It’s being scraped off trees, collected, dried and then used. The flakes are a hardened resin of special lice. It starts off as flakes that are diluted in alcohol. The best part of shellac is that it’s an entirely natural product. Also, shellac can show some wear over time, like some other finishes. You have to have some experience doing it. The downside to shellac is that it’s quite difficult to apply. The wood can ‘breath’ through the finish and the piece feels very ‘natural’. A piece of wood finished in shellac (finished via the technique called ‘French Polish’), has a soft, honey-like gloss to it. Shellac, or enamel, was already used for hunderds of years on violins and acoustic guitars, this material is praised for its natural feel. Notice the wear marks on the back but the soft sheen on the parts that do not show wear. Let’s take a look at some of the major possibilities a luthier has when it comes to finishing a guitar. The luthier (or the painter in charge) has a large array of possible materials.
In order to ensure the longevity of the instrument, the luthier covers the instrument with a special coating, the lacquer. Other woods don’t need a finish at all, such as rosewood, pau ferro or ebony.
Some woods don’t need a thick coating, a thin coating will work (think of Musicman’s maple necks they’re finished in gunstock oil to ensure a ‘raw’ feel but are protected nonetheless).
THE BARRIER CRACK
Other woods, like maple, tend to warp or maybe even crack under the influence of salts, acids, moisture or a combination of those influences. Some woods, like spruce, alder or basswood, simply can’t take much of a beating and are easily dented, bruised or maybe even worse. This is because the woods that are being used for instrument building are fragile.
Whether it’s protection from the player (sweat can be quite aggressive just take a look at the gold plating of your (friend’s) vintage Les Paul Custom) or from the elements, wood has to be safeguarded from hazardous,external influences. Ever since musical instruments were crafted of wood they had to be protected.
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