Official Luthiers Forum!

What do you think of putting wipe on poly-clear- after f/p to add more protection for finish. Would you still be able to perceive the marvelous depth f/p gives wood. I know I have probably given cardiac arrest to those who use f/p very often. Im just curious and relults might be interesting.

I'd think it would interfere with one the big upsides to French Polish: the fact you can touch it up nice and easy, if need be.

You can certainly put any clear finish over shellac, keep the depth (pretty much), but how the gloss/surface finish looks will de determined by the topcoat, not the french polish.

I routinely seal with shellac, simply because it gives me a nice looking base to build on.

How's the artist's mantra go? Soft over hard? I think you are facing issues of cracking if you put a hard finish over a soft one, or so I've read.

I agree with Mattia. If you French polished the guitar, leave it be. Someone down the road will want to repair the finish someday. Though it is true that French polish is not as resilient as a hard finish. It is still an exhalent finish. Adding the Poly will just dampen the bodies resonance and make finish repair difficult if not impractical.

Thanks guys, I figured it was a no no.