Shellac? Varnish?

[n8rofwyo]

Just curious why the shellac and varnish finishes that are often seen on acoustics are nearly completely neglected on the electrics. I understand that shellac is a soft finish, though easily repaired. I also understand that varnish isn't the healthiest finish to work with. But those things aside - are there other reasons for neglecting them so readily?

[Southpa]

I think it might have a lot to do with the usual methods of application. A lot of folks prefer the ease of spraying laquers, polyurethanes, enamels etc. Also, shellac and varnish are mostly used with natural wood finishes so that rules out all the solid color guitars. Shellac also tends to yellow or even orange tint whatever you are covering so it will alter the color of a dyed maple top. But you do bring up some good points. This article mentions that shellac is underrated and used less than it used to be. If I were to make a natural maple topped guitar I might consider giving it a whirl.

Edited May 5, 2005 by Southpa

[n8rofwyo]

Thanks for the article, Southpa, some good info there. As far as these finishes not being capable of carrying the "look" of the plastic finishes, I can understand why they aren't used for cobalt blue or fiesta red guitars. But what about bursts? Couldn't you use an alcohol soluble analine dye for tinting? It just seems that the shellac and varnish finishes fall by the way side for whatever reason, even though stringed instruments have been sporting them for centuries. It doesn't make sense that nitro is used all the time because of its resistive qualities - even though it shrinks till it cracks. Why not use finishes that can be repaired over the years or at the very least relustered with an alcohol wipe? Anyway just curious to hear a few opinions, especially from those who have used the oldschool finishes as well as the new polymers.

[GregP]

I've been debating about what to use for my guitar, and I keep thinking of using Shellac. It's an easy call for the natural finish guitar I intend to make, but I'm not sure about a solid black electric...hmm...

Greg

[Phil Mailloux]

Shellac on electrics is usually used as a sealer or barrier coat between layers of dye and lacquer.

I wonder why it's also not used on the bodies themselves, it must be on par with oil finishes...

[Marzocchi705]

I used shelac on my electric, but only as a grain filler/sealer so i could add my black (or maby purple burst), i intend to use Nitro as the final finish. I can get some pics of the just shelaced guitar if you want.

[erikbojerik]

Birchwood Casey Tru Oil is actually a kind of varnish, lots of people use it to great effect for natural wood finishes. Not over paint though.

[thedoctor]

Like erik said, there are many kinds of varnish and they are used more than you think. Shellac in its truest form is kinda soft and hard to work with. Most shellacs change color with age so you don't know for sure what it will look like 5 years from now. A lot of poly-coats are actually considered varnish. For that matter, so are a lot of laquers.

[lovekraft]

Quite a few fine handbuilt acoustics are finished with French Polish, a shellac technique, and handbuilt violins are just about always varnished. Unfortunately, neither of these techniques lends itself to a production line (too soft, too slow, too expensive and too labor-intensive), so very few factory guitars use either.

[n8rofwyo]

So in the end its still just personal taste as to finish, with no real reason not to try other more traditional finishes. Thanks for the info and feed back everybody.

[Doc]

Years ago I finished all of my furniture with shellac and varnish. I switched to lacquer in the 70's for the same reason that most folks seem to be enamored with polys and such. Speed and ease of application.

Varnish takes a good 24 hours in between coats to cure and while it's tacky it's a dust magnet.

The only drawback to shellac is that it is not totally waterproof (sweat will eat into it). I can finish with it almost as fast as lacquer. You can tint it and it will certainly go over most dyes. French polishing is labour intensive but boy does it shine. Super blonde grade is almost colorless and doesn't tend to yellow very repidly.

Nothing feels as good as a properly applied and rubbed out shellac and varnish finish, but it will take about three times as long and is twice as much work as lacquer and stacks up worse against polyurethanes and polyesters.

All this said I'm sticking with lacquer for 99% of what I do with the occasiional French polish for my purist customers with large budgets.