Les Paul DIY kit (Part IV (b): even more Tru-Oil finish)

This is part four (b) of my Les Paul DIY kit build history, and it deals with applying more of the oil finish to the whole guitar.

I'm currently at 9 coats of Tru-Oil finish for the "ebony" front, and 7 coats for the neck and the mahogany colored parts of the guitar (back/edge of the body). Buffing and applying more oil is now very easy, because the surface is more or less smooth all around. Only very little oil is needed now for each surface.

It doesn't get much better than that. Cat approves. For food.

There were a few places where the wood stain was not absorbed properly because of a drop of glue or something that was allowed to drip on the surface during manufacturing. These and a few places where my buffing was a bit too vigorous during the early finishing stages left bright spots in the dark surface that I was able to make almost disappear with the same black felt tip pen that I used to cover defects on the headstock.

Unfortunately, I've found more defects with the guitar body: there's a series of hair-line cracks at the bottom edge that I cannot seem to be able to cover by the oil finish (I think I mentioned these already), and opposite the neck cracks appeared between the wood blocks that the body is made of. If you buy your kit from Gear4Music, and I suggest you don't, you should perhaps apply some wood filler at the edge and bottom parts of the body, sand it smooth and then spray paint the lot. You can still stain and oil the top.

I'll do a few more coats on the body (front and back) and then leave it at that. I'm preparing for wiring the electrical stuff and assembling the guitar. That will be part five of my construction log.