French polish it?

[bajerovaquero]

Hello everybody.
This is my first post in setup and repair.

Days ago a friend of mine removed the nitro finish from a manouche guitar and applied french polish. Wow what a difference!
Sounds more open and rich...

So, I was wondering about remove the varnish of my cheapo Suraba bass and put french polish on it.
Improve is a vague word, but also like the aged look of an instrument varnished by a begginer.

I´ve built a electric bass and currently building other two, and work two-three times a week in a classical guitar shop, this is my "luthier" experience.

Does make any sense?
Anybody tried a similar refinish?

[SplitNick]

Double Bass magazine did an interesting article on French polish a few years back. Seems to be a delicate process. You might want to check their archives if still available. I'll look around and see if I can find the old issue if you're interested.

[forester]

saw a french polish two nights ago that had no bottom...felt as if i could have plunged in.

[ckngumbo]

fp banner frames page

Here is a pretty good tut. I think it is an awesome finish but takes a LOT of time.

[james condino]

All finishes applied by hand take a lot of time. French Polishing is more of a method of application, but generically it is commonly used to describe a manual method for applying spirit varnish or shellac flakes dissolved in alcohol, plus or minus a few "secret ingredients".

I've used it extensively, including in double basses. That is a LOT of surface area to do by hand, but the results can be quite nice.

Given the ration of plate thickness to finish thickness, it is pretty easy to understand the dramatic results you'll have by removing the original finish on a guitar and French polishing a thinner one. Don't expect the same results on a double bass, if nothing else from just the standpoint that the plate thicknesses are 2-3 times more, yet your finish will be ablut the same thickness. If you want very good results for this, my experience is that the traditional classical guitar makers are at the top of the craft for this method.

Here is a short video that should give you a good primer on it. The same finish nerd wil be giving a pretty expensive workshop on it the end of July in Seattle for the Guild of American Luthiers' Convention ( along with a bass restoration workshop):


How to Create a Sunburst Finish - Fine Woodworking Video

j.

[bajerovaquero]

Thanks everybody for responding
Of course I´m talking about shellac
Luckily I live in one of the best cities in the world to learn it.
I think in granada lives at least 40 guitar makers, and I work all weeks in one shop, no secrets about the process.
Here it takes about two weeks to finish.

I'm worried about the possibility of the instrument sound worse.
The instrument is a cheap chinese Suraba so the sound is kind of terrible. Wondering about the posibility of improve the sound of an instrument by changing the finish.