Oil Finish Guitars- yay or nay?

SNAKEBITE

I have to admit that seeing these photos is bringing me round slowly.

I like being wrong sometimes.

usedtobe

It's a Yay from me..

andypwudtone

don't like just oils ( generally not durable enough, need to be re applied, become lack lustre and lack a higher gloss patina),  hate polymerised oils eg tru oil ( same as wrapping the wood in a condom tonewise IMHO) , lacquers ( ala nitro, poly ) usually come with the fast drying solvent issues , look shiny, don't age very nicely

oil or lacquer ?

Bogwhoppit

@schnozzalee likes to finish his in man oil ...eugh !!

TTony

"Pure" oil, and oil only ...

Likes:  Easy to apply at home.  Enhances the beauty of the underlying wood.  Keeps the full resonance of the guitar.

Dislikes:  A bit limited in what you can achieve.  Needs good wood underneath it.  

I never did the full oil polishing stuff to the expert degree of people like @WezV though.

Wudtone enhanced oil ...

Likes:  Still fairly easy to apply at home.  Can really enhance the underlying wood.  Keeps the full resonance of the guitar.

Dislikes:  Can be a bit tricky to get it properly right.  

I stopped using oil alone when I came across Wudtone.  Until I get full spray kit at home - and the skills to use it - (ie never), I'll probably keep using Wudtone.

Philly_Q

Those Wudtone finishes are new to me, they look very appealing.

ThePrettyDamned

Philly_Q;339486" said:

Those Wudtone finishes are new to me, they look very appealing.

Quite a few folk, myself included, on here have multiple experience with them so if you do get some, there is plenty of help at hand. TTony is king though, those guitars are right nice!

It took a few attempts for me, but I've pretty much nailed it now and I'm very happy with my recent builds - both were wudtone.

Philly_Q

Cheers. I may give it a go! 

Megii

andypwudtone said:

hate polymerised oils eg tru oil ( same as wrapping the wood in a condom tonewise IMHO)...

Can't agree with this at all - my experience using Tru Oil is that it can be used to give a very thin finish, and which has negligible effect on the tone. But having also used Wudtone products, I must say that is bloody good stuff.

Sambostar

Oil finishes definitely if you have a nice 1/4" slab of something spalted or nice on it. 

Plus if you use mineral oil, you can chop your bacon on them as well.

Laquer for veneers.

Nitro laquer for stained or neutral classics - they just look flat without it.

Paint for boring wood or two or three piece bodies

Bare wood feels nice and is faster, not only on a neck, but under your forearm too.

That is what I reckon.

WezV

Spot on - there isnt a "best finish",  its all about using the finish that best suits your needs and skill level.

I love oil finishes and I consider myself very good at them.   I have seen enough badly done oil finishes to know why some wouldn't like them.  But my method doesn't give me colour options so is still limited in use for me.  I go as far as varying the oil I use depending on the wood I am finishing, and i adjust technique too. so its still never going to be one type of finish fits all for me.

This is where wudtone comes in, and I am nearly ready to give it another go after previous failures getting a decent colour.  It does feel nice, although its a very different feel to the one i get from oil... the clear is much quicker to do than my oil finish though

Because i have failed to get the colour I want from  oils or wudtone, but i like this look.  I often go for thin skin nitro which I can do at home without too many issues

for proper glossy lacquer finishes  or bursts I usually get someone with proper spray equipment to do it.  Obviously this increases cost and reduces my control but the results are much better than I can achieve with this medium.   

I used to do brush on plastic coating and get great results of the super glossy variety, but its very labour intensive to  do that. It did however fit my needs and skill level at that time which made it the perfect finish!! 

SNAKEBITE

andypwudtone said:

don't like just oils ( generally not durable enough, need to be re applied, become lack lustre and lack a higher gloss patina),  hate polymerised oils eg tru oil ( same as wrapping the wood in a condom tonewise IMHO) , lacquers ( ala nitro, poly ) usually come with the fast drying solvent issues , look shiny, don't age very nicely

oil or lacquer ?

Those two are perfect.

For me it is the top one that has the edge though, love the colour.

andypwudtone

Another element to finishing is creativity, It seems increasingly important for the system to offer the builder something unique and that is a big part of the pleasure of creating / owning the instrument. Often it is the wood that brings that to the party , ( and the trick is to choose an approach to really bring that out of the wood etc), Sometimes it is colour mix, subtle burst, sometimes the process, eg use of highlights in grain or artwork etc .  

Having said that there are also classics, self builders won't ever tire of creating. a few examples both below. Always lots of inspiration keeps popping up on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wudtone-Custom-Guitars-and-Finishes/325946617447434?fref=photo

kind regards

jkgchristmas

could you use tru/danish oil on a maple fretboard too? 

just about to oil my first guitar and not sure what to do with the fretboard

Roland

 Prefer Osmo PolyX to Tru Oil because it doesn’t colour the wood as much. I’ve used Osmo on maple boards, just a thin coat. I don’t like lacquered boards or thick finishes.

jkgchristmas

nah me neither, i really like them to be as woody as possible, been doing nitro matte so far and i like it, but i wanna stop dealing with sprays and think im gonna try tru oil

maybe ill check polyx, becasue i dont really want yellow

Zoolooter

I have quite a severe opinion on this after putting my first strat together with an oil finish. I can’t bare it. Looks bollocks, bland and pedestrian. Strats, and any other guitar need colour!  

Jez6345789

I am not an industrial chemist but my understanding is most of the popular oil finishes mentioned here are polymerised.

Tru oil
Osmo poly 
Wudtone (custom coloured Osmo?)

i think it matters little as they all work

grungebob

Jez6345789 said:

I am not an industrial chemist but my understanding is most of the popular oil finishes mentioned here are polymerised.

Tru oil
Osmo poly 
Wudtone (custom coloured Osmo?)

i think it matters little as they all work

I couldn’t find an SDS for the wudtone but osmo and tru are both aliphatic hydrocarbons Osmo >60% but tru only ~20% then mineral oil added. 

tekbow

I like em. Looks good and very comfy to play.

Bacchus do oil stain finishes with different pigments in them as well as the natural ones.