Official Luthiers Forum!

It's been about 4 years since I finished my last custom guitar and am thinking about building a few in the coming months. I always used Nitro Cell Laquer but, at that time I was informed this was being phased out due to environmental issues. I'm not sure if it is still available and wanted to know what alternatives there are now. I know there were some new water based formulas coming into the market at that time but, never tried them. So, I am curious what most builders are using now. And where is the best place to acquire them. And do they ship international.

PWoolson I really liked the satin look of the guitars you last posted photos of. What type finish was that ?

they aren't satin, They are very high gloss Nitro. When we shot those photos, we went to great lengths to get rid of the specular highlights. You really only see it on the neck.

Jeff, I use Mcfadden's nitro lacquer. The best place I've found to get it is from Grizzly.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Thanks Dave...Maybe I was given some false info in the past. As I said I thought they were phasing it out due to environmental issues. I always used Mohawk products before. Maybe it's still avialable through them. But, I'll check Grizzly as well. Thanks a heap !!

Pwoolson...you did a great job of hiding the reflections in the photos. Must have taken some time or your just a great photographer. Maybe you should consider that as a sideline.. But, by the quality of your guitars I saw..you don't

OOOpps..hit the button before I finished. As I was saying...you don't need a sideline. You should be doing very well with your mainline. Punch button NOW!

Jeff,
I have been using the Mohawk instrument lacquer and have been very happy with it.
Brad

Thanks Brad,
Is that a nitro..high gloss ? And do you order direct from Atlanta ? I would like to know if they can ship international.

Yes ,It is nitrocellulose lacquer.
I order it directly from them,I can't remember where.

I get my nitro directly from McFaddens (5 gallon minimum). I also shoot their two part catalyzed urethane lacquer. I have used KTM9 and Target 9000 as well. My favorite is still nitro.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Jeff, the last 3 i did I used Behlens Stringed Instrument Lacquer and was pretty pleased with it. I tried it after a problem with Mcfadden's. I'm pretty sure I got hold of some bad stuff, because even after 3 weeks, It was still sticky, so I had to scrape all that mess off and start over. I got the Behlens because I could get it locally and I like it pretty well.Jimmie D38567.8995833333

Yeah, if I can still get Nitro it's the only way to go in my opinion. It's always worked best for me and I got the mix down pat. I had a friend who used Behlens and swore by it. I only used it one time when I was out of Mohowk and he bailed me out and gave me enough to finish the job. It worked out fine but, I think it was quite a bit more expensive. Anyway, thanks for reminding me of them, and the suggestion on McFaddens, a few more options I can research. I don't think the environmental thing will come into play here in Brazil. It's the shipping and import issues I have to deal with here. Even the local builders here order from other countries. Not quite sure why because I haven't tried to find it locally. Maybe it's just not available ???

I French polish all my guitars, steel string and resonators. If I ever use another finish I'll probably try to farm it out but I can't imagine any reason to uses something else.

Exactly what is and how do you French Polish a guitar. I've often wondered that and thought it was mostly used by classical builders. I started with Nitro and it always worked for me and I know all the top companies use it. Martin and Gibson I know do. So that was good enough for me because I've seen really old guitars by both companies that Nitro has served very well in the preservation of the instrument. But, I'd still like to know about FP if you could enlighten me.

I am building my first acoustic, and I plan to use nitro. I have used nitro on all my solid bodies and I can find no reason to change it. It works, and it works well.

Guitar Ed

I like nitro lacquer from Mcfaddens.I've bought it from LMI and Grizzly. I like the look of nitro more than any thing else out there that I've found so far.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

My understanding is that Before Nitro Most guitars were french polished. Today it is found on most high end Classicals but more and more SS builders are ussing it. It is tough, beutiful and many argue the best finish Accoustically) I can't argue this but I will claim that others do. Once you have learned how to do it is is also very easy and fast. I polished 2 guitars yeaster day that are being strung up today for a show that starts tommorrow. How do you do it? There are a number of good tutorials around (milburn) and there have been a number of recent discussions here o the subject. Basically what you are doing is using a combination of Shelc, Alcohol and oil applied to a pad and then rubbed on.

KTM-9 is my standard finish, French Polish is one optional finishes and Nito is an other I also offer French polish Hybrids: FP top and nitro or KTM-9 back and sidesMichaelP38568.4452083333

Can anyone supply me a link(s) to the tutorials on how to French Polish. And should I start a new thread (or is everyone burned out on the topic?) since I can't find the recent discussions on this forum.

See Miburn tutorial on the Online Resources page

http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpbannerframes.html
http://www.guitarsint.com/read_article.cfm/ArticleID/1/Artic leContentID/1
http://www.shellac.net/information.html

By the way Jeff don't hesitate to ask questions. That is what this forum is all about. PM me if you have issues I love French polish...SHHHHHHHHH don't tell anyone

This has been talked about before, you might do a search on the archive forum for the Brune french polishing class. I took it last month and it was well worth the money and time spent. I had no previous FP experience and I feel pretty confident in it now and can't wait to FP my first guitar.

I'm sure the Milburn method works well, but it seems very complicated and time consuming compared to the Brune method. I think Richard Brune published an article in a GAL quarterly at some point detailing his method. His son Marshall teaches the class, see the latest GAL quartery for the ad.

Upsides for me are: cheap, very little equipment to buy and store, dust isn't a major issue, all the materials are non-toxic, envronmentally friendly, no respirator necessary, acoustically superior to most other finishes, touch up is trivial, doesn't crackle after decades like nitro (even though I sort of like that look on old guitars). It's also really quick with the Brune method.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I have not tried the Brume’s method yet, but will. Rapid film build-up sounds like a great time saver.

I was taught by my Grandfather some 35 years ago and have always done the traditional build up method much like that described in the Milburn tutorial. Speed is some times a good thing but I don't ever finish a guitar thinking how fast can I get this out the door. To me the boding of a guitar (building the film) is much like cutting pearl. It is my getaway, my meditation period. I am not knocking in any way those that go for the rapid film build. However I feel that the old elbow grease method compacts the solids more, plus gives the an escape to a different state of mind.

But like Jeff said this has been coverd and is in the archives and may require many more threads