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Just wondering what grit you guys usually sand to before finishing your guitars? I've got the figured maple top on my current build sanded to 300grit, and I am still seeing little scratches in the top, but on the non-figured parts, they look smooth. I should also mention, I only see the scratches under fluorescent lighting. in the house under regular old lighting, I don't notice as much.
thsnks

That depends to some degree on what kind of finish you plan on using. It has been reported that nitro lacquer has adhension issues if the wood is "too smooth", 300 grit should be OK. I don't do nitro lacquer, so I don't really know.
What I do use is primarily TruOil or Rockhard varnish, and curly maple gets sanded to at least 600 grit, maybe 800. The smoother you get it, the more the figure seems to "pop". I've never had any adhension issues.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Okay, thanks. I'm planning to use tung oil, then a coat of poly just on the body and headstock. Would you recommend sanding to 800 in thus scenario?

Tung oil refers to a variety of products with various addititives. I've never used any of them, so I don't know for sure. I'd be more concerned about the poly sticking to the tung oil, you're definitly in the test it out on scrap territory.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I've read several places that poly will go well with the tung oil, but I do intend to test it first. the stuff I'm using is from Circa 1812, Pure tung oil cut with mineral spirits. I`ve never used it before either, but I assume it should apply similar to Tru Oil. I have a spray can of Tru Oil I`ve considered using, but I can`t seeing looking as nice as something hand rubbed. Anyone ever use it before

I use TruOil almost exclusively and the spray can stuff is worthless. It goes on way too thick for anything but the first coat, and it didn't dry properly for me. I don't know if the formulation is different, or if there's some kind of reaction with the propellant, or if I got a bad batch (unlikely, I've tried two cans from different sources), but I'll never buy another can.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Good to know, thanks a lot!

Hey Mark, I am certainly no finishing expert. I used tung oil on some furniture I made about 20 years ago. All of it eventually turned into a gummy mess. I don't recall what the formulation was, but the can said "tung oil". I'd definately do a test run.
If you are doing oil on the neck and poly on the body and headstock, it seems you would want to do the poly first. It may be easier to wipe excess oil off of poly than the other way around.
Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

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