Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks,

On my last 2 guitars I had great success in spraying KTM9 with a HVLP
spray gun. The look and feel of the waterbased finish is (up to now)
more than sufficient for my personal needs.

But right now I build a guitar which will be a present for a singer/songwriter. The artist will play the guitar on stage approx. 20
times a year. The touring comes along with a flight every now and then.
In other words: The guitar will see some stage use and traveling in a
hard case.

After talking to one of the few pro builders in my area, I am unsure
about which finish is the right one. According to him, waterbased
finishes in general are not durable enough. 3 years down the road a
waterbased finish would look really bad. He recommended a Nitro finish
(at least for the top).

My problems with a Nitro finish are:
- I am located in Germany and until today I haven't found a local
supplier for Nitro laquer that would suite for guitar finishing.
- StewMac and LMI (of course) won't ship the Seagrave (McFadden) laquer overseas.
- Letting Joe White do the finish is not an option (because of the
shipping costs).
- Letting that local pro builder do a Nitro finish for me would cost
around 800 Euros (that are almost 12 Benjamins).

Now your expertise and opinion is highly valuated and appreciated:
What are your experiences with KTM9 finishes?
Do you think it is (or is not) resistant and durable enough for this task?
Should I bite the bullet and let someone do a Nitro finish?

If you happen to know of a European based source for Nitro laquer,
please let me know.

Thanks a bunch.

KTM-SV is a better product than KTM-9. It's very easy to spray, looks great, and will stay great looking.
I've seen KTM-9 guitars that still look great after a few years, but that's not the issue with KTM-9.
Go with the SV or have someone spray polyester.

_________________
"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."

Indeed. KTM 9 has caused me a lot of grief. The KTM SV is a superior product in every way in my opinion.
I also think 800 euro for a spray job is too much. I can get a nitro sunburst in my hood for 350$, and that comes buffed.

+1 for KTM-SV......it's a harder, more durable finish. If you are using an oily, tropical wood, make sure you get a good seal over the oily wood before applying KTM-SV or it won't hold. I used a thin coat of Zpoxy over EIR and it sealed fine and the KTM-SV adheres fine.

_________________
Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Thanks a lot for those very helpful replies. I will definately give KTM-SV a try.

thumbs down on the ktm -9. I had a guitar that I helped a student spray come back after a couple years from someone who had acidic sweat. It LOOKED as though he had sprayed "Off" brand insect repellant on his hands and went to playing. I also simultaneously sprayed a personal guitar, and it has the same problems, but not nearly as pronounced. His needed the necked stripped completely. I just kiss mine with 1000 grit once or twice a year. I'm not going into a detailed description. I will never use that product again. It was a very expensive mistake on two guitars.

It was a very expensive mistake on over twenty guitars. SV is great though. My personal tester is holding up beautifullyin spite of my constant malicious abuse. Frankly, I think Grafted Coatings and LMI should stop offering KTM 9 for guitars. SV outperforms it in every way, so why even bother with the 9?

Did anyone hear back from the people at Grafted about their tests on a good sealer under KTM-SV on oily woods?

Paul

Still pending I believe. I'm sure it takes a while to develope this kind of stuff. I have a guitar that I used my own homemade dewaxed shellac, not Zinsser. I'll be spraying in the near future we'll see how well it goes this time around.

What about Target/Colortone finish? As far as I can tell, this cures tough as nails. What's everyone else's experience, especially compared to KTM9?

It's ok but for the blue haze. SV has absolutely none of that v