I'm kinda liking the simple finish on my SGJ and was wondering how it's done. Do they dye the guitar then spray with lacquer or is it a tinted lacquer? I have an Epiphone Explorer Goth I'm stripping and may try to replicate this finish on it. The wood is pretty pale looking so far.
Can you post a pic of the SGJ? If you can see the wood grain then they probably pore fill with a tinted pore filler then spray clear lacquer or tinted lacquer. It's hard to say if we can't see how the guitar looks. Regards Peter.
I know the SGJ has a thin nitro finish on it, just not sure how the cherry color was applied. I was wondering if stain followed by Tru oil would be close.
Looks like it was worn off in areas and you see bare unstained mahogany, right? I would say a dark pore filler, because you can see the darker pores even in the worn areas, unless that is reflection? My eyes aren't that great! ;-) Probably a tinted nitro. Could be amber tint or more likely cherry tint. I'm sure there are people on here that will know exactly what they used for your guitar. What year is it and is it a re-issue?? Cheers Peter. PS - awesome looking guitar BTW.
+ 1 on tinted nitro guess. Staining bare wood results in stain penetrating at least few millimeters into the wood. If that was the case you would not be able to see natural (unstained) wood once the top wore off.
I'm currently using a little 5" orbital palm sander with 220 grit. It's taking forever, I've used 5 discs so far and only got the top stripped . Should I go to a coarser grit or keep using the 220? I don't have a heat gun and don't want to use a chemical stripper.
If sanding is what you want to do, I'd stick with 220 just to avoid deep sanding marks that rougher sandpaper would produce. It might take a bit longer, but there would be shorter prep time on the next stage, and you would preserve the original thickness of the wood. You are trying to avoid chemical strippers, but in your case I would not exclude acetone (nail polish remover). Working in small sections (6-9 sq. inches) at a time, you should be able to get down to bare wood fairly fast. You'd need to work in a ventilated area (garage with open door would work).
I have a 2013 LPJ in the same color, it's a nice finish, no lacquer or gloss at all. It's a really great guitar, basically a Studio without the lacquer top coat and a maple neck.
