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Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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05-10-2022 08:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Alter
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Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
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Originally Posted by j4zz
Nitrocellulose lacquer sticks to shellac.
Shellac is an excellent finish as well, IMO. It scratches easily, but is infinitely repairable.
Clear shellac is widely available.
Erich Solomon's archtops typically come with clear shellac finishes.
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I have some really nice French polished classical & flamenco guitars and they sound amazing. However, I had one of the guitars built for me and I underestimated the time it takes for the shellac to cure and harden. As a result, the guitar i showing a lot of scratches and small nail marks o the top. It adds character and I’ll never part with the guitar so resale is not an issue. But, be careful with new shellac.
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Originally Posted by j4zz
You can get amber or clear (blonde) shellac flakes. Not truly clear transparent but once watered down for sanding sealer purposes is effectively clear.
I don't know for sure but the short and long term flexibility of a dried finish probably needs to be considered as well as the thickness of the finish. Some more experienced on this forum may know of the flexibility of thin Poly vs Nitro and if it is linked to finish checking?
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Originally Posted by John A.
I don't know how the luthier did it but the wood wasn't moved.
The new laquier was put on the guitar perfectly.
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Originally Posted by kris
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Depends on what you refin from, a nitro is easy to remove, a thick poly with plastic dip under you cant refin without sanding unless you just spray an opaque on top of whats already there
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I bought a small bottle of shellac and am trying to put it on part of the top plate of my old classical guitar.I like working with shellac - little shellac layers and you can see the effect.
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When working with shellac I have found that being able to vary the ratio shellac to alcohol is a big advantage. If you get a too thick layer then do the next 2 with a more diluted mix. The finish layers are mostly alcohol to smooth out. Also some drops of mineral oil on the sponge can help to get smoother movement
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Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
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I just picked up an Eastman SB55 V which surprisingly comes with a varnish finish. The guitar is very resonant unplugged. A versatile guitar and well worth $1,400. High end mandolins are almost always varnish.
SB55/v - Eastman Guitars
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Wonder what they mean with varnish though, its a very generic term
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Originally Posted by alltunes
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I have a Telecaster, mahogany back with a flame maple top, that I finished in boiled linseed oil. It was very easy to apply (this was my first time finishing a guitar) and the final product is remarkably hard and durable, not to mention attractive. I get a lot of compliments on the looks of that guitar. It seems to be ambering slightly as it ages. The look of a finish that penetrates into the wood versus sitting on top of it is different. I really like it. If I was ever to finish an archtop, I would be very tempted to use BLO with that.
I did not use it on the neck; the neck is a Warmoth neck which they finished in nitro.
Varnish is the traditional finish for violins, including the great Cremona violins, and it's pretty hard to get a greater vote of confidence than that. I think it is probably less suitable as a product for use in assembly line manufacturing and that nitro was easier to apply, easier to get a good finish and probably cheaper in the long run than using varnish. A lot of these decisions by Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, etc., were not made on the basis of "tone" but on the basis of cost and the eye candy appearance of the final product for the purpose of driving sales. Also the much larger surface area of a guitar versus a violin would much more easily reveal anything irregular or uneven in the finish.
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Well, there is material to study impact on tone on a solidbody. Just get 2 1950’s strats, one in lake placid blue (acrylic), and one in sonic blue (nitro) and compare.
I am convinced that I would not hear a difference, but who knows
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"I've seen acoustic and classical guitars having just the top refinished, where you'd have a different instrument afterwards. Even in electrics refinishing changes the sound considerably." Alter
I've posed this question to two luthiers over the years: A. LoPrinzi and R.Brune. Neither advocate refinishing a CG top for the above reason. My two "Artist Model" CG's are both over 30 years old and show significant play wear above/below the strings and in friction areas under the right arm and on the lower bout from playing in the upper register. And, then throw in unavoidable dings/dents, and string slaps(early in their life) and you have the quintessential player's guitar. Both instruments have very unique voices and refinishing the soundboard is not an option for me.
Marinero
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Shellac is great stuff!
I've been working with shellac for several days and I really like the effect of the work.
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Polyurethane by nature due to it's molecular structure is sound deadening , it has been used it for that purpose for years. Now the thin coat UV cured poly these days is not much of a hindrance to tone. That being said, I prefer a Nitro finish despite they are more time consuming and fragile. I've done french polish , and tonally I'd say it is a winner . That's why so many Violin family instruments use it. It is an art to get it right to be sure.
Joe Yanuziello Electric
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