Guitar refinishing - leave it raw?

austinrocket

Has anyone on here ever stripped the finish off a guitar but then just left it raw finish? Just stripping one at the moment and tempted to just leave it as is cos it looks great and the neck is lovely to play.

stimpsonslostson

It'll be a magnet for dirt, I'd suggest a light oil finish. It'll leave it looking good, but provide some protection..

octatonic

I’ve done it, it gets dirty pretty quickly.
That doesn’t always look bad, just most of the time. 

Mark1960

As above, I would suggest some sort of varnish / oil just to seal the wood and protect it from sweat and grime. I use a clear satin varnish cut 50/50 with white spirit. Give it a couple of coats, with a very light (P320 grit) sanding in between, and it will look pretty natural, and won't unduley affect the feel (It won't feel sticky like heavily varnished wood sometimes does).

OilCityPickups

Light wipe over with Tru-Oil is best I find ... stops the muck getting in, but it still looks like bare wood.

LightB4sound

I love natural finish, I have 3 guitars that I've stripped back. They do get dirty though, I used a wax too prevent this

lovestrat74

Before and after - oiled and waxed

austinrocket

lovestrat74 said:

Before and after - oiled and waxed

That looks amazing, what oil and wax did you use?

stimpsonslostson

This one is 5 very thin coats of TruOil on Walnut-
https://i.imgur.com/rxXThwH.jpg

Wipe on the oil to cover the surface, work it in slightly then wipe off all the excess. Do this twice.
The third time I rubbed the oil in with a bit of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to give a completely smooth surface (the grain rises slightly). 
Then layers 4 & 5 were wipe, work and wipe again. 
Finally I rubbed it with a clean cloth to polish it up a bit. 

If I get chance I'll take some photos later that better show the finish, but it's REALLY tactile. 

I also did these:
https://i.imgur.com/ESU51ia.jpg
Both the Esquire and Deluxe were done in the same way, though the Deluxe was stained blue before I started oiling it. The Esquire had a really thick layer of Poly over it & now it's much lighter and more resonant.

guitars4you

stimpsonslostson said:

This one is 5 very thin coats of TruOil on Walnut-
https://i.imgur.com/rxXThwH.jpg

Wipe on the oil to cover the surface, work it in slightly then wipe off all the excess. Do this twice.
The third time I rubbed the oil in with a bit of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to give a completely smooth surface (the grain rises slightly). 
Then layers 4 & 5 were wipe, work and wipe again. 
Finally I rubbed it with a clean cloth to polish it up a bit. 

If I get chance I'll take some photos later that better show the finish, but it's REALLY tactile. 

I also did these:
https://i.imgur.com/ESU51ia.jpg
Both the Esquire and Deluxe were done in the same way, though the Deluxe was stained blue before I started oiling it. The Esquire had a really thick layer of Poly over it & now it's much lighter and more resonant.

The Deluxe in blue looks nice - Not saying the others aren't but the blue is my fav

lovestrat74

austinrocket said:

That looks amazing, what oil and wax did you use?

Can't remember exactly, probably tru oil. The wax was fiddies with a little bit of darkener in it - so not the clear stuff. I had it for use on some house furniture - old pine table etc.  Wood is wood right? No need to over complicate it just treat it like your favourite piece of furniture 

axisus

lovestrat74 said:

austinrocket said:

That looks amazing, what oil and wax did you use?

Can't remember exactly, probably tru oil. The wax was fiddies with a little bit of darkener in it - so not the clear stuff. I had it for use on some house furniture - old pine table etc.  Wood is wood right? No need to over complicate it just treat it like your favourite piece of furniture 

Your Tele looks superb! Love it!

Henrytwang

I’ve got several unpainted guitars. Like others here I’ve sealed them with Tru-Oil, it’s easy to apply and you can control the depth of the finish from just a light sealing coat to quite a deep shine.

Jalapeno

Unless you want it grimy, greasy and stained a la Nuno - put a coat of oil on and wax it.

lovestrat74

axisus said:

Your Tele looks superb! Love it!

Thanks @axisus I'll take that from you especially after all the cracking builds you have put together  

10thumbs

Guntstock oil works great , it's cheap and easy to use .
Used it on my tele build a couple of years ago, its clear and looks beautiful.