When my grand-daughter Kate Kotses was born, her mother (my elder daughter Meredith) and her father (Peter Kotses)  named their baby after my younger daughter Kate. So we have “Big Kate” and “Little Kate” to make conversations interesting. When Lil’ Kate was five I made a miniature J-35 like “Grandpas”. It was great fun, and while making the little guitar was pretty easy, making a “fire-stripe” pick guard was difficult. So, I discovered this new finishing trick along the way . . .

I started by wiping Colortone stains on a clear, self-stick  pick guard blank with white paper backing using Cherry red, Vintage Amber, Tobacco brown and clear alcohol to control the strength of each.

For example, here I am thinning the amber to get different shades, and a feel for what happens.

Adding some Tobacco Brown

A touch of Cherry Red well thinned on top of the Tobacco Brown

Here I am washing all the colors together with alcohol and liking what I see (the start of a fire-stripe look).

Next, with a tight-fitting latex glove I “finger-painted” with the colors and it came out perfect!

After spraying a couple coats of clear lacquer over the dried-stains, I cut out the J-35 shape.

On the body it was better than I could have dreamed or hoped-for!