stewmac.com
8
Wipe the neck with a damp cloth to raise the grain. After it’s
dry, sand it again with 320-grit.
Breaking edges
Slightly break any sharp edges on the fretboard, peghead
and body. Softening hard edges promotes even nish cover-
age. Later, when you’re lightly sanding out your nish, these
edges are less likely to sand through to bare wood.
Degrease with naphtha
When you’ve nished sanding, wipe the body and neck with
a naphtha-dampened rag to remove any oils or grease. From
this point on, wear clean gloves when handling so you won’t
contaminate the wood.
Tape o the string nut and fretboard face before applying n-
ish. Any overspray can be removed after the nish has cured.
Tip! Temporarily install an eye hook where the lower strap
button will be, this will serve as a hanger that conveniently
holds the guitar for nishing and while the nish cures.
Preparing the neck and body for nish is just as important if
not more important than the nal spray. The key to a great
looking nish is patience and lots of it. Be thorough with
your sanding and follow the nishing schedule on page 6
for best results.
Inspect the body and neck for any dents, chips, or other
imperfections and repair them. Small dents can be steamed
out by placing a damp cloth over the dent and applying
heat with a soldering iron. Chips and knotholes will need
to be lled.
Fill the grain
The body of a 335 style guitar is usually made with a laminat-
ed tight grained wood such as maple. The necks are often
made from an open grained wood like mahogany. Open
grained woods need to be lled before nishing in order
to achieve a at surface. Look your kit over closely to de-
termine what types of wood your kit was constructed with.
As a general rule, if you can see the pores of the wood with
the naked eye, you should use grain ller before nishing. If
needed, we suggest using our Neutral ColorTone grain ller
following the instructions on the label. Three applications
are recommended to get a nice at surface to build nish
coats over. The grain ller can also be used to ll any gaps,
chips, or other imperfections in the wood.
For more information on grain lling, see our article “Using
ColorTone Grain Filler” at stewmac.com.
Sand the body
The gured laminated woods on the top, back, and sides are
very thin and can easily be sanded. Using 320-grit sandpa-
per on a foam sanding block, lightly sand the entire body
working only in the direction of the grain.
After a complete sanding, wipe the body with a damp cloth
to raise the grain, to reveal bers that need more sanding.
Let the dampness dry, then sand the raised grain again using
320-grit sandpaper.
Sand the neck Sand the neck with 220-grit followed by 320-
grit. If your kit has a laminate on the peghead face, sand it
lightly with 320-grit using care not to sand through.
Run your ngers lightly along the edge of the fretboard and
feel for sharp fret ends. If the frets feel sharp where they
meet the edge of the neck, gently sand them back with long
strokes down the length of the neck. Use care not to change
the bevel of the frets in the process.
Finishing
Spray the nish
There are many nishes and application methods to choose
from. In creating these instructions, we’re using ColorTone
Aerosol Guitar Lacquers. These aerosols are a fast way to
build a quality nish.
Using a clear satin topcoat is recommended, because satin
doesn’t require much sanding or bung the way gloss
does. If you choose to spray a glossy nish, it will involve
more steps.
A brushed-on nish like tung oil, waterbase lacquer, or
shellac works great too. Any of these nishes will seal and
protect the wood from dirt and moisture.
stewmac.com search: i-5035
