Hardest clear body finish

eviljoe

Hi Everyone-

Almost finished my first guitar body build. It's a single piece of Sequoia, which is very soft.

What are my options for finishing it? Really want something that will help prevent dents (although I think they are inevitable..) I'm going to grain fill it, then use a wood dye.

 I have a can of poly, and a mate has given me a can of Osmo Polyx, but that looks like it will dry with a yellow hue. Anything better than that out there? Would nitro be harder? Has anyone tried a UV resin?

Thanks in advance!

Funkfingers

eviljoe said:

What are my options for finishing it? Really want something that will help prevent dents (although I think they are inevitable).

I have one of the 2011 Fender redwood Telecasters. I only have to look at the body and it marks. It does not help that I have long nails on my picking hand.

The only thing I can imagine that is guaranteed to resist marking and dents would be a poly coating of CBS/Fender Seventies proportions. This will not show the wood off at its best. 

Nitro-cellulose will not be harder. Expect it to sink in slightly to reveal the grain and any body section glue lines.

Wipe-on oil or wax-oil finishes would highlight the wood but not necessarily protect against dings from real world playing conditions.

ThePrettyDamned

General finishes do a great water based finish that's quite hard. In my experience, harder than nitro by a mile - but I don't think it'll be as hard as mean catalysed plastic finish. These are the sorts of finishes that can go on cars.

That will possibly be thinner than a proper coat of nitro and much, much tougher. But you may need to get it to a pro to do... 

WezV

I did rustins plastic coating on a redwood top and that held up pretty well.

eviljoe

Thanks guys, useful stuff @funkfingers- was the redwood Tele a good player?
I'm going to look into General finishes, and Rustin's..

Funkfingers

eviljoe said:

was the redwood Tele a good player?

Indeed, it was … and still is. I still have it. The only modification I have made was to replace the No-Load™ tone pot with a regular CTS A250k. 

The stock Sixties-style pickups were already too bright for my usual Blackguard tastes. The loading effect of a regular pot eliminated some of the nasty edginess.

Andyjr1515

A related question - probably for @WezV or @ThePrettyDamned , if I can be so bold.

I'm building a bass body using lightweight paulownia.  It's strong but pretty soft and easily dinted.  It has to be (owner's choice) Shell Pink nitro with a clear gloss over the top of that.

I have three thoughts:
Either
- Cellulose Sanding seal
- General finishes water-based
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- Nitro Gloss

or 

- Cellulose Sanding seal
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- General Finishes water-based gloss

or

- CA glue the whole surface as surface hardener and sanding seal
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- Nitro Gloss

Any of the above three or none of them?

ThePrettyDamned

Andyjr1515 said:

A related question - probably for @WezV or @ThePrettyDamned , if I can be so bold.

I'm building a bass body using lightweight paulownia.  It's strong but pretty soft and easily dinted.  It has to be (owner's choice) Shell Pink nitro with a clear gloss over the top of that.

I have three thoughts:
Either
- Cellulose Sanding seal
- General finishes water-based
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- Nitro Gloss

or 

- Cellulose Sanding seal
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- General Finishes water-based gloss

or

- CA glue the whole surface as surface hardener and sanding seal
- Cellulose Primer
- Nitro Shell Pink
- Nitro Gloss

Any of the above three or none of them?

Super not an expert, so I'll bow out. I like general finishes but I doubt it's compatible with nitro... 

WezV

If real hardness is needed, i would go with a coat of finishing epoxy first.  If not that level of hardness rustins PC or similar.   

JGTay

I did a guitar out of paulownia a few years ago, dents very easily and it is now in pieces until I decide on best course of action.
Epoxy or CA would definitely help, but will wait and see how you get on. 

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

If real hardness is needed, i would go with a coat of finishing epoxy first.  If not that level of hardness rustins PC or similar.   

Hmmm....I'd forgotten about epoxy.  That's a thought as, if I remember correctly, it doesn't react with nitro (or, rather, fickle nitro doesn't react with it!).  Mind you - if I remember correctly, it's a devil to finish-sand.

WezV

Some are harder than others to sand.  If you costed it in alardite you woyld never get there, but s good finishing epoxy like west systems it perfectly  sandable

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

Some are harder than others to sand.  If you costed it in alardite you woyld never get there, but s good finishing epoxy like west systems it perfectly  sandable

Yes - good point.  I think this may be the best route.  Thanks for the suggestions.

WezV

Can you tell im drunk?

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

Can you tell im drunk?

Bork

JGTay said:

Epoxy or CA would definitely help, but will wait and see how you get on. 

I think CA is a great suggestion.  It's not as hard as catalysed poly but it soaks in, is still very durable nevertheless, buffs to a nice sheen and (like oil finishes) has the advantage of being repairable to an invisible degree (just add more CA to the dent, sand back and buff).  It's my preferred finish now. 

Oh, and it's ridiculously cheap compared to other finishes.  But it does need some care in application and plenty of rags. 

eviljoe

Bork said:

JGTay said:

Epoxy or CA would definitely help, but will wait and see how you get on. 

I think CA is a great suggestion.  It's not as hard as catalysed poly but it soaks in, is still very durable nevertheless, buffs to a nice sheen and (like oil finishes) has the advantage of being repairable to an invisible degree (just add more CA to the dent, sand back and buff).  It's my preferred finish now. 

Oh, and it's ridiculously cheap compared to other finishes.  But it does need some care in application and plenty of rags. 

Hmm

Interesting.. Any links to technique videos or tutorials? Have just taken delivery of some Rustin's, but could be persuaded otherwise...

koneguitarist

Whatever they used on 79s fenders! 

Bork

eviljoe said:

Bork said:

JGTay said:

Epoxy or CA would definitely help, but will wait and see how you get on. 

I think CA is a great suggestion.  It's not as hard as catalysed poly but it soaks in, is still very durable nevertheless, buffs to a nice sheen and (like oil finishes) has the advantage of being repairable to an invisible degree (just add more CA to the dent, sand back and buff).  It's my preferred finish now. 

Oh, and it's ridiculously cheap compared to other finishes.  But it does need some care in application and plenty of rags. 

Hmm

Interesting.. Any links to technique videos or tutorials? Have just taken delivery of some Rustin's, but could be persuaded otherwise...

There are loads on youtube:  Unfortunately I can't post a page of search results on here without the forum software attempting to turn it into a youtube thumbnail...and then removing the original link. 

 

BillDL

Unfortunately if you edit the comment after posting the link it messes up the embedded video and converts it to the associated thumbnail used for the image.

The video is HERE, or for those that prefer to view it inline here it is below:

eviljoe

BillDL said:

Unfortunately if you edit the comment after posting the link it messes up the embedded video and converts it to the associated thumbnail used for the image.

The video is HERE, or for those that prefer to view it inline here it is below:

Thanks for the video Bill!

So this gluboost is basically a fancy kind of mitre bond? (2 part superglue?) Might just try some mitre bond on a bit of scrap, see how it turns out ..