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I'm preparing to do the finish on my first guitar soon. I'm going to use Deft aerosol lacquer for the job. Obviously before I coat the lacquer on, I need to seal the pores. I was looking for grain filler, but I was told that sanding sealer was the same thing. Is this true? Here's a link to the product I got. http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200416 ... Quart.aspx If anyone can tell me if this is the right product for the job, that would be great. Thanks.

Ellison, sanding sealer and grain filler are two different things.

Sanding sealer (which is what you have linked to) is used to seal the wood. Grain filler is used to fill the pores to provide a flat surface. You would typically apply sanding sealer, then grain filler, then finish.

p.s. The Grain filler or pore filler is only required if the wood is porous, i.e. on Rosewood but not on Spruce.

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That's pretty much what I figured. So I should lay down the sanding sealer, then the grain filler, and then lacquer? And would this grain filler work with the sanding sealer I have? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_s ... iller.html

What are you planing on useing as the final finish material?

Shellac works equally as well (I think better actually) than a sanding sealer, and it's less expensive.

Check out the finishing schedules at Stew Mac for a very good idea of the procedure. Although most builders will let their nitro or wb lacquer cure out for 3-4 WEEKS (not days) before wet sanding and buffing.

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For the final finish material I'll be using Deft gloss aerosol lacquer. I have 5 cans of the stuff, which I was told should be enough. Are all of these products compatible together? Thanks for the link to the finish schedule btw. Very helpful!

Compatability is never guarenteed, especially with products from different manufacturers. The normal recommendation is to "test on scrap".

Deft gloss aerosol lacquer is nitrocellulose in a spray can. the interesting thing is that the quart and gallon can Deft lacqure is not nitrocellulose. I have not figured that one out yet

Personally I pre fill with CA sand back to wood seal with 2# cut of shellac and then build the finish. You will need to give the Deft spray lacquer a min of 2 weeks before you rub out to final sheen