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Thanks Robbie, I'll do some test panels.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That is exactly how this one was done. TransTint black over raw maple, sanded back. Hand rubbed TransTint brown/red/amber in water. Sprayed shellac base/seal coat, sanded back, then traditional French Polish with Royal Lac.

I don't think I could have rubbed the base coat on. I think that would have pushed the tint around too much.

Awesome! That is exactly what I want the back and sides to look like.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I decided to do my Seal Lac and Royal Lac test on a guitar that I re-topped a couple of years ago. It is a 1951 Gibson LG-3, and it has been sitting in my shop because I could not make myself deal with a nitro finish. I get a headache when I type the word "nitro".:>)

I was experimenting, so I tried a little bit of everything as a learning process. I knew that if I did not like the result, I put it back on the shelf and wait for the next finish to come along that was not named nitro. The finish checking/crazing is not a concern to me, because the back and sides' original finish is already crazed. I sprayed some, brushed some, and wiped some on with a little tee-shirt ball.

I sealed with De-waxed Blonde Seal Lac. I used 6 light coats on the raw spruce. I brushed 2 coats, sprayed 2 light coats, and wiped 2 light coats. I waited a day after each 2 coat session and sanded lightly with 600 grit. It is amazingly easy to sand and you will sand through very easily.

I wanted an amber colored finish, to match the look of an old natural topped Gibson, so I used the De-waxed Garnet Royal Lac. I brushed a couple of coats, waited a day and sanded, then wiped on a couple of coats, waited a day and sanded lightly with 600 grit. I gave up with the brush and tee-shirt ball. Too many streaks and brush lines. That part is operator error, so I will work on my technique for that. I sprayed the rest of the coats. I am sorry to say, I did not keep good records, but I think i put around 6 sprayed coats, sanding after every 2 coat session had set over night. I then let it sit for 2 weeks. I block sanded with 600 grit until the shiny spots were gone, and then went through the grits with foam-backed Abralon, on my PC ROS, starting with 1000 grit, up through 4000 grit. I then used 5000 grit Trizact with the foam backing. I did not compound it yet, because the sheen is just right at this point to match the sides. I compounded a small area, and it looks great, but more gloss than I want on a vintage guitar top. I went back over the buffed area with 5000 grit.

I plan to induce a little crazing in it after it sits a few days. I tried a small area and it ages just right to match the old finish.

Mine is a unique situation, trying to match a vintage look, but you owe it to your self to give this finish a try. After using the Royal Lac, I am going to finish off some of my builds, that I had laid aside, due to my dislike for nitro. On these new guitars, I will buff it out for the gloss, and hope for no crazing.

The jury will be out for a while as to the durability of the finish, but the application and finishing is a pleasure compared to other finishes. The ease of sanding means it lacks some hardness, but I'm hoping the curing process will take care of this. When I do a new build, I will wait longer on the cure time, before I sand and buff. I was anxious to see what it looked like, and am surprised that it turned out as well as it did with only 2 weeks cure time. Longer cure time will help on the shrink back in the grain lines, but that is not a concern on this guitar, since it is 64 years old, and the original top had some of the same.

I will have some pictures later.

BTW. I spent less than 30 minutes from the time I started block sanding, and running through all the grits. Most of that time was spent on the block sanding. But, even the wet block sanding is super easy and fast. I only spent a few seconds with each Abralon grit on the ROS. I was afraid I would sand through. When I went through all the grits, I was sure I would have to go back, since it was so easy. But, when I did the final grit, everything looked fine.

James, what are you doing to achieve a crazed finish?

I use canned air from Office Max, and invert the can, so that it will freeze the finish. I only did a small area under the fretboard extension area. You can't see it in these pictures. You can see that I sanded through the finish at the edge binding. Not a problem, since I will touch that area up once the neck and bridge are installed.

Here are some pictures of the guitar. The color variations are not as pronounced in person. There is a lot of glare on these pictures taken outside.

I am noticing some pretty severe shrinkage in the film after about three weeks post-buffing. Next time, I intend to wait longer between wet sanding and buffing, and do another wet sanding after further shrinking takes place, or simply wait a few weeks longer than the 2+ weeks I waited this time.

Everyone who has seen this finish to date loves it...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Would it make sense to wait a month before sanding and buffing?

I am expecting the shrinkage, but since this one is a vintage guitar, I will be ok with it. I will wait longer on my new builds. The neck went on today, and the bridge and pick guard will go on tomorrow. Can't wait.

Yes. Very much so. It seems to be shrinking into the edges a a small patch I did on the headstock, and it wasn't there a week ago. It is also shrinking into seams between the purflings in the rosette. I've seen that with nitro as well.

I may also be getting some delaminating occurring where I sprayed it over some Eoifanes varnish. I was fully prepared for that to happen as I knew it was a big risk. Not at all the fault of the RL.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."