Dopey things you see on the Internet

[ken cierp]

Something that I find to be bothersome and irresponsible is when someone trashes a product because it not what they personally use --- what a bunch of crap! Just about all the consumer finishes/systems have been used on guitars with great success. And when someone indicates that one of these readily available popular products is not suitable for guitars -- you can rest assured that is BS. You simply do not need $12 per rattle can products, or for that matter an expensive spray system to put a fine finish on your project. Follow the directions, make sure of compaibility of chemicals to be used and you will be fine. As an example -- should Bruce Sexauer be told what a mistake he has made using hand applied varnish on all his guitars for the last (15) years?
http://www.sexauerluthier.com/forsale.html

[Dave Bagwill]

Yes he should be criticized, his guitars are not shiny enough. :-)
George Lowden makes a point that his finishes are hand-rubbed. Satin finish, if I'm not mistaken. Kinkade (sp?) used Tru-oil ( basically a wiped on varnish).

When I finally let go of the idea that a super high gloss was the only acceptable finish, I started enjoying building again. And my guitars look fine, though if you hung them on the 'red wall of China' at the local music store, newbies would not notice them at first, being blinded by the plywood instruments sprayed with shiny chemicals suitable for warfare. :-)

[ken cierp]

Please let me know were the drop off loction is for the Taylors, Doolin's and Fox's (and many other USA brands) for all those owners that will be burning their guitars now that I am going to expose the fact that they are coated with UV cured Polyester.

[Dave Bagwill]

Those finishes are evil, so if you try to burn them they will scream. :-)
All I was saying was - having the burden of trying to get perfect oh so shiny finish at the END of the build process was, for me, taking the fun out of the journey. It would not stop me from buying another guy's instrument.
And a well-done high gloss finish can be very nice; I admire it.

[ken cierp]

I know that even some of the Martin mid priced models have satin back and sides with gloss tops -- And some of the satin finishes are wipe on polyurethane.

[Kevin in California]

I would PREFER a stain finish on my guitars if I could do it right!
The new Hohner Contessa I bought in 1971 was a mahogany dred with a satin finish and I always loved how it looked and felt.
I will be trying a satin in the future and I'm thinking Truoil might be what I use...filling and then rubbing down with steel wool.

Kevin

[ken cierp]

I am planning to stain a couple of necks soon, one is Mahogany and the other Curly Cherry. I'll be doing pore filling on the Hog with Zpoxy. I'll use Behlens vinyl sealer followed by Behlens Dark brown Walnut Lacquer Toner on the Hog and Cherry Red on toner on the Cherry, then sealer, then plenty of satin Watco. This kind of process requires a lot of top coat because of wear through -- but then agian, a well used/worn neck looks pretty cool.

I'll post in a different thread.