SHELLAC EXPERTS ??????

[nick-p]

hi folks, been through the whole   "should i use sand/sealer"   argument recently and i'm left wanting to try SHELLAC but have had NO experience with it !!..  here is my question..

i intend to attempt a stain/nitro  wine red finish on the  "flame maple/alder"  bass i'm making. [ see pictures attached ].

problem is, i need the clearest, most transparent SHELLAC i can get for the purpose.  would that be BLONDE ?  and how should a shellac-virgin go about the task ?  how  many coats ?..  .    nick  [ in UK ]

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

For what I know, the blond will be fine. For your instrument, both alder and maple are closed pore woods, so finish is very easier than for an ash body for exemple. Wipe your stain and then wipe some shellac coats. There's plenty of videos on the internet (plus frets.com website, plus some links on similar topics here) explaining how to wipe a stain and wipe shellac. Then you can go for your nitro spraying and buffing.

[Frank Ford]

Dewaxed blond is the usual name for clear shellac. That said, you'll be wiping on such a thin coat that it won't add a lot of color the way spraying lacquer can.

From there, it's practice. Practice on scrap. Then practice on similar wood, figured, sanded and prepped as you instrument will be.

Finish work is hard to get right, and experience is the only way toward predictability of outcome. Finish is difficult enough that sometimes I think it should not be called "finishing," but "beginning,' because that's where your real troubles start!

Now, you may want to put on your flak jacket for the following:

Did I mention the value of practicing? I once saw an amazing demo of touch-up on the transitional are of a sunburst finish - you know, the impossible stuff. Then instructor mentioned the value of practice this way:

"You guys will spend a thousand hours practicing 'Stairway to Heaven' or other tunes as you learn to play, but will you practice your colors? N-o-o-o-o-o! Still you want somebody to tell you how to get it right on the first try."

Bob Taylor said, "Michael Jordan didn't get to be so good a free-throws by standing in the court just aiming forever - he threw the ball endlessly to get the skill down."

"Like it or not, that's the deal with finishing."

I said that. . .

[Howard Klepper]

"Super Blond" is the palest available shellac. It's paler than blond. Transparency is not the absence of color; there has been some recent confusion here about what 'transparent' means. For your purpose, you can just get Zinnser SealCoat. It's dewaxed, and as light in color and transparent as shellac gets.

Are you planning to stain the wood or to use transparent dyes in the finish? These are very different finishes. If you want maximum clarity, don't stain the wood.

[nick-p]

hi howard, i'm after a deep wine red finish so i was considering staining and then mixing my alcohol based red stain in with my notrocellulose to control the depth of colour and possibly going darker on the edges in a sunburt style. [ wineburst ? ].. i could go for the "no stain" approach but i'm concerned that the maples "flames" won't really pop unless i stain. what do you think ?.. [ see pics ]... nick ps: is this the stuff howard ?? [ see pic ]

[nick-p]

this is the finish i'm aiming for... [ pic ]

[nick-p]

.

[Russell Vance]

I have no idea why you are having a conversation about clear shellac when you want the finish you have imaged here.

I have enclosed a tigerstripe blackburst wine red instrument I did for a client many years ago and also a quilt top finish for another client to establish my bona fides on bringing out figure. If you want to learn how the electric guys do this finish style just ask.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Nice finishes Russel!
The guitarist on the second one seem like someone I know. Maybe a neighbour... I don't remind very well...
Nick-p, if you want a finish that looks like your photo, you'll have to do it the way it's done : big thick PU coats. If you want to get close to it with other products, you can try the shellac + nitro as we said before. Please keep in mind that nitro finish sticks and dulls with the sweat. Every luthier in the repair job will tells you.

[nick-p]

hi russell. i'm ok with making but as you can probably tell, i have never finished a guitar in any way [ spray - stain - f/polish etc ]. it's all very new to me. i mention shellac and such because other folks having been voicing opinions on how to achieve a certain finish. given the finish you now know i'm after rusty, just how should i go about it ?. your advice will be greatfully received. . [ i figured i would stain the timber red, apply a sealer of some sort, then apply red dye mixed in to the nitro to achieve the right colour ].... NO ??.... nick

[John C. Murray]

hey, it is Matt Damon shredding it.LOL

[Jeff Highland]

Or mix your own,
I got some dewaxed ultra blonde in powder form from an ebay seller "endless green" in the UK earlier this year.
Great quality, dissolved easily with no residue.
As far as popping the maple, it is what you do BEFORE sealing that matters.
Some use a dark or black stain then sand it off so that it only remains in the flames which absorb deeper, then seal and use the colour coats as you are planning.

[nick-p]

hi jeff, yes, i have some water based black stain i bought a while ago to do exactly as you described. will try it on a test piece first. are you uk based ? [ i'm in norwich/norfolk. ]