Introduction
TV
Yellow was developed in the 1950s to solve the problem of the color white,
under the glare of bright television lights, overpowering the black and
white television cameras....
One
contributor to the story of TV Yellow relates a visit he made to the filming
of a medical show in the fifties. He recalled being surprised to see all
the "Doctors" wearing yellow medical smocks. "TV Yellow" smocks I suppose?
Gibson developed the color for Les Paul's frequent television appearances
although it is believed he never played a TV Yellow guitar (at least not
on television).
The
color appears slightly lime green but the unique feature of the finish
is that while the finish appears to be opaque the grain of the wood grain
shows through. The TV Yellow finish is limed but still very yellow. Do
not confuse it with Limed Mahogany which is more lime green than yellow.
In researching how the finish was applied I heard from two reliable sources
that the finish was applied as follows. After the guitar was carved and
sanded the wood was then misted with water to raise the grain. After drying
and without sanding the guitar was sprayed with an opaque lime green lacquer.
After drying the finish was lightly sanded and then clear coated.
Using
this method after about five or six tries I was able to create a fairly
close replica of TV Yellow. The problem is that to achieve the finish the
paint has to be applied in dry mist coats. If a wet coat is sprayed then
the grain is opaqued. Also, when clear coating, a wet clear coat would
cause the grain to show too strongly. The TV Yellow guitars have a slight
yellow tint to the grain. I do not think Gibson could afford to take the
time needed to finesse the application for a production finish.
I now
believe that the finish was originally intended to appear as a solid yellow
color with no grain showing and have seen two original finish guitars that
do not show grain. The ones that do show grain may have been originally
solid yellow but over the years the drying lacquer has allowed the darker
grain color to show through.
Unless
you are a purist (and can also wait 30 years for the opaque yellow paint
to age and perhaps reveal the grain) here is an alternative to achieve
a correct appearing TV Yellow finish in a repeatable manner. I do not know
if this is the method that Gibson uses to finish the new TV Yellows but
I think I may be on the correct trail.
First,
the wood must be stripped and sanded. The grain must be completely open
and the wood without any trace of finish. Clean wood with open
grain is the key. Sand with #220 and finish with #320 dry. Be sure you
do not have any scratches in the wood as they will show once the grain
is enhanced. Once you have clean and open grained wood blow out any sawdust
in the grain with compressed air. Use 80psi to 120psi. I use The Guitar
ReRanch TV Yellow in the aerosol spray cans but if you want to mix your
own color (be sure to use an acrylic lacquer or better yet, nitrocellulose
lacquer) this method will still work for you.
Tape
the neck and peghead for protection from the spray and spray a light misting
coat of opaque yellow color onto the body and neck. After drying shoot
another coat and then repeat. Be sure that the coats are misting coats
and not wet coats. Just one too wet of a coat will bridge the grain
and destroy the effect. The guitar when color coated should appear as opaque
yellow in the field with open uncolored grain pits. After approximately
four coats let the instrument dry over night.
You
will notice that the Guitar ReRanch TV Yellow appears very yellow without
much of the lime color tint seen on the original TV Yellows. Much of the
lime color will come from the mahogany itself and will appear as
the color coat dries. There doesn't seem to be much one can do to stop
the lime color from appearing. It seems to bleed through the yellow and
if you think you have applied too much yellow, let the lacquer dry for
a day or two. This bleed through effect (coupled with the deep grain of
mahogany) limits the achieving of a true TV Yellow to only mahogany.
Your
job now is to fill the grain with a tinted filler and then remove
the excess filler. You must do this of course without disturbing the yellow
lacquer coat. How? To accomplish the task fill the grain with a mahogany
tinted filler with a reducing agent that is incompatible with the reducing
agent of lacquer. That is; use a water based (I use "Famo Wood" brand
Cherry/Dark Mahogany water based filler) or an oil based filler.
Going across the grain wipe the filler into the grain. When slightly dry
wipe the filler from the field of the wood with the reducer of the filler.
For water based fillers use water. For oil based fillers use mineral spirits.
You may need to repeat the process a number of time (two or three) to fill
the grain to the level of the field of the wood.
When
dry spray a light coat of the TV yellow color coat to "soften" the color
of the grain filler and blend it into the field. The clear coating and
finishing is then applied as described in ReRanch 101.
