What if I put NO FINISH on an Alder body? (In Seattle)

[Stratmatt777]

Hello all, I'm new here! 
I want to get a Soloist body and I want it to be unfinished for the look and for my budget. I saw an Ibanez at Guitar Center that "looked" unfinished, but surely must have been protected with something (probably a satin finish). It was beautiful- I love the idea of a natural looking piece of wood... like all those high end bass guitars you see...
I just read the awesome sticky about all the different finishes you can use and then I read a thread from a guy who couldn't finish his guitar with Tung Oil (or True Oil) because it was too humid...  I'm in SEATTLE.  You want humid?  We've had it for the last couple weeks. We had Thunderstorms tonight.

So... the question in the subject line... what if I get an Alder soloist body and don't finish it with anything (and never expose it to the rain)?  Bad idea?

Would it be impossible for me to do my own Tung Oil finish since I live in Seattle and don't have A/C?

Thanks for your help!


(The captchas on this site are really difficult to get right!!!!)

 

[AutoBat]

Bodies usually don't run into the unfinished issues that necks encounter.  It ought to be fine (if ugly to me) without a finish on it.

 

[Cagey]

I wouldn't want to live with an unfinished body. The thing will get disgusting in fairly short order. Might even start to stink.

You can do oil finishes in higher humidity environments; it just takes longer. How much longer is tough to say. I'm not really an oil finish guy. The furniture folks are the ones you want to talk to. They know how to finish wood. The guitar guys who use oil finishes are usually in last-ditch mode, so you want to be sure you verify anything you learn from them. That's not to say you can't get a stunning finish with oil. I've seen some examples on this site that defy belief, so don't give up on the idea. Just be aware that it's not a trivial task. You may want to read this article/tutorial. I'm sure if you follow that, you'll get excellent results. Those guys know their stuff.

 

[stubhead]

I personally would do one of two things. Either thin out some wax-free shellac (Zinnser Bullseye) with naptha or mineral spirits. The shellac is pretty thin already; you want a consistency thicker than milk, but not by much. Or use thinned Tru-Oil, which I know is half-n-half thinner.

I'm probably the guy who couldn't finish, but we had a few dryer, 50% humidity days. I put on three coats of thin Tru-Oil, sanded back any fuzzies with gray plastic steel wool (600 grit) then a couple more coats of thin Tru-Oil. From here on in, I'm just gonna use NON-boiled, raw linseed oil mixed with beeswax. And it's just for pretties.

The reason I did use Tru-Oil as a sealer was to avoid soggy wood. I have a feeling that a lot of the anti-sog brigade's info is hung-over from acoustic guitar, where a 1 foot by 2 foot by 1/8 inch flat soft spruce board is vibrating like Lindsey Lohan's cuckoo clock. But it's not hard to get a least a bit of a seal coat on there, it couldn't hurt anything and it would stay cleaner. It may seem paradoxical, but the thinner the varnish, the faster it dries. Humidity doesn't always obey the rules - stoopid world. It can be pouring rain outside and, like, 50% humidity. I don't know if you have an inside hygrometer, they're like $6 at a hardware store.

The two nakedest guitars I've ever seen, Rory Gallagher's Strat and Stevie Ray Vaughan's wife, certainly had buckets of sweat poured over them over the years, but both those guys were outstanding, even world-class, blues grease producers too. And, yes, I would imaging you coulda sniffed SRV's wife a-comin'.

 

[Cagey]

From here on in, I'm just gonna use NON-boiled, raw linseed oil mixed with beeswax. And it's just for pretties.

You don't want to do that. It'll never dry, and it'll have the integrity of wet toilet paper.

"Boiled" linseed oil isn't actually boiled; I don't know where it got that name from. They've just added some dryers to the mix so it'll fix. Without them, the [raw] stuff will eventually get to the consistency of freshly-licked envelope glue, given enough time. Think years. It might even dry eventually, but eventually can be a very, very long time. Then, beeswax never dries. If you put it on thin enough, it looks really good, but it doesn't have any integrity, either. It's good for picture frames, candlestick holders and things of that nature that you'll rarely touch, but past that? Fuhgeddaboudit. It's not a finish.

 

[Dan025]

I personally would do one of two things. Either thin out some wax-free shellac (Zinnser Bullseye) with naptha or mineral spirits. The shellac is pretty thin already; you want a consistency thicker than milk, but not by much. Or use thinned Tru-Oil, which I know is half-n-half thinner.

I'm probably the guy who couldn't finish, but we had a few dryer, 50% humidity days. I put on three coats of thin Tru-Oil, sanded back any fuzzies with gray plastic steel wool (600 grit) then a couple more coats of thin Tru-Oil. From here on in, I'm just gonna use NON-boiled, raw linseed oil mixed with beeswax. And it's just for pretties.

The reason I did use Tru-Oil as a sealer was to avoid soggy wood. I have a feeling that a lot of the anti-sog brigade's info is hung-over from acoustic guitar, where a 1 foot by 2 foot by 1/8 inch flat soft spruce board is vibrating like Lindsey Lohan's cuckoo clock. But it's not hard to get a least a bit of a seal coat on there, it couldn't hurt anything and it would stay cleaner. It may seem paradoxical, but the thinner the varnish, the faster it dries. Humidity doesn't always obey the rules - stoopid world. It can be pouring rain outside and, like, 50% humidity. I don't know if you have an inside hygrometer, they're like $6 at a hardware store.

The two nakedest guitars I've ever seen, Rory Gallagher's Strat and Stevie Ray Vaughan's wife, certainly had buckets of sweat poured over them over the years, but both those guys were outstanding, even world-class, blues grease producers too. And, yes, I would imaging you coulda sniffed SRV's wife a-comin'.

SRV's wife? would that be #1 or "Lenny" i mean the most pics of him feature #1 and the signature series guitar was a replica of #1 but "Lenny" was named for "Lenora" his human wife who bought him the guitar. i'm guessing you mean #1 though because it was missing a bit more paint than Lenny.

 

[loversmoon]

this is my alder body with a cordovan stain ($20) and some tru oil. ($10)  so all in all a finish that was 30 dollars and some time invested.

 

[stubhead]

You don't want to do that. It'll never dry, and it'll have the integrity of wet toilet paper.

"Boiled" linseed oil isn't actually boiled; I don't know where it got that name from. They've just added some dryers to the mix so it'll fix. Without them, the [raw] stuff will eventually get to the consistency of freshly-licked envelope glue, given enough time. Think years. It might even dry eventually, but eventually can be a very, very long time. Then, beeswax never dries. If you put it on thin enough, it looks really good, but it doesn't have any integrity, either.

Perfect! I don't need it to dry - there's already five layers of dried Tru-Oil lurking just under the surface, on a piece of walnut that is somehow already harder and lighter than hard maple. It's already finished, the wax is just for the occasional shine-up. Music Man has been doing their necks that way for 30 years or so, and Elderly shines up their old ones with Howard's, which is just wax, linseed & orange oil. I don't play guitar in the shower, I don't play guitar in swimming pools or lakes; some of these post-apocalyptic finishing preparations maybe useful in bashing zombies, but there won't be any electricity anyway. I haven't seen a solidbody guitar damaged by moisture in 20 years or so. Stupidity + moisture, yes. Drool, beer & blood alone? Nah.

 

[DangerousR6]

I personally would do one of two things. Either thin out some wax-free shellac (Zinnser Bullseye) with naptha or mineral spirits. The shellac is pretty thin already; you want a consistency thicker than milk, but not by much. Or use thinned Tru-Oil, which I know is half-n-half thinner.

I'm probably the guy who couldn't finish, but we had a few dryer, 50% humidity days. I put on three coats of thin Tru-Oil, sanded back any fuzzies with gray plastic steel wool (600 grit) then a couple more coats of thin Tru-Oil. From here on in, I'm just gonna use NON-boiled, raw linseed oil mixed with beeswax. And it's just for pretties.

The reason I did use Tru-Oil as a sealer was to avoid soggy wood. I have a feeling that a lot of the anti-sog brigade's info is hung-over from acoustic guitar, where a 1 foot by 2 foot by 1/8 inch flat soft spruce board is vibrating like Lindsey Lohan's cuckoo clock. But it's not hard to get a least a bit of a seal coat on there, it couldn't hurt anything and it would stay cleaner. It may seem paradoxical, but the thinner the varnish, the faster it dries. Humidity doesn't always obey the rules - stoopid world. It can be pouring rain outside and, like, 50% humidity. I don't know if you have an inside hygrometer, they're like $6 at a hardware store.

The two nakedest guitars I've ever seen, Rory Gallagher's Strat and Stevie Ray Vaughan's wife, certainly had buckets of sweat poured over them over the years, but both those guys were outstanding, even world-class, blues grease producers too. And, yes, I would imaging you coulda sniffed SRV's wife a-comin'.

SRV's wife? would that be #1 or "Lenny" i mean the most pics of him feature #1 and the signature series guitar was a replica of #1 but "Lenny" was named for "Lenora" his human wife who bought him the guitar. i'm guessing you mean #1 though because it was missing a bit more paint than Lenny.

Stevie always referred to #1 as his first wife..This is what I think he's talking about, because Lenny was the red strat and was not beat up like #1.

 

[line6man]

Raw alder is not pretty. It might look ok at first, but it will go grey and funky in no time.

 

[DangerousR6]

Raw alder is not pretty. It might look ok at first, but it will go grey and funky in no time.

True, if I were to want such a look I'd go with some satin Deft nitro.

 

[Day-mun]

-Cool pics and info on fretless' thread about shellac & poly in DIY... maybe our friend in Seattle would like to get some pointers there for the natural/minimal "no-finish" look.

 

[Day-mun]

True, if I were to want such a look I'd go with some satin Deft nitro.

You mentioned this in another thread, I believe, and I've been wanting to try it ever since I saw the very same stuff at my local hardware store. -Question: what will work underneath the Deft? fretless has been discussing shellac under polyurethane, but he uses de-waxed and mixes/dissolves his own... not sure if I will find that 'round these parts, or if I even need to.

 

[fretless]

yeah dewaxed shellac under that lacquer fo sho , also perhaps even better is another Minwax product in a spray

http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/interior-clear-protective-finishes/minwax-clear-brushing-lacquer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clear-Gloss-Spray-Lacquer-by-Minwax-no-15200-/370583071639?pt=Paint_Paint_Supplies&hash=item564878eb97

 

[bagman67]

I have had good luck with Zinsser rattle-can Bullseye Shellac as an undercoat for Deft spray lacquer, although I have not tried the satin.

 

[Day-mun]

I have had good luck with Zinsser rattle-can Bullseye Shellac as an undercoat for Deft spray lacquer, although I have not tried the satin.

Thanks! -And thank you, fretless... I may have to sneak myself a piece or two off screamin' deals just to try a couple of these methods!

Seems someone in one of these DIY threads said that the Deft satin (particularly) will nicely polish up to a low shine that has the look of being a very old gloss... and I think I'd like that.

 

[fretless]

I have had good luck with Zinsser rattle-can Bullseye Shellac as an undercoat for Deft spray lacquer, although I have not tried the satin.

Thanks! -And thank you, fretless... I may have to sneak myself a piece or two off screamin' deals just to try a couple of these methods!

Seems someone in one of these DIY threads said that the Deft satin (particularly) will nicely polish up to a low shine that has the look of being a very old gloss... and I think I'd like that.

:icon_biggrin: something Exotic or maybe some fresh Hog ?  :hello2:

 

[Day-mun]

Yeah, I have been eyeing that mahogany tele body with forearm contour, and top-routed for a single bridge HB.  :icon_tongue:

...but this comment belongs in GAS Alert!

 

[fretless]

Yeah, I have been eyeing that mahogany tele body with forearm contour, and top-routed for a single bridge HB.  :icon_tongue:

...but this comment belongs in GAS Alert!

oh damn what a fine piece of lumber that is  :cool01:

 

[Day-mun]

-for the price, absolutely! -But I don't wanna hijack the thread, so...