finishing a electric guitar

[Mike Perez]

Mark, how did the Crystalac work out? I'm leaning toward that finish on my solid body refinish.
I have limited tools and live in an apartment.
Sold most of my tools years ago and gave up the garage/shop.

[Pete Halliday]

I'm not Mark, but I have moved over to using Crystalac Brite Tone and really like it.

[Steve Sawyer]

I'm also going to endorse Brite Tone. I've finished three guitars. One in nitro, one in Tru-Oil, and one in Brite Tone. Brite Tone wins hands-down. One of the amazing things about it is the ability to lay down many many coats before leveling. I didn't touch the finish on this until I had 10 coats, all applied with a good brush. Like nitro, each coat "burned into" the preceding coat as long as I didn't allow it to cure completely (like setting it aside for a week between coats). It sands and polishes up real nice as you can see. I filled with 3 coats of epoxy and sanded before starting in with the Brite Tone. I got one tiny little sand-through in the cut-away up next to the neck pocket. I just left it. It was my technique, not a fault of the finishing material.

https://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6030

[Mike Perez]

I'm planning on grain filling with LMI water-based rosewood filler to give a contrasting grain to the mahogany. I also have Tru Oil as an option but I'm not sure which is best, Tru Oil over shellac or Tru Oil over unsealed filler. I also have my eye on Crystalac Sanding Sealer and their Matte Topcoat. Would it be best to seal with some shellac before the Crystralac Sanding sealer? I wrote Craytalac and all they said was that their Sanding Sealer was designed for raw wood, but one of LMI's videos shows Robbie O'Brian using Crystalac Sanding Sealer on the water-based filler.

[Mike Perez]

Steve, what filler, sealer, top coat did you use on the mahogany guitar? The grain on the back is amazing.
Thank you.

[Barry Daniels]

When you start mixing and matching finishes you may not find recommendations for your specific finish schedule. In that case, test on scrap to see what works.

[Mike Perez]

This is a guitar from1982 and my garage-shop is no more. I'm in an apartment and trying to figure a way to refurbishing the guitar is a challenge.
Some routing can be done at a friend's house but I can't keep the guitar there overnight, so all finish work needs to be at my place. The work is mostly indoor work, so I am limited to the finish I will use. There's no scrap mahogany. I need to do some thorough research so that my first attempt is successful. Whatever comes from this repair is the way it is going to stay.
Thank you all for the help.
Mike

[Steve Sawyer]

Steve, what filler, sealer, top coat did you use on the mahogany guitar? The grain on the back is amazing.
Thank you.

Just logged in here for the first time in a long time and realized this hadn't been answered.

If you're still "listening," Mike, it was a very simple schedule. Three coats of System Three SilverTip epoxy squeegeed into the pores, sanding between each coat. Depending on how open the pores are, some might get away with more or fewer coats. Then 10 coats of Crystalac BriteTone, applied with a good brush. I applied 2-3 coats per day.

After that it was just level-sanding then going up through the grits to 2000 and polishing with Maguiar's 105 and swirl remover.

That's it.

Three years and the finish is still looking great.

Oh - I should mention that this isn't actually mahogany, but sapele, as is the figured veneer on the front and on the headstock. But I believe sapele is a tree in the same family as mahogany, so very similar. That ribbon-stripe figure on quarter-sawn stock is what folks are usually after, so everything at the mill that I saw was all quarter-sawn. Not sure if I've ever seen flat-sawn sapele TBH.

[Mike Perez]

Got it. Thank you!