sprayin' it everywhere, practically soaked myself in alcohol... yet it's gettin' hard again

[acalculatedname]

I'm here to tell you about nature's miracle wood-finishing product. It's called shellac. (No, I'm not talking about the band of the same name, which also just happens to be one of my favorite bands ever.) And like so many of the best things in life, shellac comes out of a bug's ass.

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[acalculatedname]

As a stringed instrument enthusiast (SIE?) you ought to check out the French polish method on Youtube or something. The thing that's kinda neat about the glossiness seen is that it actually doesn't have / require a super thick layer of finish, which is why it's still the method favored by violin makers, high-end acoustic guitar makers, etc. Getting the same kind of SHINY, OOH out of nitro lacquers or polyurethanes adds a lot of sound-deadening weight to the wood. Doesn't matter nearly so much on electrics, so those more modern (and admittedly more durable) finishing methods are favored by mass manufacturers.

For most people who just need a quick and durable answer to a finishing / painting problem, modern-day rattle-can enamels and stuff like Watco are where it's at, and doing shellac right in a factory with large-scale production and robots and whatever is not as easy as using the Awful Stuff. Thus, the current underrated situation with shellac. But for what I was doing and what I had, it was perfect.

You *can* get good results on raw wood with the nitro / poly stuff at home if you have the setup / time and know exactly what you're doing. (witness the guy building a custom Tele for me right now... totally a home hobbyist but a darned good and certainly well-equipped one.)