Easiest/best Brush-on Gloss

[Unicorn Warrior]

I’m wanting to do a sparkle finish as an experiment. Not looking for a pristine finish and I don’t really want to do the whole buff and wet sand thing. Thinking of sprinkling the guitar to coat it and then adding a brush gloss over top. I’m not going for perfect.


Which brush gloss would you recommend for this?

Open to any and all suggestions

[Mechanical Birds]

I’ve been thinking forever about doing the exact same thing on my Surf Green VM Jag, I just think it’d be the coolest. Having no experience with painting though makes it pretty scary

[surfin_bird]

Back in the day on surfguitar101.com there was a guy who achieved a good sparkly finish with mod podge. I think its worth to google it. He had a blue sparkle strat.

[surfin_bird]

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/ ... =1#p193635

[Unicorn Warrior]

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/ ... =1#p193635

That is pretty interesting actually. I’ve never used mod podge before. What’s it like?


My biggest concern would be the glitter flaking our. But I guess you could always just add more coats of something else if needed.

[Danley]

Not to get entirely off-topic apart from sparkle finishes but - Not sure why I haven't seen more about brush-on/roll-on guitar finishes, with how low-effort some people are. People do this with cars (believe it or not,) and get decent results after all - for some people, wet-sanding roller texture/brush marks off would possibly be even easier than sanding sprayed-on orange peel, due to sloppy technique Would also somewhat mitigate the risk of breathing anything in (provided you still didn't let the thing dry in your bedroom etc.) Thick-ish coats, flat things out competently before (and after) the clear and I imagine it would not be discernible from a rattle-can job, at least.

[Futuron]

I'm currently doing a project ending with a wipe-on polyurethane gloss clear. Ready to sand/polish in hours rather than months, and far more durable than typical spray can clear. I put the last(?) coat on tonight. Depending on time I'll finish up tomorrow or Monday, hope it works out, this is my first try with it.

So far I can highly recommend its ease-of-use for flat surfaces, like headstocks and the front & back of a body. Anything vertical or diagonal (curves, sides) and you'll have to deal with drips/runs, or be a pro. I am not.

[Danley]

I'm currently doing a project ending with a wipe-on polyurethane gloss clear. Ready to sand/polish in hours rather than months, and far more durable than typical spray can clear. I put the last(?) coat on tonight. Depending on time I'll finish up tomorrow or Monday, hope it works out, this is my first try with it.

So far I can highly recommend its ease-of-use for flat surfaces, like headstocks and the front & back of a body. Anything vertical or diagonal (curves, sides) and you'll have to deal with drips/runs, or be a pro. I am not.

I’ve only used Minwax satin (oil-based) as wipe-on, for necks only; it takes at least a couple days to a week to dry completely (not sticky/resistive to the touch) and the coats go on *very* thin. I imagine completing a guitar body would take an eternity, what product are you using?

[Rgand]

I'm currently doing a project ending with a wipe-on polyurethane gloss clear. Ready to sand/polish in hours rather than months, and far more durable than typical spray can clear. I put the last(?) coat on tonight. Depending on time I'll finish up tomorrow or Monday, hope it works out, this is my first try with it.

So far I can highly recommend its ease-of-use for flat surfaces, like headstocks and the front & back of a body. Anything vertical or diagonal (curves, sides) and you'll have to deal with drips/runs, or be a pro. I am not.

I’ve only used Minwax satin (oil-based) as wipe-on, for necks only; it takes at least a couple days to a week to dry completely (not sticky/resistive to the touch) and the coats go on *very* thin. I imagine completing a guitar body would take an eternity, what product are you using?

I did a body with Wudtone finish followed by 5 or 6 coats of Minwax Wipe-on Poly. I didn't want to completely fill the grain so I quit at that point and gave it a decent buffing without level sanding. The poly had to cure for a couple weeks before I could buff it out properly. It came out really nice.

[Futuron]

Brand is Feast Watson, the Minwax stuff isn't being carried around here these days, which was what was recommended. This is what they are now carrying instead. Recoat time is 6 hours, so a few weeks should allow plenty of coverage.

Front and back face turned out nice, but the corners produced blobs when it had dripped off the sides. Had to aggressively sand it flat. I'll try refinishing again with a more conservative approach. I'm using a cheaper Squier for the reason that I thought I might mess it up.

[oid]

They are all about the same in the end, just go with what you like, I have always been happy with Behlen's products. You are going to be hard pressed to find a poly or lacquer that is not up to the task of guitar finish, just avoid thick finishes that are all about quick build up, give the can a shake and listen, it should sound closer to water than egg nog sloshing around in there. Shellac is a good touchstone for this test since there is most likely a can of it right there on the shelf by the lacquers, that is about what a decent brushing lacquer or poly should sound like when shook. Splurging on a good brush will do you better.

If you do things right, you will have no more sanding/buffing than you would with a well done spray finish and less time overall on the single guitar scale, far less cleanup time.

The big issue people have with brush work, especially with solvent based finishes is they work from the can, your solvent is evaporating/finish curing the entire time the can is open and your finish is going thick. So that first coat goes on great, but by the last coat things have gotten too thick to brush well and they end up with huge brush marks and a lifetime belief that brush on finishes suck. Always pour what you need for the coat into a container to work from and get that lid back on. Taller narrower containers are better than short and squat for your working lacquer, the less surface area exposed to the air, the more working time you have. Pay attention, if you notice ridges starting to form, add a little more thinner. Avoid finishing in a hot bright sunny space, cool is better, heat just increases the evaporation of the solvent or curing of the finish.