Applying the finish
 
First of all, I sanded the whole guitar using #150-grit sandpaper on a flat wooden sanding block to remove scraper marks, scratches and glue residue. Then, I sanded the whole guitar once again using #220-grit sandpaper on the sanding block to remove any remaining imperfections. Before applying the lacquer on the guitar, I applied a coat of wood filler on the neck, the back and the sides of the guitar. Since I did not have a spray gun and all the necessary tools to apply the lacquer, I thus requested the help of a luthier to apply the lacquer on my guitar. The lacquer that has been applied on my guitar is a clear gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. As shown on the pictures below, the lacquer was not smooth and not ready for polishing when I received the guitar from the luthier. The finish was slightly rough. For smoothing the finish, I sanded the whole guitar using sequentially #600, 1000 and 1200 wet-dry sandpaper. This last step took me approximately 1 month and half over the weekends and week evenings. Once I finished to smoothing the finish of my guitar using wet-dry sandpaper, I applied the following rubbing compounds to rub-out to a final gloss.

1) MOHAWK Liquid Rubbing Compound (#730-0106),
2) MOHAWK Buffing Compound – Medium (#890-0014),
3) MOHAWK Buffing Compound – Fine (#890-0024),
4) 3M Hand Glaze (#05990).
 

 Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge