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What are the pros and cons of French polishing when it comes to steel string Guitars.I have built a few guitars that I have polished with shellac intstead of nitrocellulose laquer mostly because of lacking spraying booth,gun and so on.
It is getting better,but not perfect as my brothers nitrocellulose finishes..
My main problem is that the finish get a little bit hazy,not 3-Dimensional
Sorry for my poor English...
Very thankful for any suggestion on how to improve my french polishing.
Anders C.
Sweden

I'm in the minority but I like a FP finish on a steel string. Has a slightly brighter sound. My FP looks clear and glossy but due to it's thinness there is no mistaking it for anything other than a hand applied finish. Lacquer is what most people will want. As for the haze... not sure, a pic would help. What type of shellac do you use?

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I use hard shellac on many of my SS tops and most of my CL tops. Most people think it's nitro, which is what the B&S usually are. Shellac works fine. It's not pick-proof, but neither is nitro.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I do French polish finishes for several builders--classical and steel string. I won't pretend to not be biased, but I agree with Brian: French polish sounds better. I have test panels that I finished years ago. Anyone can hear that they ring better than bare wood panels. I don't have comparable panels sprayed with lacquer. Maybe they would ring the same.

I agree with Trevor, too. A thin finish (shellac, nitro, whatever) won't protect the soft wood of a guitar top.

I have french polished only 3 guitars now but I don't think I will ever go back to water-base or Lacquer again because I like the FP so much. IF a cuatomer wants it of course then I will but I will do a lot of convincing first. I don't think it makes any difference that a guitar is a steel string or not for an FP finish. As was mentioned nothing is really pick proof and really I put just as many scratches in my classical guitars as I do with my steel strings. I just FP'd a Selmer guitar and I won't chalk the sound of that guitar up to FP but darn if it doesn't sound great!

I found FP to be a very easy finish to apply with great results. I'm not sure what would be causing hazing. Is your shop humidity controlled? Could be that you are getting water vapor under the finish. I finish at 45% RH and have no issues at all.

I will FP on new builds, however for restoration and repairs I generally use lacquer because most vintage instruments (unless it's pre 1900) have lacquer. Plus it takes a lot of time for me to FP a guitar.

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Typhoon Guitars
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