

The parts came in from Stewart Mac today. I laid them on the body just to get a feel for what it will look like. Very excited to put it all together eventually.