European Spruce - the Sound of Wood.

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Wear a mask and enter the FINISHING DEPT. :

Pic courtosey of Behlen Co.

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When all woodwork is done the next task before stringing up is on the way:
the finishing process.

Known as the best or most resonant finish for acoustic guitar is thin nitrocellulose lacquer or - mainly used for classical guitars - a shellac finish.

While for (colored) electric guitars amateur luthier often use several car finishing aerosols - here colored NC lacquer is widely available - , it is quite hard to find a (gloss) nitrocellulose lacquer that is suitable for stringed instruments.  

We know of only 2 manufactors of suitable NC lacquer for discriminating needs of luthiers of stringed instruments worldwide, one of them is the traditional company "Behlen". We carry the following Behlen-products that were designed specially for guitars and other stringed musical instruments.

Behlen is the only company that offeres guitar lacquers even in aerosol cans, a handy and good advantage for the amateur luthier or professional repair job/touch up. Right venue for everyone who does not want to set up a HVLP-spraying system but wants not to miss the advantages of special musical instrument NC lacquer.
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Below you can find a general finishing schedule for finishing a guitar with Behlen Stringed Instrument NC Lacquer as well as Behlen´s color chart -> click on the pic for a full size version: 

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For a - in our opinion quite bad - trailer about spraying a guitar using aerosols click on the following link. This video seems to us not as a very good marketing idea from Behlen, but for some this might be useful so we offer it for viewing - click here (wmv-format, this is a excerpt from an instruction DVD). It´sthe singer, not the song ...

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1. BEHLEN´s "Musical NC Lacquer"

This is Behlen´s nitrocellulose lacquer that was specially designed for the needs when finishing an acoustic (stinged) musical instrument. Available from us in cans and in aerosols.

Excerpt from Behlen´s catalog:

Stringed Instrument Lacquer is a high quality nitrocellulose lacquer specifically designed for wooden stringed instruments. Stringed Instrument Lacquer allows for the special expansion and contraction that can occur due to the unique construction of stringed instruments. Note: Stringed Instrument Lacquer must be applied over Behlen Vinyl Sealer in order to insure its unique film building and special finish characteristics.

1 x 945ml (can) or 1 x 369g (aerosol)

Ease of use: Moderate

View the Material Safety Data Sheet PDF for this product.

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If you are interested in using aerosol for finishing guitars check out Behlen´s Finishing Instructions using aerosol cans.

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2. Vinyl Sealer

We go backwards: you may have read above that the Stringed Instrument Lacquer should be used over a Vinyl Sealer. Here you go:

Excerpt from Behlen´s catalog:

Vinyl Sealer develops an excellent moisture barrier for the wood substrate, while providing a good base for all Behlen lacquer finishes. Vinyl Sealer is offered in a ready to use formulation that needs no further reduction or a catalyst. NOTE: Vinyl Sealer may be applied over raw wood or filled and stained substrates.

1 x 945ml (can) or 1 x 369g (aerosol)

Ease of use: Moderate

View the
Material Safety Data Sheet PDF for this product.

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3. Grain Filler

Yes we can - going back to the woods: porous woods like Mahogany, Rosewoods, Koa and several others need a grain fill befor applying the Vinyl Sealer (above).

For this you can use any grain filler that is suitable for NC lacquers. Such stuff is widely available at most woodworker stores and not worth to offer here, we are sure your local woodworking shop can help at low costs. If not come back to us and ask, we are always glad to help in cases of emergency.

Depending on the visual effect you are going for sometimes it is good to mix stain with the grain filler, i.e. when trying to get a Les Paul-like cherry red finish with dark mahogany pores. Always check if the type of stain or dye fits with the finish/lacquer, otherwise the base may "blood" (bleeching).

Apart from the above mentioned traditional grain filling method, that is bases on solids, recently a quite new method came up, suggested by luthier Tim McKnight: Z-Poxy resin for pore filling. This stuff works excellent as a grain filler under shellac, too.
We carry this, check out the "Various" section at the left and scroll down to this item for learning more about this.

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4a.  Staining / Dying

With stain or dye you can deeply enhance the figure of the wood, esp. used on figured maple. When using stain take care that the solvent/water of the stain fits with the later finish, otherwise the result may be "bloody" due to bleeding of the stain when the solvent of the lacquer is solving the stain (again).

You can fine-tune the grade of staining by the quantity of dye you apply to the wood. You can sand back the stained wood to a lighter grade. For a sublte enhancement of figured maple try this: dye the bare wood with a quite dark stain (like mahogany or purple), let dry and sand back till you just have the figure enhanced. Going on from here can get a beautiful "PRS-private-stock-like" finish.

For applying use either a brush (non metallic!), a cloth-pad, mix it with grain filler or spray it. You can even mix dye into the final lacqeur.

Dye is widely available locally, we are concentrating on special products that you may not find there: Behlens easy to use Wiping Dye in aerosols:

Available in Cherry, Dark Mahog, Red Mahog and Medium Brown Walnut.

Excerpt from Behlen´s catalog:

Wood Stain Aerosols are pigment wiping stains that create beautiful, grain-enhancing, fade-resistant wood tones. They can be used as stand-alone stains or in conjunction with ... stains and create professional finishes with rich depth of colour. But, with Wood Stain Aerosol, spills are out of the question. No stain dribbles down the side of the container while stirring, because stirring is just a matter of shaking the can. Apply by spraying the stain to the surface of the wood and using a brush or a cloth to spread the color. Cleanup is accomplished by inverting the can and depressing the nozzle for about 5 seconds. These stains look great when highlighted with Behlen Aerosol Glazes.

1 x 369g (aerosol)

Ease of use: Easy

View the Material Safety Data Sheet PDF for this product.

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4b.  Sunburst

If you are going for a sunburst you need to apply the shading in various colors. For this we carry Behlen´s pre-mixed Guitar Toner NC Lacquer in aerosols.

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This comes in the following colors:
- Starcast Amber
- Encore Brown

Excerpt from Behlen´s catalog:

Guitar Toner Lacquer Aerosol

1 x 369g (aerosol)

Ease of use: Medium

View the
Material Safety Data Sheet PDF for this product.

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Shellac Finishes

Achieving an excellent high-glossy shellac finish is an art and task that takes long - up to several weeks due to the drying time between the courses and the time before finally getting it to a glossy shine.

The principle is easy, for a tutorial on shellac polishing a guitar click here or here. (LINKS FOLLOWING - check back soon)

We carry a wide range of dewaxed shellac flakes as well as U-Beaut´s pre-mixed "Hard Shellac". All this you can find in  the "Various" section at left (scroll down for finding the products there).
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Shellac can be used as a sanding sealer under NC lacquer, too. You can apply it by pad or even spray it. If you do not want to turn on your HVLP-system you can use the pre-mixed (waxfree) shellac aerosol from Zinsser:

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This can be used for a full shellac polish polish job on a guitar, too. Some use shellac just for the top of an acoustic guitar and NC lacquer for the rest to get advantage ot the less-damping and optical outstanding qualities of a shellac polish. When used for spraying a full top don´t use grain filler on spruce but wipe on a washcoat of a regular (thinned) shellac mix before sprying. You can do this twice, sand between. 

Easy to use, even for the unexperienced shellac user. Use it in several thin coats.

1 x 340g (aerosol)

View the
Material Safety Data Sheet PDF for this product.

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Pre-mixed Shellac



This is a heavy cut (> 30%) and filtered Shellac solution, made by us
using 100% polishing spiritus (Ethanol) for saving you time (and mess):


- simple use out-of-the-bottle: just thin with Ethanol to the cut you prefer
- available in 500 ml and 1000 ml, for application thin up to 1:1 with Ethanol
- 500 ml yield 5 - 10 full guitar finishes, depending on finish thickness
- color: superblonde, from unbleached and dewaxed shellac flakes


Product contains flamable materials (ethanol) - Keep out of reach of children!

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SOON to come: Guitar care and polishing products. Check back soon.