: Tell me, any luthiers out there... should I leave the soundboard unvarnished?
: I'm thinking that would give it a nice warm tone, or can you recommend any
: hand-rubbed oil finishes that will let the wood ring true?

Hi Malcolm -

Wow, what a wonderful gift that will make! Just beautiful!

You asked a question that can be as hotly debated as any kayak topic we've seen here. But, you live in the tropics, so high humidity is going to be present as well as hot sun and salt air (I can just hear the harp being played against a backdrop of hissing surf and moonlight. Sigh, it's so cold here in Cleveland). So, you want to apply a durable finish. Although French polishing is considered an "elite" high-end finish, it's high maintenance and does not tolerate harsh environmental conditions. It also takes time to learn. Humidity? Spilled rum or tequila? Forget it. Personally, I think it falls into the category of mystical tradition vs. modern technique and technology.

What really kills tone in an acoustic instrument is too much or too thick a finish, so it's unlikely any sort of hand-rubbed finish will be put on too thick. Each coat is applied as a light film, just enough to wet the instrument surface.

Additionally, the soundboard has no exposed end-grain, so it can't soak up any excess finish. BOILED linseed oil, NOT linseed oil has been used as a gunstock finish for many years, first coats applied thinned with turpentine as I recall. It's durable but requires regular maintenance and touch up.

I've been having great success with Minwax Wipe-On High Gloss Polyurethane. I just put the last of 6 hand-rubbed coats on an acoustic guitar I'm building and will buff it out to a high gloss shine. I'll be happy to send some pics when it's completed this weekend. I also used that finish on a custom double-neck guitar I just built and delivered to a working musician in NYC. He's on stage every night, so it needs to survive abuse, sweat and hot stage lights. You rub it on like an oil finish, so it goes on very thin, like lacquer, but it will have durability close to the PU we put on our yaks. The first frontal pic shows it buffed to a semi-gloss finish (the player did not want some "mirror" flashing into the eyes of the audience). The pic in my next post shows the back where I buffed it to a higher gloss. I'd recommend finishing the whole harp with the finish, to protect the wood. For the acoustic I'm building, I'll sand the finish with progressively finer grits, finishing with wet-sanding at 12000 grit before using the buffing wheel. You will get a very fine finish if you progressively sand through 2400grit (available at an auto finishing store) then buffing with Meguire's Final Cut compound, followed by Meguire's Mirror Glaze, also available at an auto-finishing supply store. Remember that a hand-rubbed finish is very thin, so go easy. The doubleneck guitar has one fretless neck, with full midi capability on both necks, and a merged Fernandes Sustainer sytem.

OK, back to yakking.

Jim