Type of finish on Larrivee Guitars? Lacquer or Poly?

[kazzelectro]

Also, has anyone ever tried to lacquer a matte finish?  I was thinking about sanding down my l-03r and coating it in nitro lacquer.  I've refinished two electric guitars and it works very well.

[RoundLakeDT]

All Larrivee guitars are currently finished in UV-cured poly.  Satin and gloss are different varieties but same basic idea

refinishing it?  interesting, i dunno if I've heard of that.  if you do, let us know how it goes

[Trinity Guitars]

Also, has anyone ever tried to lacquer a matte finish?  I was thinking about sanding down my l-03r and coating it in nitro lacquer.  I've refinished two electric guitars and it works very well.

Not a good idea. Nitro Lacquer will not bond well to the poly finish. It may look good at first but in the long run the lacquer is likely to start to flake off. 
Jim Holler

[Danny]

   Larrivee uses a polyester UV cured finish in both gloss and satin.
  Collings does use a combo of Nitro and a poly resin of some kind that is UV cured also. They are the only ones I have heard of doing that and I don't understand how it's done.
   If I was to refinish a UV cured poly sprayed git I'd sand it all the way down and start over. But others know this field much better than I.
danny

[flathead]

  Not a good idea. Nitro Lacquer will not bond well to the poly finish. It may look good at first but in the long run the lacquer is likely to start to flake off. 
Jim Holler

[GA-ME]

If you go to bare wood, you can put anything ya' want back on it. If I was refinishing it, I'd do the whole guitar though. I don't think you would get an over all acceptable quality of finish if you just did the top. I think it would be hard to blend a new lacquer top finish ito the sides with anything that ended up being aestetically pleasing in the long run.

If you go to bare wood, be careful how much you sand the top though or ya' could get too much wood off. Also, if you get the lacquer too thick, you would not get any tangible improvement in sound over the plastic that is on it now.

[kazzelectro]

Excellent advice...Thank You.  The bug has passed and I am free of my obsession.  I just love lacquer finishes.  Has anyone ever buffed the satin finish of a Larrivee to get a semi-gloss finish?  I know the process and I have heard folks glossing the Martin 15 series successfully...not sure if the 15 series is lacquer or poly.  I suppose it doesn't matter as  you should have success either way.  If someone has gloss a matte finish would you have pics to share? Kazz

[Randy_R]

Excellent advice...Thank You.  The bug has passed and I am free of my obsession.  I just love lacquer finishes.  Has anyone ever buffed the satin finish of a Larrivee to get a semi-gloss finish?  I know the process and I have heard folks glossing the Martin 15 series successfully...not sure if the 15 series is lacquer or poly.  I suppose it doesn't matter as  you should have success either way.  If someone has gloss a matte finish would you have pics to share? Kazz

A number of people here have polished their satin finished guitars. Search for the keywords 'orsino polish' .

[Mr_LV19E]

Excellent advice...Thank You.  The bug has passed and I am free of my obsession.  I just love lacquer finishes.  Has anyone ever buffed the satin finish of a Larrivee to get a semi-gloss finish?  I know the process and I have heard folks glossing the Martin 15 series successfully...not sure if the 15 series is lacquer or poly.  I suppose it doesn't matter as  you should have success either way.  If someone has gloss a matte finish would you have pics to share? Kazz

Lots of pic's in this thread.
http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=18390.0

[thom_vey]

Do you know if the UV cured poly was used on Larrivee's dating back to the early '90s?  I've picked up couple new guitar stands for my D-09 ('93) and OM-5 Custom ('94) and the stand tag said not to use w/ guitars that have a Nitro Cellulose Lacquer.  I'm guessing this type of finish is 'newer' than my guitars, but didn't want to have an 'Oh, -CENSORED-!' moment down the road.  
Thanks to anyone that can clue me in!!!

[Danny]

Do you know if the UV cured poly was used on Larrivee's dating back to the early '90s?  I've picked up couple new guitar stands for my D-09 ('93) and OM-5 Custom ('94) and the stand tag said not to use w/ guitars that have a Nitro Cellulose Lacquer.  I'm guessing this type of finish is 'newer' than my guitars, but didn't want to have an 'Oh, -CENSORED-!' moment down the road. 
Thanks to anyone that can clue me in!!!

I'm not sure what was used back then. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't nitro. I have a few nitro finish guitars and I always put a micro cloth or flannel on the wall holders. Even the new finishes can react to some of the chemicals in the cheaper stands.

[thom_vey]

Thanks, Danny.

T.

[kwakatak]

A number of people here have polished their satin finished guitars. Search for the keywords 'orsino polish' .

[/quote

Yup. Odd that it hasn't been discussed more lately. After 3 years I've been thinking of doing it on my OM-03R. IIRC the results hav varied from a semi-gloss using the hand-buffing method  (French polish?) to a full gloss when done by a professional with a buffing wheel.

[Bubblemaker]

BAAAAD Idea!


The original finish is applied at Larrivee in a series of several coats and then buffed down to a thin and blemish free finish. 

The initial coat due to its nature would penetrate quite deeply into the bare wood.

Even sanding your guitar down to the APPARENT bare wood would reveal enough residue in the cellular cavities of the wood to inhibit any positive adhesion by a lacker based finish.

Besides WHY would you want to RAPE a beautiful guitar like that?????




Bubblemaker

[jwsamuel]

If you go to bare wood, you can put anything ya' want back on it

You have to go below bare wood to below where any of the first coat of finish penetrated into the wood. I am not sure what Larrivee does for a sealer, so even if you get down to bare wood, there could still be poly in the pores.

Jim

[GA-ME]

You have to go below bare wood to below where any of the first coat of finish penetrated into the wood. I am not sure what Larrivee does for a sealer, so even if you get down to bare wood, there could still be poly in the pores.

Jim

They probably use a commercial plasticized pore filler but that isn't of much concern. If you use shellac as a sealer wash coat  it is pretty much a moot point for what is left in the pores. Shellac sticks to just about everything and just about everything bonds with shellac.

[Danny]

   The pore-filling process seems to have undergone some changes at different times. I have seen some finish issues on a particular model that were resolved on the next year model.
   So it wouldn't surprise me to learn of changes in the methods used.

[GA-ME]

This page lists the steps in finishing.  Here is the excerpt concerning pore filler......
"The pore filler we use is a thick completely transparent polyester based paste. ."

Most polyesters in use are thermoplastics.

[Mikeymac]

Do you know if the UV cured poly was used on Larrivee's dating back to the early '90s?  I've picked up couple new guitar stands for my D-09 ('93) and OM-5 Custom ('94) and the stand tag said not to use w/ guitars that have a Nitro Cellulose Lacquer.  I'm guessing this type of finish is 'newer' than my guitars, but didn't want to have an 'Oh, -CENSORED-!' moment down the road.  
Thanks to anyone that can clue me in!!!

I have a '92 OM-05, and while I don't know if it was "UV cured" (which basically just speeds up the curing time), I'm sure it's the same poly finish as is used today.

[GA-ME]

I knew I should have used the  emoticon Jonathan.  I was agreeing with you.