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I was setting here thinking..........Hea, know ..........That can be dangerous Anyway has anyone ever done a light spit coat of shellac in the interior of back and or sides. It would seam to me that it would give some environmental protection. I have read several articles on painting the treble areas of tops. Some believe that this adds tonal value to the top.MichaelP38421.6219328704

When I was at Charles Fox' class I noticed that the inside of his guitars appeared to have some kind of finish on them.

I asked him about it and I can't remember whether he said it was shellac or just a thin coat of nitro.

I think, in his case, it was more for aesthetics than for environmental protection though.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Actually I haven't done it but I am thinking about it. If I can find the right stuff. I want something that I can pad on with a very subtle non shine. I think it may offer some moisture protection but I think more than anything make for a nicer looking interior. Mayhaps shellac is the thing. Actually the look I am trying for is a waxed wood sort of look but I don't want to use wax.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I've read a lot of opinions about this over the years. Some swear by it; some swear AT it. Some feel it enhances the sound; others feel it mutes the vibrations. Some only coat the soundboard; some coat everything BUT the soundboard. Put all that together and it seems like all that really matters is personal preference. I guess (and others have written) that it would slow the transfer of moisture. The downside, though, is that you loose the wonderful smell of wood--especially bad if you've used Spanish cedar in the box.

Carlton

[QUOTE=John How] Actually I haven't done it but I am thinking about it. If I can find the right stuff. I want something that I can pad on with a very subtle non shine. I think it may offer some moisture protection but I think more than anything make for a nicer looking interior. Mayhaps shellac is the thing. Actually the look I am trying for is a waxed wood sort of look but I don't want to use wax.[/QUOTE] If I was going to do this, and I may. I would think that a 1/2# cut of shellac would be ideal. Easy to pad on. Thin enough tha it would not appear built-up. I think I will cut some shellac tonight some 1/2#, 3/4#, and 1# and see which I feel will work the best using IRW and Koa as my test woods, being these are the two most common back and side woods I get orders for...."Unrelated" in the past two years I have not been able to sell a new build with Mahogany. minus one quilted Mahogany. I am not sure why. I love to work with Mahogany as wellas love the tone.MichaelP38421.6484837963

I have sealed the whole interior with 1# cut shellac. I really have no way of knowing if it was beneficial or not. All I can say is that there are no problems with the guitar after close to two years. By the way it was a coco/ engleman.

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I had thought once of a very light coat of tru oil wiped on. Never did it though on finished guitar but did it on one that for reasons became a practice box. Looked good, probably some moisture protection but no knowledge of what may or maynot do to sound. I know it can go on very thin and leave nice sheen or whatever want for finsh and works well on gunstocks. probably should have learned how do to those,probably better at that than guitars way things have gone lately

I'm definitely going to do it on ziricote backs in the future, or I'll stop using this wood, which is pretty much my favorite. They're also going to get flooded with CA and sanded back prior to bracing. So between sealing all those microscopic hairline-fractures-waiting-to-happen with CA, and sealing the whole plate with a thin "vapor barrier", it might help keep the wood from cracking over time.
Doubtful, but worth a try.

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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."

[QUOTE=MichaelP] "Unrelated" in the past two years I have not been able to sell a new build with Mahogany. minus one quilted Mahogany. I am not sure why. I love to work with Mahogany as wellas love the tone.[/QUOTE]

Everyone knows my opinion of Mahogany, I think if it was 10 times the price people would be falling over themselves to buy Mahogany guitars. If Martin had put their highest grade decoration on Mahogany guitars instead of Brazilian Rosewood that's the one they'd all want. Unfortunately, it has the reputation of the mass produced cheap guitar, but we all know it is THE premium tonewood.

Colin

Colin

So good he signed it twice!Colin S38422.2323726852

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

One of the main negatives of coating the interior of the guitar is future repairability. If there is a crack, the repair person may need to put a splint across it to keep it from comming back. If the inside is finished, the have to scrape away that finish before gluing. Frank Ford hangs out at the ASIA forum. I'll ask him if interior finish makes life difficult for him.
Mike Mahar38422.3212962963