There is always some amount of useful information that is subject to change frequently. Inclusion of such information in a printed book means that this information quickly becomes out of date. In this book all such information is put in an online annex that is referenced by the printed book. In this way the changeable information can be kept up to date.

Note to commercial suppliers of finishing materials: Want to see your offerings listed here or change the blurb I have here for you? Contact me.

Last updated: September 24, 2026

Known errors in the text of the book are listed here by edition and by page. If an error is found in the book please send me email and let me know about it so I can inform other readers by listing it here, and fix the error in a subsequent edition of the book.

First Edition

No known errors at this time.

The specific brand names of finishing products used in the preparation of the book are listed here by material class. These products are known to work according to the information provided in the book. Products tend to come and go. All products listed here were readily available at the time of publication of the book. If you find that a product listed here is no longer available please send me email and let me know about it so I can inform other readers by de-listing it here. I'll also try to find an alternative product, try it out, and list it.

Dye

Transtint Liquid Dye Concentrate From General Finishes.

This can be mixed with either alcohol or water to make a prepared dye for direct application on the wood. It can be mixed directly with waterborne material to make a transparent film-forming stain, and it can be mixed with MEK and then with oil varnish to make an oil varnish stain.

Sealer

Vinyl sealer

Mohawk EZ Vinyl clear sealer

Although this product is intended for spray application, it pads on nicely for musical instrument finishing.

Shellac as sealer

Zinsser Bulls Eye Seal Coat 2lb cut prepared dewaxed shellac.

Shop-mixed shellac See the section below for dewaxed shellac flakes.

Dewaxed shellac flakes

Brooklyn Tool and Craft De-Waxed Shellac Flakes, super-blonde

Shellac.net Dewaxed Platina Shellac Flakes

Pore (grain) filler

Oil varnish based pore filler

Pore-O-Pac grain filler From Mohawk Behlen.

Cardinal pore filler From Cardinal Industrial Finishes.

Water based gel pore filler

Aqua Coat clear wood grain filler From Aqua Coat Inc.

Epoxy as a pore filler

Devcon 5 Minute Clear Epoxy 20545 From Devcon.

Bob Smith Industries BSI-201 Quik-Cure Epoxy From Bob Smith Industries.

Stain and Paint

Enamel (oil) paint

Rust-Oleum Protective Enamel, gloss From Rust-Oleum.

Acrylic artist paint

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Fluid Color From Liquitex.

Oil varnish stain

Minwax Penetrating Wood Finish Semi-Transparent Oil-Based From Minwax.

General Finishes Oil Base Gel Stain From General Finishes.

Clear coat finishes

Wiping oil varnish

Liberon Finishing Oil From Liberon.

Waterborne finish

General Finishes High Performance Water-based Top Coat Gloss From General Finishes. This product has a tint, so it is suitable for use over most natural wood colors, but not over bright solid colors with a light shade.

CrystaLac Brite Tone Instrument Finish From CrystaLac. This product has no tint, so it is suitable for use over bright solid colors with a light shade.

The specific brand names of finishing supplies used in the preparation of the book are listed here by material class. These products are known to work according to the information provided in the book. Products tend to come and go. All products listed here were readily available at the time of publication of the book. If you find that a product listed here is no longer available please send me email and let me know about it so I can inform other readers by de-listing it here. I'll also try to find an alternative product, try it out, and list it.

Sandpaper

Specialty finishing sandpaper

Super Assilex Sheet FINISHING Starter Kit (hand sanding) From Eagle Abrasives. This is a kit containing a sanding block and interface pads, and a selection of grits of precision abrasives sandpaper ranging from p600 through p1500, suitable for dry level sanding and additional sanding of finishes. Individual components and sheets are available separately.

Mirka Abralon foam abrasives From Mirka. This is a foam-backed precision abrasive "sandpaper" suitable for use in either hand sanding or machine sanding of finishes. The material is made of open cell foam and the abrasives are bonded to a fine open grid, so vacuum picks up sanding dust right through the material. It is available in grits suitable for finish sanding from 500 through 2000.

Polishing compounds

Automotive polishing compounds

Meguiar's Professional M105 Ultra-Cut Compound From Meguiar's. This product is a coarse compound, suitable for the first step in polishing.

Meguiar's Professional M205 Ultra Finishing Polish From Meguiar's. This product is a fine polishing compound, suitable for the second step in polishing.

Meguiar's Professional M07 Show Car Glaze From Meguiar's. This product is a final glazing compound, suitable for the final step in polishing.

Custom decal printing

Guitar Decadence. Custom headstock decals made to your specs.