Guitar Finishing To Relax/ Study To 

The wood looks magnificent. The finish looks great, but the dye job was mediocre. You need to work on that technique.

The title is not in the least misleading. This is an incredibly relaxing video. Perfect for de-stressing after dealing with idiots at work. And the guitars are breathtakingly beautiful as always.

That is one of the sweetest sounding guitars I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, thank you.

I am soooo blown away by the shellac finish !!! Gorgeous guitar, Craftsmanship and a True Piece of Art that sounds Fantastic !!!

Thank you for a great video. Your skill and patience brought out a amazing finish.

Beautiful work! I used to practice french polishing on offcuts for relaxation... I think it's time to start that habit again.

Bravo, this is not only a beautiful guitar, but an instrument with a wonderful sound, congratulations from the bottom of my heart

This is unreal. It's absolutely beautiful. Love it

Awesome work. It was enjoyable and informative to watch. I love the finished product also.

The guitar looks great and sounds even greater, and the process of finishing is surprisingly pleasant!

Simply stunning. Thanks for showing!

Great video! Feel free to make these videos even longer - I could chill out to this for at least half an hour!

Magnifique, le vernis à la française fait effectivement de très belles finitions 👍💙

beautifully done. I'm going to have to research french polishing more. it looks fun and the results are beautiful.

What a BEAUTIFUL guitar!! Fantastic job!

Came out great! I did my first telecaster last year in a White nitro finish. I had planned on staining it but the blank I got ended up not being as visually appealing as I'd hoped. It's all mahogany except the fretboard which is maple. The mahogany on the neck actually looks great and has some flames running from the 3rd fret all the way up the rest of the board towards the body on the back of the neck. I learned a lot from my first complete from scratch build but overall I'm really happy with how it came out. But I'll certainly be using poly on my next build for color (if there is any) and especially for the clear. Maybe even a wipe on poly I'll make myself. The Nitro finish on the neck is excellent but the body is already showing a good amount of wear after only a year. And while I was fully aware of nitro being much less durable than poly I was expecting to get at least a couple years without much wear before it started naturally relicing. I was talking with some professional builders who say they often see checking with nitro before they even get it out of the shop. I guess if you want more durable nitro it needs to be pre cat? I was really tempted to touch up the areas with wear (mainly where my right arm runs on the corner edge of the lower bout) but if I do that it will be an endless pursuit. So I've just decided to let it naturally relic and enjoy it as such. And it's worth noting I was using the expensive colortone Nitro too from Stewmac. It came out really great it just hasnt held up well to getting played everyday a minimum of an hour. I also have used some of the cheaper Nitros and out of them the minwax nitro held up much better, ain't that some shit? I even got a much better spray from the min wax can tips then I did from any of my aftermarket montana cans tips or stock colortone tips. I wonder if that has something to do with why its held up much better. But anyways I also really like the idea of using shellac cause it has the repairability of nitro but is likely easier to touch up. But theres the downside of it not protecting the wood as much as say a hard thick polyurethane or epoxy would be. I've also experimented with using Cyanoacrylate Glue as a finish material on one of my fret leveling file handles. It actually looks and feels great, nice and thin nut hard and buffed out to high gloss rather easily compared to poly. Only thing is I imagine doing a large piece of work would be difficult and it would have to be done on small sections. Anyways, looking forward to more videos!

I've always struggled with getting a beautiful, mirror like finish on my guitars and you made it look so effortless. Incredible work!

Unbelievable sound and craftsmanship 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Amazing work! Beautiful!

A true craftsman at work … beautiful creation

You have my respect sir , a fantastic work by spectacular skill !

Really beautiful work. Very nice.

I really enjoyed this video. Beautiful guitar!

Such an awesome finished guitar!

Outstanding work, sir!

This is increbible!!! Thatnks for your content, sir!

Wow what a fine looking guitar thanks for sharing this with us I learned a lot

Beautiful instrument. Bravo !

Beautiful craftsmanship!

your work is amazing, I'm here to watch it until it's finished and I'm interested in your work, greetings from Indonesia. May your family always be given health s ❤️

Incredibly Beautiful!!

Beautiful guitar.... and the tone!! I best get saving 😀

Beautiful work!

Incredible work. Thenks for sharing.

I'm the very happy purchaser of the very first of your KP-L5s, Isaac. After a year of playing she now sounds full and sweet and compares very favourably (actually a bit louder and sweeter...) alongside my 1947 Epiphone Emperor and my 1941 Gibson L7... in fact, she's my go-to guitar for practice and acoustic gigs. If anyone is in the vicinity of Banbury and would like to hear and test the guitar, please let me know and we'll arrange a meeting.

Wow, you are truly an artist.

I'm still amazed that the weird neck mounting holds solid. I 100% thought "That is gonna bend under tension and sound like crap" and then it just...worked. I dont know if he uses light gauge strings or if that is just a way stronger joint than i ever imagined but here we are and it works perfect. Learn something every day.

Absolutely stunning 😍

That was very cool, beautiful job. I've done a lot of finishing of wood work, one method of getting an even stain on certain woods that normally go splochy is called glue sizing where before you apply the stain, mix wood glue and water, mostly water and brush it on , let it dry and light sand. I don't know if this would work for you on the spruce tops given all the other steps you do but might be worth a try

Thanks for posting - I learned something ! 😃

Beautiful and sounds sweet too!

Magnifique!

It's a genius work of art !!!

Beautiful results, and fascinating to see the process. Masterful finishing! And now I know why I never liked jellybeans. 😅

Great work, good video editing

That is beautiful!

Cant stop watshing it again and again. You build a Goddess. Thank you for sharing.

A true masterpiece !

It looks and sounds amazing.

It's so satisfying that one stucks stared watching this work of art : )

That’s top o the notch! Dang good stuff for certain!

I really enjoyed this video ❤

Stunning!!

Beautiful!

gorgeous guitar sounds great too, I like the finish as well.. I'm looking for secret recipe Stradivarius used on old violin finishes..

The Bob Ross of guitar finishing. Felt like I had a buzz when it was over. That finish is stunning. I just told my wife she was eating bug poo on those jelly beans. Her reaction was epic.

These guitars are available to buy - either through reverb or on my website!

Great job 😁👏👏👏

Nice! Thanks for sharing 😀👍

Well, if it can’t smell like nitro cellulose or shellac, lemon’s pretty good! Beautiful beautiful work sir - sounds gorgeous, looks stunning (although I’d prefer a lighter set of burst colours), and I adore your neck joint!

Outstanding!

Dear Cranmer - a kind observation... you have +60k subscribers and only ~230 comments. Perhaps they are like me, they are just speechless! You have shown and taught me so much in a few minutes versus the RU-vid trawling I've done for many months to try to find this same amazing outcome. I can see the parallels with the egg white to its use in grand master paintings as a stabilizer - intentional or not, this proves the use here is also to be considered in the same light. Many thanks, I really enjoy and appreciated your amazing art.

Fascinating!

Beautiful.

Beautiful

I French polish almost every guitar I build. It's cool watching another version. Same results. Beautiful archtop work, man.

The best work its my eyes se.

I’ve just built my first electric guitar using a highly figured yellow elm. I’ve spent a lot of time struggling with what finish to use to complete it, but after watching your video, I believe I’m sold on shellac. If my results are half as good as yours, I’ll consider it a success.

Wow that neck really sits way above the sound board. I’ve read about doing something similar to this but I’ve never heard the finished results. Very interesting.

came out beautiful. I was leery of sanding across the grain in the beginning though.

Wonderful!!!

Beautifull!!!

Awesome !!!

What a pleasure to see this. Exquisite workmanship. How about freshening up my Martin D 28? Any advice? Besides sending it to a luthier.

gavent seen a skill parallel to this - amaizng

great job, such a satisfactory result. real beauty. i prefer thung oil tho'

The Stradivarius also had crushed gem stones in the final finish coat .

I've French polished two acoustic guitars so far but it never occurred for me to wax them afterward. I'll have to do it on my next one.

That must have been very rewarding for you.

Nitrocellulose lacquer is used instrument finishing. M&M candy used it in confectionery sugar, adding a little water and sugar

you know what? We use the same air filter too, at this point, nothing surprises me anymore (also I learned so much in this video)

Realmente preciosa.

A work of art my friend ! I always thought that any sunburst or flameburst finish was done with a guitar pick shaped template and a spray gun. ( Actually the mass produced ones are, ) but this is like a Rolls Royce and the result is magnificent ! The pronounced floating neck is unique too, producing just wonderful tone. How much in USD ?

Wow !!! No other words needed.....well, apart from those ones

Beautiful pal 😬

Am I right in my understanding that in the french polishing stage that the shellac is then melting out the scratches in the previous coats that have been sanded flat?

My life goals now include owning a guitar like this

Amor y belleza!

Wow!

You can tell this dude takes fuckin pride in that masterpiece.

That's a lot of time,but it is very stunning finish.

Hi Isaac. Only just found this video. Nice build. Cake is good. Hope you're well and hope to come and see you next year, I have a vehicle again. Miss you buddy.

perfecto 👍👌

This is a real piece of art, congratulations! I was wondering if you use a pore filling process before starting the french polishing (pumice stone powder over a shellac base?) or if you go straight with this. Maybe with open-pore woods other than maple?

Love the video. It inspired me. My father died when I was 18. That was 37 years ago. He left me an old Gibson arch top with F holes. I dont know the model. There is a crack in the finish and the tuner have disintegrated. I saw your video now I'm inspired to restore it. I have no 8dea where to begin. Please help, I appreciate it. Thanks

I made my own finishes from beeswax and mineral oil, beeswax and tung oil, and beeswax and Tru Oil. Note that you can buy a case of small glass jars from Amazon pretty cheaply. They don't melt. Making and using the finishes was fun, and they all work very well, and buff out nicely. Such a beautiful guitar! I wish I could afford it. Thanks for sharing.

Wait wait ,you said me ,you no use vernis on this guitare ??? Gg man .great ,big great job dude👍👍👍👍

wooooaw !

That neck joint is very Parker like

fantastic, thee is a difference between layering shellac in vertical movements rather than circular ones with the pad?