How to French polish your guitar. Video 9 of 9. 

You are one of the best. Have not seen anyone is this generous to make a series like this. Thank you Pablo.

Pablo, I watched this whole series today in one sitting. I plan to finish Bruce's guitar this way and I hope that i can do justice to it. You have been an inspiration to me and I thank you very sincerely. God Bless you and Dovey.

Absolutely fantastic series! Anyone watching all nine episodes knows they have just seen a true master-finisher among luthiers at work and received a teaching from the very best among the best!! Watching this series of videos has, without a doubt in my mind, been among the best times I've ever spent on RU-vid. Period!

I am new to French polishing and learning to polish a guitar at the moment. Your videos have been an incredible help for me. Fantastic series! Thank you very much.

You have taken my French Polish to a different level. Thank you!!!

Thankyou very much Pablo; so detailed. For a novice it is so much easier to understand what to do when you can see it rather than reading and looking at pictures and your long from video does that so well. Many thanks from Melbourne Australia.

Much appreciated, a work of art...

Magnificent!! Thank you.

Truly wonderful series. Thanks so much, Pablo!

Excellent series Pablo. Really appreciate that you took the time to put it together.

What a great series. Thank you so much for sharing your process. I really appreciate it. You do beautiful work. Take care!

Bravo maestro

Wow, that was a wonderful series. Thank you Pablo!

Marvellous

Thank you Pablo. Very much appreciated! 🙏 You’re one of the best.

Thank you Pablo! This is great video series, as all others videos ) Keep going!

Thank you, Pablo, for this very informative video series. You do amazing work! Best wishes!

Thank you for showing your methods of work.

Thank you very much for taking the time to share this process in such depth. Inspiring! And what a beautiful guitar!

Always is fantastic your videos, Congrats Pablo, really a big class again!

Very interesting an useful instruction series. Thank you for all.

Thank you very much Pablo for making this video’s 👍🏻

So now I know. Thanks for a structured and informative series. Most enjoyable.

Thanks a lot for your help, and for your time!

I just can keep saying it: great videos!

Thank you so much! I learned a lot from this series! Your guitars look amazing!

Thank you! A true master...patience IS a virtue!

Thank you so much. The time you have spent to clarify and demonstrate the process is priceless.

Buen video Pablo!

Thank You Sir.

Stunning master craftsman

Fabulous series. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. It is certainly appreciated in my shop.

Another excellent video from one of the best set of luthier videos on youtube. Thankyou! I'd be afraid to play such a perfect instrument!

Thank you so much Pablo, can’t wait to get started on mine

Thank-you for this series, you have indeed taken the mystery out of French Polishing and instead of being intimidated by the process you gave me the encouragement to try it as soon as possible. I will refer back to this many times I am sure. Thanks again

Pablo, thank you so much for publishing this series! I’m currently French polishing my first guitar, and I’ve found your videos to be extremely helpful.

Hello Pablo, first i have to congratulate you for your professional job & explain every detail of your work. I enjoy very much watching the video that you do. I am a guitar player myself & guitar maker when i was about 16 to 26 than i stoped for good. Reason i emigrate to Canada i met a friend who want to offer a job since that time i continuo to do till my retirement. Once again i realy admire you & reminds me back those days making afew guitars that i missed a lot!! Thank U & continue with your success. Now i am 71 years old retired playing with my 4 guitars at home for my pleasure. If i was 35 years younger, i would buy one of yours guitars. I love Instruments!!!!!!

Thank you

Thank you! Brilliant series. This is a great introduction to French polishing for guitar makers. ¡Gracias, Maestro!

Cheers!

Thanks Pablo I am just about ready to finish my 1st solo build. I’m going to use your method. Thanks for the thorough videos.

Thanks Pablo

Grande Maestro !

Much appreciation here. A very clear and helful presentation. :)

Thank you Pablo. This was a very good and interesting series about French polishing. I am only on my first guitar build but I decided long time ago that I will use French polish. By the way , all your videos are very good and informative and I watch all of them with great pleasure. Thank you / Christer (from Sweden)

I watched every video thank you for your professionalism and attention to detail it is a very pretty guitar

Pablo, thank you very much for your generosity. I certainly learned a lot just watching your whole series. I'm a luthier trained in the nitrocellulose lacquer school, but since I'm making a lot of classical guitars now, I think that it's more than time to try to french polish these guitars, and maybe (why not?) the other steel string guitars I also made. I'll definitely give them a try. Thanks again, you're such a good teacher.

Many thanks for posting this series - I thoroughly enjoyed the videos and learnt much about improving my own French polishing techniques. I restore musical instruments, mostly concertinas and portable harmoniums, so I'll be applying what I've learnt to my own finishing process in future projects.

I've really been enjoying your videos. I work on guitars all day and then I watch guitar repair videos late into the night, LOL. Thanks for sharing your skills.

Hello Pablo, first I want to say that your work is amassing, and so inspiring. I got from you the "courage" to take a shot and try to build my first guitar. I have order based on some words you say in one of you video, a classical guitar kit from Maderas Barber... now I wait for the order to come. I'm not completely stranger to wood working, is been one of my main hobby, I build small boxes for my friends, cigars boxes or jewellery. Always use only natural materials and I build them completely manually, no power tools involved except for drilling holes when needed.

A very, very good series of tutorials. My new guitar is starting to look amazing already befor spiriting off. Thank you so much for these instructions. I always was very much afraid of doing french polishing - now I have almost done it!!

Que preciosidad de guitarra D. Pablo. El color es una maravilla.

A true craftsman.

Pablo thank you so much , your videos have inspired me to try french polishing on some instruments that I have ! The way you work is beautiful and there is no doubt that you are an artist of your trade . I play professionally in Australia and use my spanish flamenco guitar a lot ,when I bought it the factory finish on it was too thick and sounded not so good, so I have sanded it back,....it is now going to be french polished ! Thanks mate!

Beautiful ! Thanks a lot for this video series, thanks to you I’m working again since 3 days on my old build I let down for years because I couldn’t finish this stage with success. You said French polish isn’t that hard but I find it is for me and my nerves !

Hola Pablo! Muchísimas gracias por esta serie de videos. Los vi el año pasado, pero ahora en cuarentena decidí lustrar una guitarra que estaba rota. Te mando mi cariño desde Buenos Aires, y siento tu compañía durante este proceso de trabajo!

Thank you Pablo your videos have been extremely helpful. Just finishing up on my first Parlour guitar build.

Thank you Pablo for sharing yor knowledge and secrets. You are great!

Thanks Pablo!! One more great video! Next guitar i will follow your method! Can you do a video about triming and glueing the bridge? Thanks

I watched this whole series and did my guitar this way- with the exception of the grain filling. No source for 0000 pumice powder was readily available. It looks pretty good for a newby, if I do say so myself. Thanks for taking the time to make these videos.

Thank you very much- you've truly demystified the process and I've now got a method to follow- I'm looking forward to applying it to my current builds!

Beautiful work! I am an amateur luthier, and I've built 3 classic guitars and 1 mandolin until now, and always finalizing with french polish. My technique is growing better, but it is still very imperfect and far from your results. Thank you for these videos!

Thank you Pablo - Fantastic video series.

Sir, I have watched all of your videos on this process and have taken many notes from each one. I feel confident that you have given me the details and the information to accomplish a refinishing of a guitar that deserves the effort. Thank you!

Absolutely fantastic instruction. I’ve watched the series twice , made notes and have started polishing my guitar. I’m grain filling using pumice. The back, sides and head are blackened oak, mahogany neck and spruce top, so quite challenging for my first French polish. With your instruction I’m sure it will go fine. Many thanks. Vin

Wonderful! This is the most helpful and comprehensive tutorial series I have seen for French Polishing. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise and talents. I have always been afraid to try French Polishing since so many of my questions were always left unanswered. You have convinced me to finally give this a try.

MUCHAS GRACIAS !!!! With your help I will improve my first french polishing on my first classical guitar ! And this is funny I'm french but never did a french polishing yet... By the way mi abuela se llama Manuela Jimenez (Andalusia) ... Muchas gracias senor

Im always amazed at how universal woodworking is. I learned to buff out a finish 2 decades ago from a finisher i worked with. Never thought it would be uses by luthiers. So the French polish isn't a difficult process just time consuming. Good to know.

I binged all morning. I just couldn’t stop watching until we finally got to the end result. I think with these 9 lessons, I will try it in the 12-string I am currently making. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration maestro.

Such a fantastic series of videos. I'm a new beginner at french polishing and they have helped me tremendously. I am about to start the process on a guitar I recently stripped of finish. Thanks for your help.

Hola, lo felicito muy buenos sus videos!! Un saludo grande desde Argentina!!!

Appreciate the series, trying to do a cigar box now and was wondering how to get rid of streaks. Guess I always thought the final polished look was part of the running process, had no idea abrasives were used to gloss em up.

Hola pablo Muchas gracias para OKC OK usa

GooD

Olá Pablo. Assisti todos os vídeos desta série várias vezes. Estou deixando de trabalhar com o verniz poliuretano, que é muito tóxico, para trabalhar com a goma laca. Quero te agradecer muito por todas essas informações e parabeniza-lo pela sua didática e paciência. Muito obrigado, um grande abraço.

Gracias Pablo por todo! Nunca utilizaré pulimento de carrocerías, la goma laca a mi entender y a mi manera purista de aplicarla no la necesita. Enhorabuena por el trabajo y por el legado que nos dejas.

Hola Pablo! Thank you very much for making this videos, you are very generous. I have a question for this process, have you experienced some cloudiness on your finish after the polish compound application? I have tried the 3M hand glaze and my golden shellac turns a little bit dull (I don't know how to explain exactly, but some white-ish reflections showed up). Thank you again. Un saludo desde Argentina.

Does Chestnut Burnishing Cream work as substitute for Mer car polishing? I can't find where to buy Mer. Thank you!!!

I've watched all your 9 videos in one sitting. Very informative and beautifully done! I also noticed that the fretboard has chipped on the last fret very close to the soundboard. Did you fix that after the polish, or was this particular guitar for educational purpose only?

Amazing Pablo, this is the first time I do French polishing, and i did well until the last phase where i applied the fine car polish directly to the guitar. It left some marks and i can the guitar is not soft as use to be, and sticky. What would be the problem? Is it a must put wax after the final process? I have Ax wax from dr.ducks it is very famous for polishing and cleaning do you think i can use it ? Thank you again 🙏

Fantastic trabajo Pablo! Felicidades! De hecho muy impresionante!! Estou seguindo sus recomendaciones para el polido francés. Ya estoy en las etapas finales, sin embargo aún ha quedado muchas pequeñas fibras de la muñeca pegado en la guitarra. Entre las manos, utilizo lixadas leves para sacarlas. Hay algún processo o técnica para evitar que las fibras se peguen a la guitarra?? Estoy utilizando un tecido tricoline 100% algodón para la muñeca y internamente algodón especial polir (comprado en tiendas de pintura de autos). Muchas gracias por compartir su conocimiento y trabajo. Un abrazo desde Brazil.

Olé

Thanks for the video how many hand of shellac and thickness on the guitar.

Pablo can paste wax be used in place of the car polish? What would Torres have used to achieve a nice glossy finish?

Hola Pablo, ¿hay versión de tus vídeos en castellano?. Sería fantástico para todas aquellas personas hispanohablantes interesadas en este apasionante mundo que no hablan inglés. Muchas gracias.

Thankyou for the videos, I am definetly getting better at polishing now :) For taping off for the bridge, I tape 1mm less from bridge edges then remove the built up shellac carefully. Is this how you do it? Or do you have a better way?

Very great series of video!thank you! I have a question..Is it possible to have a matte or satin finish with shellac? Is there any technique?

I must be doing something wrong. I try to duplicate what I have seen in this video and it is a mess. When I try to add multiple layers in one session the lower layer come off and I get patches with most of the finish gone. Any suggestions?

I have loved this series! I'm getting ready to finish my first guitar in a few weeks and I'm going to use your method. One thing I would like to see is how you remove the area where you taped off for the bridge. Any tips there?

Thank you Pablo for this series of great videos. In the end you say, that the squeze out of the glue from the bridge would be easy to remove... but doesn't the glue damage the shellack? Greetings from Germany

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us. May I remove my cuenca brand guitar shellac and replace with french polish since scratches everywhere after using it for 20 years. What sandpaper should I use? 2000 ? I really appreciate your suggestions.

I really enjoy the process and I have a question.Can i aply shellac over a guitar which already has varnished?Thanks.

感谢您的分享，请问老师，您做这个漆的周期是多长时间？谢谢👍👍👍👍

Hi! I have a question. I have followed your very instructive video series about French polishing. Everything has worked just fine until the last two steps: spiriting of and using a silicon free polish compound. The top and back looks very fine but the sides were left with milky white spots in different sizes. They appeared “magically” during this last step and seems to be inside the shellac rather than on the surface. I have tried to sand down a bit and the spots seams too go quite deep in the shellac. Before I try to build up new layers of shellac I wonder if you have any suggestions too what I have done wrong so that I can do it right this time around. I would much appreciate your advice and thank you for your fantastic videos om RU-vid. When the time is right I hope to join one of your classes one day. /Mathias

Gracias Pablo! exelente tutorial. Una pregunta. yo tengo un guitarra Alhambra 9p que tuvo un percanze y la tapa se le salio un pedazo del nitro... se puede lijar hasta la madera la tapa armonica y hacerle el French polish solo a la tapa? me encantaria saber. y cual serian los numeros de lija que usarias? gracias y saludos desde Australia.

I have some minor scratches on the rosewood back of my guitar which is satin finished and seems to be French polished... This was the most helpful video series I watched in a while. Now , can I fine sand the blemishes and re-aply alcohol diluted shellac to the back? Maybe 3 layers... I don't mind it being glossy. Appreciate your advice.

Hello Pablo, as you can see in my previous message, I will soon start build my own first guitar. I have a short question to you and it will be very kind of you to give some opinion. I see other luthiers applying shellac inside guitar also... some other, including you, left the wood bare and not protected what so ever. Please give us some insights on the subject, from your point of view. Is this affecting the sound... is good or not advisable to doit...etc. thanks allot for all you wonderful videos.

Hi Pablo, my respect, I didn't notice how you finished the fingerboard, do you use something for it too?

Some polishes contain silicon compounds. I've read that if silicon gets into a guitar's timber, then future refinishing can be compromised by "fisheye" blemishes. Should this be considered in using car polish on guitars?

Hi Pablo I finished my guitar a year ago maybe a little longer. I was transporting it with my other guitars I had them in my case. I don't know if it got too hot or what but on the back of the Rosewood finish the case left several marks. How do I remove these marks? Slightly send and go back to shellac and oil, I cut back on my shellac to the finishing stage? They're not really deep but it's enough to bother me after working so much on this guitar. And it came out so nice.