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I am attemptin to build a semi-hollow body, f-hole Tele.
The body is alder with curley maple top. I will mostly finger-pick (w/o picks) but may use pick sometimes. Plan to have top medium or dark amber.

Question. With beautiful figure on top, I don't want to cover it with pick-guard, even clear type.
What is the best finish, other than nitro to use for the top-for most protection and beauty.
Thanks,

Quite possible catalyzed polyester. But whether you want to get into that (Mario's the resident expert, methinks) is another question.

Pretty much all the finished out there used on guitars will do, I'd say. Oil's probably one of the nicest looking, but offers minimal protection, Shellac looks lovely and is a step up in durability, then the waterbased stuff I've played with to date (Target Coatings PSL and USL), then Nitro. That's from personal experience only.

    I'm using the UV cured polyester from McFadden and it is, by far, the hardest and most dutrable finish I have ever seen on a guitar. It is very difficult to scratch with nails or a pick and...if you would happen to find a way to scrape into it....is very easily retouched with no witness lines.

   I demo it for customers with everything from a very heavy pick to fingerpicks to lighting a wooden kitchen match and allowing it burn while lying on the finish. No marks or scratches after all of that. I doubt that I'll ever switch to anything else. I wouldn't recommend the match deal on any of your guitars, but I do it on a slab or Rosewood finished with the UV cured stuff just for the demo's sake.

    The catalyzed poly finishes are very hard too.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega GuitarsKevin Gallagher38582.6929050926

I too finger pick on a tele. Anyway what I did for mine was to have a glass shop make an clear acrylic pickguard the same shape as the standard tele pickguard.

Kevin,
"Match" on finish. Are you a re-incarnation of Hendrix!