Guitar Neck (Finishes)

SHELLAC
Necks finished with shellac have many advantages over other sealers. Shellac blocks out, or seals in, trace amounts of oil, wax, and silicone. Shellac is easily repaired. Its a Very thin finish (The neck is extremely fast). Absolutely no influence on tone (The natural resonance of the wood is not compromised. You can continue added additional build coats for a great final finish. Its a Stand alone sealer for a Lacquer topcoat Finish. Easily removed with Denatured alcohol.

TINTED SHELLAC
Same as above but with an amber formula and slightly thicker coating.


OIL
Most oils available as wood finishes are either linseed oil or Tung oil in some form, with or without any additives. Some of these oils are thinned with mineral spirits to make application easier. These oil finishes are actually varnishes because they are reactive finishes - meaning that they change into a hard film by exposure to air (oxygen) not by the evaporation of the solvent like lacquer or shellac. These oil varnishes are probably the earliest and simplest wood finishes and the natural luster, or glow, of wood under an oil finish is very appealing.


AGED AMBER OIL
Similar to above but with our exclusive blend of high quality oils that gives your neck that aged oil look, similar to what it may look like after years of playing and exposure.

NITROCELLULOSE LACQUER (not shown above)
For that thicker glassier look. This finish material has been the dominant finish used by U.S. musical instrument factories for steel string guitars, arch top guitars, banjos and mandolins since the 1920’s. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all, or nearly all, vintage/collectable American factory steel string instruments are finished in lacquer. (Until very recently solvent-based nitrocellulose lacquer was simply referred to as “lacquer” in the musical instrument business.)