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This has probably been covered many times, but I know things change with time, experience and the number of builds. I’m wondering, what is your preferred finish and why? Laquer, poly, wipe on varnish, French polish etc? I’ve done everything except French polish and of course there are pros and cons to all, personally I haven’t narrowed it down to my “go to finish” yet, mostly because lack of experience and expertise in all of the above.

Personally I do not have the space, funds or inclination to set up a proper spraying operation for the 2 or 3 instruments i make a year. I pore fill with Zpoxy then use Tru oil. I am not a fan of high;y buffed finishes and prefer a satin finish where the wood still looks like wood. A personal preference only so Tru oil suits me.

Like Bob, I don't have room for a spray operation, and want to avoid spraying if at all possible. It is possible, using several products/methods.

I French Polished my first 7 instruments. I am currently doing tests on scrap of a different finish, applied via foam brush: System 3 Silvertip epoxy as the pore filler and first thin layer of finish, then General Finishes Enduro Var as the rest of the layers. I like it so far, but I have not yet used it on a guitar. That will come in a few months.

I think at this point my two top choices are what I just mentioned (Silvertip and Enduro Var) or Royal Lac, both applied by hand/foam brush/padding on. I'm simply not going to try to spray guitar finishes. I don't need to.

One of the several things I like about a Tru-Oil finish is how easily repairable it is. I recently did my first bridge removal and it was "less than perfect," scratching and scraping some of the finish around the bridge profile. It repaired very effectively with a bit of 320, 400, 800 sanding and a few coats of Tru-Oil. Now invisible.

While far from perfect, I currently use nitro over epoxy.

I use it because it is:
1) Relatively easy to use
2) Goes on thin
3) Looks great
4) Takes repairs well
5) Many players think it is the 'gold standard'.

I'm always looking for a replacement because nitro is:
1) not as hard as I'd like, it scratches fairly easily. it will imprint. Some of the modern finishes don't even require a pickguard, they are so hard.
2) it is a dried, not a cured finish. That means it will always be subject to damage from the right solvent.
3) It will check over time.
4) It will take on an amber look over time (many people think that is a plus)
5) It is toxic, but most of the finishes I'd like to use are.

Finishes that I would like to try are Royal-lac post-catalyzed, Enduro-Var, and a 2K urethane, but for now, it's Nitro.

The finish I'd love to use is a UV cured urethane, but the investment in equipment and the limited shelf life of an open container, make it prohibitive.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Are you thinning the true oil or just wiping on right out of the can ? Also how does anyone know how waterlox compares to true oil.

When the weather is fit and fine and I can blow the fumes out of the shop with a fan, I like to use Nitro.
I recently tried brushing Enduro-Var and although I'm not crazy about the ambering effect I do like the lack of overspray and relatively odorless nature of it. The specs say recoat time is 4+ hours , but I was recoating as soon as the film was dry to the touch, and hopefully before it cross linked to try to have the layers "burn in" to each other a little bit. In some cases the new finish was rewetting the "old" finish underneath, but it dried fine. The finish sands and buffs fairly easily after a couple of weeks, but should probably wait for a full cure (a month?) to fully buff out.

Here is a tru oil finish, tru oil pore fill also.
Straight out of the bottle, but the final two coats are thinned ~25% with mineral spirits just to make it lay flat.
This is very simple, cheap, excellent appearance although somewhat time consuming.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Just for the record TruOil over Zpoxy can be a problem for necks as it can get fuzzy after a few months and for some reason if you sand it down smooth it gets fuzzy again.

I had to refinish a couple of client necks because of that.

I never used it over Zpoxy for bodies so I can’t comment there.

For necks with TruOil I have used a trick I learned from Addam Stark. Sand the neck almost to a polish finish. 600-800G, and wipe on a tinted oil based pore filler. It will stain the neck and fill pores. If you wipe it on with the blue paper shop wipes it stays smooth and after the filler drys you can apply Tru Oil after a light polishing.

That has worked well for me. I have used the Chemcraft stuff from LMI thinned to a creamy consistency with Naptha.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I’m very fickle with finish and need to find something and stick with it. I’ve tried chemically cured McFadden’s polyester, McFadden’s lacquer, Cardinal lacquer, French polished Royal Lac, French polished button lac, and Enduro Var (test panels only). I’m very interested in Simon Fay’s upcoming tutorial on oil varnish, but it may be too involved for me as a hobbiest.

I love the look of lacquer and the ease/durability of Enduro Var. I may do another test panel with Enduro-Var.

To date I’ve just sprayed in the garage and haven’t had problems, though spraying lacquer definitely gives my environment-loving conscience a heavy heart.


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FP for me almost exclusively. I will do nitro on occasion and have tried some oil varnish and do want to learn more about that. But FP is easy once you learn it and it's safe beautiful finish and is known to be the thinnest finnish you can apply which might benifit the tone of the gutiar.

Nitro over zpoxy. I've tried others, keep coming back.

French Polish for the top
Lacquer everywhere else.

I started with nitro over shellac, then nitro over Zpoxy. My last two were finished with Randolph butyrate dope (non-tautening) over SilverTip. Very happy with the results.

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Jim Womack

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. "
Will Rogers

I love completing guitars, but I can't say I like finishing them.

As a strait up noob I have grown to like em6000. I spray outside. Dry / cure inside. I feel it’s the simplest way to get a gloss finish for me at this point.
Spray... cure.
Wet sand out any weird stuff
Buff.

Getting better each one


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I want to set up a booth in my new basement for spraying non-flammable finishes. I will occasionally spray lacquer in good weather outside. I'm hoping to have better luck with EM6000 in a clean room. I had nothing but fisheyes when I used it in the past in my dirty shop. That or Crystal-lac.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!