Oil Finish Guitars- yay or nay?

Gassage

@evilmags

Could you post pic of said amazing guitar?

FelineGuitars

Gassage said:

@felineguitars

What oil do you use? Tung? Linseed?

We use Danish Oil which contains Tung Oil and hardeners - especially as this is what Blackmachine have always used

I have used Linseed in the past though on a guitar I built for Tim from Bare Knuckle

I have used Tru Oil as well with good results.

Tend to use Danish or Tru oil  on Necks where player wants a satin or raw feeling neck

Evilmags

In Scotland so just got me phone. It's somewhere on here though.

SNAKEBITE

Megii said:

I like using Tru Oil to finish my parts builds. That stuff does cure and harden, and can be built up in thin coats. So maybe doesn't count as a "proper" oil finish? I'm not sure. Pic of my most recent walnut strat:

What I like is that I can keep the finish very thin, and leave the grain unfilled - so kind of a naturalistic look, but with the colour and figuring in the wood being brought out nicely.  Nothing against a well-done paint finish, but I do like the natural wood look, albeit artfully enhanced. So I guess a its a yay from me.

Not sure if it is because it is a Strat, but I'm kinda liking that.

Only kinda though

Reminds me of a chopping board I had in the kitchen.

Gassage

I believe you would use boiled linseed- bizarre as it doesn't work for a cricket bat- clogs the pores up and you want raw linseed to penetrate.

Rox

FelineGuitars said:

Gassage said:

@felineguitars

What oil do you use? Tung? Linseed?

We use Danish Oil which contains Tung Oil and hardeners - especially as this is what Blackmachine have always used

I have used Linseed in the past though on a guitar I built for Tim from Bare Knuckle

I have used Tru Oil as well with good results.

Tend to use Danish or Tru oil  on Necks where player wants a satin or raw feeling neck

You can get a very deep finish with Danish Oil, and I've used in on the exterior wood on our Morris Traveller.  Reasonably easy to get a good finish with it.  Not as easy as some Organic oil (Triton oil I think it was called) I used; that was simplicity itself!

stickyfiddle

I love an oiled neck but not bothered about bodies. I like how they feel but don't like the look of them.

WezV

Its a yay from me, i love the feel of a good oil finish.

again its tru-oil or danish i use most often.  Mostly tru-oil these days, but there are still some woods i prefer to use danish on.

I don't like oil finishes when they try to emulate lacquer.   A lot of people use tru-oil this way and to me it doesn't match a good lacquer and you loose the good bits about an oil finish when you try to build it up.

I have just restrung my homemade acoustic for the first time in a couple of years.  I made the mistake of finishing the top with danish oil and it basically killed its tone for about 6 months.   Sounds lovely now though

stonevibe

I get bored with solid colour and so I've used oil finishes a lot the last few years. Plus they are thin and easy to maintain.

My latest is a Wudtone one which is a similar thing to using just oil. I literally just finished re-building this one today, before I came on here and saw this thread.

I wanted a dark colour that would age easily and was bored with black, so went purple. This guitar ahas shad a few different, neck, pickup and hardware choices over the last 9 months. 

This is the current version of it. Crap photo as its suddenly gone very dark and moody out there...

Gassage

I like that actually- the whole arrangement.

Adam_MD

Love that purple colour @stonevibe is that amaranthine?

stonevibe

Adam_MD said:

Love that purple colour @stonevibe is that amaranthine?

I think so.

The purple Wudtone finish.

Nunogilberto

It's a yes from me.

koneguitarist

Oil is fine for me ! http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zps30a30758.jpg

Sync

I love oil finishes and could never go back for a playing instrument. Quite happily have lacquer for guitars hanging on the wall though.

Megii

SNAKEBITE said:

Megii said:

I like using Tru Oil to finish my parts builds. That stuff does cure and harden, and can be built up in thin coats. So maybe doesn't count as a "proper" oil finish? I'm not sure. Pic of my most recent walnut strat:

What I like is that I can keep the finish very thin, and leave the grain unfilled - so kind of a naturalistic look, but with the colour and figuring in the wood being brought out nicely.  Nothing against a well-done paint finish, but I do like the natural wood look, albeit artfully enhanced. So I guess a its a yay from me.

Not sure if it is because it is a Strat, but I'm kinda liking that.

Only kinda though

Reminds me of a chopping board I had in the kitchen.

"Kinda" is fine by me - we all have different tastes after all. Any chance of a pic of the chopping board though?

Iamnobody

Yay on the right guitar. My old Patrick Eggle New York being a nice example.

And good to work with for the DIYers.

juansolo

Oil, love it

monquixote

I love how oil finished necks feel. 

I have an oil finished Nirvana Black Warwick bass that I've gigged pretty heavily and it looks a complete mess so I guess you have to like how a worn finish looks, or be prepared to redo it every so often.

WezV

Nah,you have to like how it looks aged and like wood in general.

to me an aged oil finish feels like a 100 year old bannister. Well worn and thoroughly ingrained. That is what i try to achieve with my oil finishes and its what you see in juans pic above