Lacquer is a man-made finish, which was developed after WWI. Lacquer is usually applied by spray gun. Lacquer is widely used on all new furniture since the 1940's. Lacquer is also widely used in most refinishing shops today. Shellac is an organic, natural finish created by the lac bug found in Indo-China in places like the country of India. Removing it from trees where the lac bug nests, dissolved and purified to different levels depending on its end use.

It is made from Ethanol (the only solvent we sell) and Shellac flakes. Shellac is made from the resin produced by the Lac beetle. The Ethanol dissolves the Shellac into a useable liquid. See similar questions...

Nitro is often called a "thin skin" as it really allows the guitar to resonate freely. It has a superior feel and a super glossy look to it. Poly is almost like a thin layer of plastic. It feels tacky and doesn't allow the guitar to resonate very well. Most companies use poly because its faster to work with. See similar questions...

Nordy: Shellac is a different type of material, and not necessarily used as a top coat. It's a multi-purpose product. It was very popular in the 1700s, and a lot of the antiques were finished with it because that was the only finish available at the time. It has its advantages. It dries very fast and gives you a nice appearance. But it does have its drawbacks. It is not completely water resistant, and it can be brittle. See similar questions...

We recommend lacquer because it is the best finish we have found for our products. The lacquer protects the wood from moisture, and at the same time penetrates into the surface, bringing out the natural beauty of the wood...lacquer makes the wood "come alive" (not to sound too corny, but it's true). The lacquer also provides a semi-glossy surface that is easy to clean, and looks great. See similar questions...

While I can't guarantee all those things, I will do my best at making recommendations and steer you in the right direction if you need some help picking out parts and materials. Keep in mind that what we build are custom basses and the bass you order will end up sounding how it ends up sounding. I use the best materials I can find. If you're putting the good stuff into a bass build it only makes sense that bass will end up sounding great. See similar questions...

Absolutely. A lacquer is an aluminum-based disc, covered with a plastic material that is cut by an engineer from your master tapes. It is the medium by which your music is transferred to disc to produce metal parts, which produces phonograph records. It is a vital part of record pressing. See similar questions...

One of the most protective finishes available, varnishes have very good resistance against abrasion, wear, Many furniture factories and large volume refinishers use lacquers because of their fast-drying characteristics the tradeoff we believe to be time v. quality. Oil based varnish does not dry very quickly, therefore it will take longer to complete a finishing project using varnish as opposed to lacquer, but the upside is a more durable, quality finish. See similar questions...

Not necessarily, once you have removed the lacquer you can maintain the brass quite easily with simple regular maintenance. First wash and dry your item with warm soapy water to ensure the brass is clean. Next you can polish with a cloth that has previously been soaked in a metal polish such as Brasso? and allowed to dry for 24 hours. See similar questions...

No, you do not. It was Bob Taylor who said, "A long time ago, some guy figured out that if you keep spraying and sanding a guitar, you can make it really shiny. We need to exhume that guy and shoot him!" While nitrocellulose lacquer has become "traditional" and a mirror-like lacquer finish is the standard, there are many other finish options including waterbased/waterborne lacquers, French polish/shellac, varnish, and various oil-based finishes like Tru Oil. See similar questions...

Lacquering or waxing silver is generally not recommended because of the difficulties in obtaining an even coating. If the coating has not been applied well, it may be uneven or have streaks and small holes, so that when the object retarnishes, it could look worse than if no coating had been applied at all. Lacquer will also eventually yellow and crack, allowing tarnish to form within the fissures and eventually under the protective coating. See similar questions...

A : We use automotive lacquers, so you tell us! We put a ground coat on the raw composite material, then usually add a color coat (or two) and then a clear coat, then the logo foils and fret markers (decals or hand-painted) go on, followed by a final clear coat or two. The lacquer reaches final hardness after a month or so, depending on whether additives for hardness or flexibility have been added. For example, fretless fretboards get a harder clearcoat applied. See similar questions...

Although traditional wisdom has it that French polish is more conducive to sound, hence is better, the issue really isn't that clear. More to the point, the question is how hard and thick the finish is, especially on the top. Although thick, hard finishes will dampen sound, lacquer may be applied just as thinly as French polish, and if properly applied seems to work just as well. There are other considerations as well that should be kept in mind. See similar questions...

We're more than happy to answer your question with an amount of detail we hope will clearly clarify this issue for you. Any modern day finish (within the last 10 plus years) should NOT have any form of plastic set on it for any length of time. Current finishes have chemical properties in them that can actually mix with the chemical composition of plastics (such as a plastic table cloth), causing what is called "plasticizer migration. See similar questions...

If thinning is needed, use the thinner recommended on the label. If strong solvent is added, uneven gloss, wrinkling, and dissolving of previous coatings are only a few of many problems that can be caused. All thinner must evaporate from a coating before a film can begin to cure. Solvent is normally added to change consistency for different application methods. See similar questions...

No, but we do sell products to any stage of completion you wish, and we do custom work, so we can pretty much make anything you can dream up. We can dream something up for you, too. See similar questions...

Is it possible to use same thinner for both primer and top coat of Bose Neos? Because it specifies different one. See similar questions...

A simple way of visualizing the differences are the difference between oil based paint and latex based paint. Oil based paint needs paint thinner for cleanup, while latex based paint can be cleaned up with soapy water. A more comprehensive explanation is the base of a lacquer base coating is usually derived from petroleum or alcohol, while aqueous based solutions are made with water as the main ingredient. See similar questions...