What’s essential?

This phrase is something I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, due to the reading and reflection I’ve been doing.

When it comes to my guitar building, I’ve been eager to explore all possible avenues, continuing to improve my craft. Finishes have been an ongoing experiment, with plenty of tests conducted, plus countless hours and money wasted trying new finishes. Eventually I come back to what I know and trust, which is Livos Kunos #243.

Every now and then I get the itch to try something new, usually to make my guitars fit in with the crowd or to make them appear more “professional”. Recently I started imagining my guitars with a more glossy finish, and started working out how to achieve that, but eventually had to stop and ask myself “is this essential?”.

What I mean by this is, does it fit in with what I’m truely trying to achieve? If I think about the core of what J.Parsons Guitars stands for, does this get me closer?

Ultimately, no. In fact, it takes me in the opposite direction.

Since the early days, J.Parsons Guitars has been about celebrating the unique beauty of Tasmanian timbers, especially Blackwood. While a smooth, glossy finish looks professional and is more durable, you lose part of the experience - the tactile sensation of the timber. The open pores of Blackwood feel silky smooth when sanding to a high grade and lightly oiled.

So my quest now is to find an oil that will highlight that part, while providing moisture resistance and reasonable durability. I’m putting two to the test, up against my old faithful Livos.

Both of the Livos oils and the Organoil use a citrus based solvent, which is much more friendly on the lungs and the environment. Based on my experience so far the Organoil takes far too long to dry, and requires some extra work. The Livos Bivos oil wax is supposed to be used as a top coat over Kunos, but my experiments as a stand-alone finish are proving positive. The big test will be water resistance once it’s cured.

While I’m fond of Kunos, it’s fairly thick and builds a film which can feel a bit sticky and plasticky, whereas the Bivos is thin and soaks into the timber more, building less of a film. I’m guessing the wax content helps it feel smoother too.

I’ll probably land on the Bivos in the end. This should help me enhance the tactile sensation of playing a guitar made some of the finest timbers Tasmania has to offer!.