Official Luthiers Forum!

I am gearing up for my first attempt at french polish , Would French polish be used for the necks also? or would tru oil make for a slicker feel ? Thanks Jody

Jody buddy I french polished a neck and although it had a fantastic feel, for a while......., it is starting to feel a tad gritty as the french polish wears off.

Folks will tell you that it is very easy to fix this and redo the neck and this is true. But...... depending on where the guitar is going if anywhere at all True oil might be a better choice since we would not want a paying customer to be expected to french polish their neck, on their guitar either..... , as required.

Jody - I don't french polish my necks but I do finish them with shellac. I just pad on superblonde shellac mixed from flakes and then buff it out like the rest of the guitar which is finished with varnish. I like the feel and my personal guitar, which has been played one to two hours a day for seven years, still looks like it did when I finished it.

Peace, Paul

I have the same issue with FP. On the three guitars I FP'd, I ultimately removed the shellac and applied Danish Oil. I now really prefer that dry, slick feel. After a year it retains the initial feel and performance whereas with FP, I had to sand and redo the surface each 3-4 months...not a difficult chore but one that is now unnecessary.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

French polish is a very good neck finish for about 70% of the playing public. The other 30% have a ph level issue that seams to soften the shellac.. That said I am one of those. However I found but religiously wiping down the neck with a distilled water damp lint free cloth after every playing session I have eliminated the problem for me and several of my clients.

I have known clients to have the same issue with nitro, Varnish and tru-oil as well. The only common finish that I have never heard the same complaint at one time or another is cat poly and cat urethane.

To the best of my ability to tell it is not the finishes problem. It is just a chemical reaction to the players sweat. I can not confirm if it is an ammonia related or high acidity but have noticed players that get religious about wiping down after each session have far less issues. So I believe it is due to the adverse agent being allowed to remain on the finish for extended periods of time that leads to the problem and is at least a reduced issue if not completely solved by wiping down after every session.

I showed a couple of guitars that have FP necks to my fencing coach. I tried out both guitars, played a few tunes and strummed some chords. When he handed them back, the necks were mottled. On one neck I could actually see a thumb print!! These weren't newly finished necks either so the shellac was pretty hard. It is as though his sweat had alcohol in it. Some people react with shellac. Wiping down after playing wouldn't have helped in this case because the damage was done almost instantly.

I'd use another finish if I didn't know the end user.

Tru-Oil seems to do a pretty decent and fast neck. Its tougher than shellac and just as easy to repair. Its also pretty easy to apply.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

I have seen this once as well Mike, though really rare. I have one client that just can't deal with a varnish, shellac or nitro finish.

I doubt it is an alcohol issue but very well could be an ammonia issue.

My sweat has broken down the USL I sprayed on my first acoustic's body by the armrest area, but the shellac finished neck is good as new, feels lovely. Bout equal footing with the oil finished necks I have. Oil and Shellac are my finishes of choice when it comes to necks.

thanks for the help guys , TRU Oil it is then ! too-shay ! Jody