Shellac her? I barely know her!!!

I promised more frequent updates, and just like Karl Malone, I always deliver... today we begin the neck finishing process. Yesterday, I grabbed all the necessary supplies from Lowes, and started mixing the shellac.

First, a little info on shellac that you may find interesting: Shellac is a resin secreted by the female Lac bug, native to India and Thailand. It is sold as dry flakes, which are dissolved in denatured alcohol to create a stain (Everclear is actually a popular mixer, but in my house, we have much better uses for that...). Shellac was THE wood finish of 19th century France, and the technique of "French polish" was invented for applying shellac (not to be confused with the French polishing you can get at the Moulin Rouge for 20 Euro).

Here are all of the neck finishing supplies, and a closeup of the shellac flakes in the bag and then mixed:

So after letting the shellac dissolve overnight, i tested out wiping on some scrap maple til I got a nice shade. Here's the untouched neck alongside the scrap test piece:

The first coat was very light, but here's the comparison after wiping on two coats:

And after three:

I added a fourth coat just before I left for work... i'll stop here for now and match the fretboard tomorrow, then see if we still need more.


And oh yeah, I fuckin' love this shit.