Brian's Guitar from Conception to Birth or How to Build a Guitar in 62 Easy Steps!

49 The Oil Coat

To keep that awesome “wet look,” apply some boiled linseed oil. It’s a little old-school, but sometimes it’s best to stick with the tried and true. It’s foolproof to use and will pop the grain out tremendously. It will also bring a bit of an amber tone to the party, but if you made your test pieces, there won’t be any surprises. The technique of application is to generously coat the surface (go ahead a puddle this one on), let it sit for about 5 minutes to soak in, then wipe off the excess. It’s impossible to over-apply; the grain will only soak up what it can. The oil will penetrate the grain and make our quilted maple three dimensional. Let the guitar sit for about 20 minutes, then come back and wipe down the whole guitar again with a new, clean rag. This will remove any oil which may have leached out of the pores. Check it again after another hour and give it another wipe. The result in the rightmost photo is spectacular. Believe it or not, the finish here is fully dried; the visual texture is impressive. One coat is all it takes. Let it dry for two nights.