I am pretty new to the forum. I had read many, many threads prior to beginning my project- a refinish of an 80's era, Japanese neck-through guitar. The pictures I will link to will be pretty self-explanatory what I was dealing with to start with. Once I got it stripped and sanded, I realized there were some minor body wing/glue joint issues to contend with. I posted to the forum and got some good responses (thanks!). I was originally thinking about doing a clear finish, but after realizing the wood quality and grain mismatches were not all that special looking, I decided to apply a stain and the finish with TruOil. I used the gunstock, water-based Walnut stain and TruOil kit I found in a local gun store. The TruOil was a little difficult to apply. It was messy and ran a little in some areas near the neck/body joint. But it cleaned up fairly well between coats when I knocked down the gloss with 0000 steel wool and took down most imperfections, bubbles and trapped dust. I did notice several flaws that I coated over and became "trapped" beneath the layers. It was my first attempt at this finish and I am mostly pleased. I haven't applied the Conditioner-Sheen product from the kit, however. Has anyone used this product on their TruOil finished guitars or should I skip this stuff?
Another question that may seem silly to some but I was curious if anyone has affixed inlay type stickers to TruOil finishes. I won't be doing any headstock inlays, but I found some adhesive backed inlay-type stickers on eBay. I have used them before with Poly finishes and the adhere very well. But given the properties of a TruOil finish, I was hesitant to buy anything only find that it won't stick. Has anyone had any luck with these products?
Well, here are some before and after pics. I have not changed or upgraded any hardware- they are original parts and electronics(to me).
Washburn Winged Eagle Copy Pics
Thanks!
-Jeff