Help: How do you refinish a guitar?

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 07:16 PM

Yes Tig, that is one of my major concerns - one of the other main reasons I posted here - because you guys would understand the importance of preventing the loss of the signatures.

Thanks for the links, Jon W. and Dee45.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Dee45
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 07:03 PM

Useful info.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Tiger
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 06:54 PM

Hi, Allan....

Regardless of the finish, be careful about the signatures bleeding when you apply any kind of finish. Remember, this is a priceless instrument.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Jon W.
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 06:54 PM

Go to Musical Instrument Makers Forum and check out the discussions under "glues and finishes" and "stringed instrument repair". Also if you join up (as painless as Mudcat but no cookies involved) you can look at archived discussions in their library.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 06:39 PM

Which is of course why fire engines are red.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: BeauDangles
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 06:29 PM

"French polish fin[n]ish." How very cosmopolitan!! I'd think of something to add to this, but I have to be russian off!

BeauD

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 04:41 PM

Thanks, all. Yes, Leslie Caron would have been a wonderful choice for polishing things but unfortunately I will be forever reminded that my first wife was named after her. I am now investigating local sources of decent lacquer. And yes, there will most definitely be a picture of the finished product for all to see.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 01:30 PM

'Spaw, there is a large difference between "tung oil" and "tongue oil" and neither is appropriate in this case.

Allan - any chance you could get a picture of the guitar up on the Cat when it's finished?

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 01:22 PM

Every time I try a French Polish finish, my tongue wears out before I'm done and the shellac tastes awful to boot.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 01:11 PM

Allan,

I signed that guitar and I know it needs some work desparately:-) I was actually making an editorial comment regarding general refinishing of musical instruments.

(This by no means gets me offnthe hook for racting only to the subject heading and not reading the first post before I commented. I will never learn.)

But! A local fiddle fixer for the Syracuse symfanny archestra likes Deft sray laquer for small jobs and its canned counterpart for the big ones. I know Spaw preferes Sear's Better. If I had to chose a French person to polish it I'd pick Leslie Carron.

Don

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Bert
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:41 AM

Aw Spaw, you're letting him off easy. Make him French polish the bloody thing. ;-)

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:17 AM

Order up a couple cans of lacquer from Stewart-MacDonald and I'll PM you the rest.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:10 AM

Troll, that would normally be good advice. However, neither out in the "sticks" where I now live, nor in any town for 75 miles (and probably farther) in any direction is there a "good repair shop" to be found. This is why I have turned to the collective knowledge and experience of the Mudcat community.

Don, I fully agree that the original finish should be maintained unless there are extreme circumstances because of which refinishing is the only option. As I indicated, the face and the back have already been sanded down to the bare wood. Therefore, refinishing appears to be necessary.

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 08:48 AM

Never refinish a guitar or a fiddle unless it DESPARATELY needs it

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: selby
Date: 28 Aug 00 - 08:44 AM

I sanded down and added a couple of cartoon characters to a fiddle for my son I varnished it using a water based acrylic varnish it appears to be holding up quite well. Keith

Subject: RE: Help: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Troll
Date: 27 Aug 00 - 11:08 PM

Allan; if it were me, I'd take it to a good repair shop and get their advice. In fact, I'd probably have them do it. If thats not your choice, look up Stewart Macdonald on the web(sorry,I don't have their address) They not only have the supplys that you will need, they also have how-to phamplets and books.

troll

ps it may be Mcdonald. I don't recall just now

Subject: How do you refinish a guitar?
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Aug 00 - 09:14 PM

Okay folks, I now have enough time to work on the Bill and Allan's Mudcat Adventure Guitar. I am probably only going to refinish the face and the back which have the signatures of all of the Mudcatters we encountered on our trek. Before the signatures were put on, I sanded down to bare wood. The signatures were done using an indelible "Sharpie" marker.

My question is: What is the best way to put an adequate finish on it?