Behlen Nitrocellulose Stringed Instrument Lacquer

Excellent product and easy to use!

This is a great product. First off it simply goes on shining as the title states but also when you check the resonance of your wood after applying like i did you will notice that it will resonate almost 100% as well as it did before applying. my guitar isnt buffed yet but when it is im completely sure it will look amazing because it already has the same look as an upscale epi despite being unbuffed. The only downfall for it is its strong vapors ... i was testing it on a scrap piece of wood by rubbing it on with a handmade applicator trying to hold my breathe as much as possible and finishing quickly but it still gave me a very long lasting headache even though i only had maybe 5 seconds of breathing fumes (time including resealing and putting into five layers of trash-bags twisted up tight to ensure 100% airtightness) ... im totally fine now but no matter how long youll be around it or how long you can hold your breathe always wear a respirator mask for even one breathe of this stuff can give you a headache for hours

I used to paint cars so I had some experience with lacquers. The Behlen lacquer went on easy and has a great looking finish after polishing. I would recomend this to everyone no matter if you have sprayed lacquer before or not.

I have been using Sherwin Williams Nitrocellulose lacquer for a long time. It is becoming hard to get. I tried the Behlen nitrocellulose lacquer instead. It works fine. I find that I can rub it out in far less wait time than the directions state.

It is more expensive than the S/W lacquer but it works fine and I don't encounter the "we cant get that anymore" attitude from my local paint store.

This lacquer is ideal for musical instruments because it can be applied very thin, allowing the natural resonance of the instrument to come through. Needs to dry thoroughly, but once dry, holds dimension and finish very well. Does not build up excessive thickness in repeated layering...the ideal Nitro coating for any stringed instrument.

We paint most of our guitars in the repair shop with this. It took a couple of tries to get the thinning mixture correct to flow for our application. Very nice burn in for repair and successive coats. Here is a pic of a gibson melody maker that we refinished the top from tobaccoburst to a greyburst and then installed a bigsby for our customer. -Matt Dreher

I've sprayed a lot of lacquer, but not the Behlen. Frankly, after spraying all of the recommended build coats and sanding as spec'd, I was a little concerned. But after sanding and buffing, the look is spectacular. I haven't seen a factory finish that would be any better.

The lacquer and sealer both work great and go along way. However Stew. Mac. recommends that on the final coat you mix 50/50 lacquer and reducer. bad idea. It sprayed well, but about 10 min. later it blistered all the way back to the wood. I used it on a custom flying V guitar I built and did NOT reduce on the final coat and it turned out GREAT.

I will use it again, not the reducer though. I'll use other lacquer reducer to clean my spray guns.

I have been using Behlen on all my guitars for over 10 years now.
I love how it goes on smooth every time. Sands out great.. buffs out great. Gives you that old look finish. Not a plastic watery look like the new stuff they use on guitars.
I will take a nitro finish any day.
And Behlen is my choice of laquers

I have used Behlem Nitro in refinishing gutars and where I have repaired guitars. I use Behlem reducer and mix the color material I need to match the wood I am repairing. With proper buffing it gives an excellent finish. The lacquer is not so hard it scratches easly, but is not too soft.
A lot of the work I do is on Epiphone and Gibson guitars; repairing broken necks and broken heads.
I conclude my finish with 6 coats of clear Lacquer mixed 50/50 with Behlen reducer.