Laquer removal?

Wirralgitane

after reading and seeing some of these guitars, i decided to do mine this afternoon in the back yard. I ask me dad if he had some different 'grades' of sand paper, he did, so i went to work on my 250m, i think i took enough off the gloss on the top and fined sand the finish, then saw some old wood wax toner, oak colour. So i put that on it and its drying now. I'll post the finished pic when its dry :oops:

TenorClef

Cool! Show me photos, i want to see how you got on with your project, i totally felt my efforts were worth while on my project which is still on going i might add. On another note (no pun) check out the other thread regarding microphones, this is really good stuff, it goes off track a little because of archtop affectionados, but i discovered that if i stick a condenser microphone infront of my guitar i get suffient volume to be heard over drums, double bass, piano and double bass BUT the most crucial factor is that my guitar was not discoloured and sounded like a true acoustic guitar with enough lift in volume to be heard over the mix. For me this left me buzzing as i never thought i would go over to mics, i always assumed a pick up was essential. I've now ebayed my Schertler Dyn-G.

BluesBop Harry

Sorry for my ignorance but ...
What exactly is a french polish? and how is it done?
Thanks.

TenorClef

Type 'French Polish' into a search engine, its a nice finish very different to nitrocellouse laquer or similar, does'nt quite equate to GJ IMHO, however a number of players with the budget opt for it, persoanlly unless you own a top class classical guitar (which i do) why bother for this style of music??? :?:

badjazz

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but don't you feel like a faker with an artificially old looking guitar? I understand doing this stuff to maybe get a different sound, but as far as the looks go I always thought that the cool thing was that a worn looking guitar has really been played and has a history. Not just that it looks like it has a history. I'd rather have either an old guitar with real play wear or a nice shiny new one where I know that all the nicks and scuffs have been put there by my honest use, not sandpaper.

BluesBop Harry

If anyone else want to learn about French polish:
http://www.milburnguitars.com/frenchpolish.html

TenorClef

badjazz wrote:

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but don't you feel like a faker with an artificially old looking guitar? I understand doing this stuff to maybe get a different sound, but as far as the looks go I always thought that the cool thing was that a worn looking guitar has really been played and has a history. Not just that it looks like it has a history. I'd rather have either an old guitar with real play wear or a nice shiny new one where I know that all the nicks and scuffs have been put there by my honest use, not sandpaper.

Oh come on i don't buy this at all, this is not about faking, its all about cosmetics. I like a guitar to look a bit beat up, I don't want a guitar to look all shiney and new. This is just me, as i've got older and started to develop a few knocks and scratches myself, its kinda reassuring to see the same things in my guitars too. Faking.....gee, where do you come up with that

Elliot

Bj, You gotta keep in mind that with today's finishes you aren't going to get that worn look or the aged patina that shellac gives the guitars we are looking at or that you'd want. Nitro and the like are way tougher and don't age well at all. Plus just the way they were painted and lacquered bespeaks of the hand-rubbed, brush applied, pre-airbrush age, so from the get-go you are already talking about period piece cosmetics, like which of 6 colors of shellac to blend, etc.

TenorClef

You know i've looked all over ebay and can't find a sun lamp here in the UK. Their must be a few out their, it's certainly worth experimenting with for me anyway however i have no idea if it would really work or not.

badjazz

Elliot wrote:

. . . Nitro and the like are way tougher and don't age well at all . . .

I guess it's just a matter of taste, but I like how vintage epiphones, gibsons, martins (from the 1930's on), and even telecasters look when they age, and they are all nitrocellulose, right? What do you mean by 'don't age well at all'? I've had shellac guitars that cosmetically seemed to age pretty similarly to nitro, but just faster because they are not as tough. Obviously, I am not an expert on guitar finishes, but it seems like you just want it to look beat up, which can happen with shellac or good, thin nitro finishes. Am I wrong, or wouldn't a 10 year old shellac finish look pretty similar to a say, 30 year old nitro finish? What do you expect the differences would be? I realize that the poly finishes on most cheaper guitars made now are bad, mostly because they seem to be really heavy and choke the sound, and seem like they would almost never age as it is like having a plastic-shrink-wrapped guitar. Those seem like they would probably benefit from a refinish, but if left to natural aging, what would be the difference in how a shellac finish would look compared to a nitrocellulose lacquered guitar, other than the length of time that it takes to get there?