Calling People with Guitar Finishing Experience

[needsmorecowbel]

Very Vague Question, but hopefully it will start an interesting discussion. What type/ brand of nitrocellulose finishes have you had most success with with Electric Guitars. I'm looking to get a high gloss finish on some wood which has a pronounced fiddle back pattern (Red Gum) (pictured below). I planned to buff the whole guitar once finished. Any suggestions on what type of finish or a particular brand or type that may have given you consistent results over the years.

[woodrat]

Hi NMC, Thats a nice piece of Red Gum you have there. I have been using on all my instruments Mirotone 3220 Nitro lacquer and it has been good to use. Its very clear and buffs well. Leave it absolutely as long as you can before buffing. I am going to leave my latest one a month before I buff. When the Mirotone runs out I am going to try Durobond Guitar lacquer on the recommendation of the good chaps at Gilet's in Sydney as that is what they use. Mirotone has been good though and I have finished many guitars with it so there are a couple of products that you can try.

Hope that helps.

John

[Allen]

Mirotone 3220.

As John said, leave for as long as possible, with good flash off between coats. You have to allow all the solvents to gas off before cutting back the finish and buffing, or it will end up dying back on you. This goes for all brands of lacquer finish.

[Rick Turner]

For maximum "pop", try epoxy sealing first. It's not just good on open pored woods. Do wash and sand before top coating to get rid of any amine blush issues.

If you don't mind trading off chatoyance for a bit more obvious grain highlighting, you could use a water stain in amber or brown first, allow to dry, and then sand back to bare wood. That leaves stain in the upwelling end grain of the figure and gives more contrast. It slightly lessens the depth of the look, though, with subsequent sealing and finish coats.