thank u... i am very scared of damaging sound PAINTING this jewel because now is magic.....in my life I have had and played about 35 acoustic guitars, martin d45! d35 om21 0042 00028 00016 Gibson j200 j 185 j45 taylor 414 various yamaha but none sounds like this is INCREDIBLE.. some friends of mine are amazed and jealous some offer 2000euros LOL...Yes, pictures! This was one difficult birth
Uncommon (and maybe unpopular, let the experts around here decide) piece of advice: When you like the sound of the guitar as it is now, why not just give it a nice oil finish? I know you don't see this too often, and there are good reasons against it, but on the other hand you would not risk to spoil the instrument or have the sound changed in a way you don't like.
I am in negotiations right now for buying a Washburn Nuno Bettencourt N4 right now, and these usually have just an oil finish and are wonderful guitars. I know of course, electrics are something else, but this is why originally this idea came to my mind. What do you think?
first timeTough decision. Have you ever had another guitar with "like wood" and had it stripped and revarnished? He as anyone done this to like woods?
Nothing about the way it looks is offensive to my eyes.
Then it comes down to trust you have in what your Luthier says. I, firmly, believe there is no such thing as "it doesn't matter to me" in a decision like this. Just get out a coin and pre-determine if it lands on heads I will do this and if it lands on tails I will do the other. Toss the coin up in the air and then catch it and put it in your pocket without looking. Then do what your conscious mind wanted it to land on.first time
I asked now to my liuther who is the MAN of Restoration (Brazilian finger board and bridge gluing fret one by one etc) hey said light shellac 1 hand, don't change soundThen it comes down to trust you have in what your Luthier says. I, firmly, believe there is no such thing as "it doesn't matter to me" in a decision like this. Just get out a coin and pre-determine if it lands on heads I will do this and if it lands on tails I will do the other. Toss the coin up in the air and then catch it and put it in your pocket without looking. Then do what your conscious mind wanted it to land on.
many thanks for advices... surely was ncl in 1958 but i think that shellac is thin and safe for my little jewelPlus any warnings that were given are off the table now because the guitar has been stripped. We didn't know that. If the finish is stripped off of it, you need finish on there to protect the wood and the guitar. I think people thought you had an original finish on this guitar which is mostly what you want to keep or just repair, but since it's gone now the game has changed and you need finish. I'm sure it was originally NCL (nitrocellulose lacquer) which you can certainly do and I'm sure your luthier knows how to do it. If you're suggesting only shellac, it's a beautiful finish but not very durable. Maybe he means to do French Polish which uses shellac but is much more complicated. Either way get some finish on there before you stain something by accident. Carry on.....
p.s. - I see you have a tuner or something clamped onto the headstock which is down to bare wood. Be careful with things like that as they may mark the wood or stain it and you'll have to sand more and..... that's why you have finish on a guitar. To protect it from things like that tuner clamped on there like that plus oils from your hands when you play. I'd not be playing it until it got some finish on and be very careful and leave the tuner off......
A good summary of your options. Also remember the newer catalyzed poly finishes are much thinner and SUPER durable. I have two guitars with them and they're just amazing. So this is a good lesson about finishes. However, on your guitar, just go with what you have in mind, remembering that a shellac or shellac-like finish (French Polish) is amazing and also fragile. I wouldn't be putting tuner clamps or your capo clamped over finished parts. Everyone here is trying to help you keep this guitar nice and original which is already not a thing, because of the finish and work done. So chose a finish and if shellac is your choice know that it's a good one for wood, but not durable and you have to be careful, okay? Don't spill a cocktail or beer on it, because alcohol (any type) is the solvent for shellac..... so basically, don't be a messy drunk, okay???If you want to protect the guitar, and keep it as close as possible to the way the guitar was made, then you need to put a Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer (NCL) finish on it. If your luthier is experienced with NCL, it will have the least amount of sound degradation, and will age, crystalize, and sound better over time.
ANY finish will degrade the tone and volume of the guitar, on any guitar. Depending on the finish type, and its thickness, the impact can be noticeable to severe. Poly finshes, applied thickly (.006"-.008") will have the most severe impact; NCL, applied very thin (.0025"-.003") will have the least. The Poly finishes will stay the same over time; NCL will continue to outgas slowly over time, leaving only the solids behind, having less and less of an effect on the tone over time. Shellac, Varnish, and french polish will vary between those extremes. French polish, if properly done, can be very thin, as can shellac. However, both finishes are very delicate in terms of water resistance, and not v ery durable.
And don't forget to post some pictures when your guitar is finished after the restoration! As you see we all love pictures!