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With thanks to all the OLF guys, I have been successful to the finish process. In fact, you have all helped me create delusions of adequacy so I decided on a sunburst finish on a spruce soundboard. It's pretty (my wife says beautiful!) but a bit lopsided. After my first clear coat (nitrocellulose lacquer), that flaw began to really bother me. Is there a way to "back up" and remove some of the dark edge and re-do that section? (sanding? scraping? chain saw?)

I have heard artists say "know when to quit" and perhaps I'm there unless there's a way to fine tune it.

Thanks everyone, you've been a lot of help so far.

Ray Kahler

Might help if you give us some clues as to what your schedule for finishing was..

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks, Colin that's a better place to start:
1. Sanded to 220 grit
2. Three coats of sanding sealer- This went rather quickly because Arizona humidity is around 10%. I sanded lightly between coats
4. Coats of both Encore Brown and Starcast Amber toner
5. Two very fine coats of Nitrocellulose Lacquer.
I stopped being dissatisfied with the asymmetry of the amber center (but love the colors and blend.)

Any pictures, Ray?

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Yep, (Hope this comes through)

Looks like it didn't transmit. I'll try another path.

It's difficult to sand away just some of the dark. IMHO, your best options are either (a) sand the entire top until all color is gone, and then apply color to the top from scratch; or (b) add some additional color in the areas that are now lighter until it's balanced, and then clear coats over that.

Okay, I had to re-format the picture Alex requested. Thanks Kelby, I'm leaning in your suggestion of starting from scratch.

+1 sand it back. Finish, especially staining is one of those things that once they go wrong it is nearly impossible to bring them back. That THING (whatever it is) will always bother you. Being finish you see it every time you pick up the guitar. Trust me, I have two guitars in my shop that sound and play great but have a finish "oops" I tried to cover up. I just can't see anything else when I pick up the guitar. I can't play them, I'll never sell them, they haunt me in the shop to remind me never to cut corners.

I'm in the process of striping a guitar that I tinted too lemon yellow. Of course I was tempted to see if I could shoot a little orange to knock it back, but then wisdom took over. I'm sanding now.

Hi Ray,

Depending on how you did your burst. If you didn't spray any clear between colors or prior to doing your burst you will have sand it down to sealer and start from scratch. I always lay a clear coat before major color changes in my bursts so it is possible to sand off a mistake.

This is a thread I posted of a rebuild on a 1950 Gibson CF100. I had to replace the top so a refinish was needed. I messed the burst up just as I was getting ready to put the final clear on it.

Look to the last page for how I repaired my mistake.

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10137&t=46629&sid=00aac52872522af4c6077f7289b50927

Hope that helps,

Bob

Thank you everyone. Your recommendations compel me to start sanding. I have been successful with several violins and one cello. Ill have to say that the skills for the arch top guitar were the same as the previous projects and the biggest challenge has been the finish. On to sanding!!
Ray