The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #130328 Message #2935389
Posted By: Gurney
27-Jun-10 - 12:05 AM
Thread Name: Guitar: Removing glossy finish
Subject: RE: Guitar: Removing glossy finish
Oil stains and oil finishes are different. Oil stain colours the wood and then dries, and you use very little of it, but oil finishes sink into the wood to preserve it, and you use quite a lot. Both enhance the appearance of wood. There are spirit-based stains, too. You apply stain by rubbing it in with a pad of rag, not painting it on.
To confuse the issue, there are coloured oil finishes which both colour and preserve, as I implied in my 02:37 post, but as I've posted twice before, think carefully about using an oil finish on soundwood. The tone comes from the structure of the wood, and the dried oil will change that.
Professional Luthiers use varnish on the guitar belly which pretty much floats on the wood, and doesn't sink in much, so yes it needs to be sealed eventually, but a Luthier friend of mine actually plays instruments for a while before he finishes them. He is careful to keep them clean, though. Chris.