That's some seriously good looking spalted maple 😍😍 First video of yours I saw, you put a burst on a flame maple Tele. Purple or Raspberry, I think. And I was HOOKED!!! In the first four or five burst videos, there was always this moment I thought, Why would you do that? Then a few minutes later.... A revelation of art. I think those videos are to me, what ASMR videos are to those who enjoy that stuff. Thank you, for sharing, and more than a few times taking the edge of a stressed out day "Keep doing that voodoo, that you do, sooo well"
Love CrystalLac products! They are hard to get here in Australia but we’ll worth the effort, great to work with and a very durable finish. Water based and low-toxicity helps a lot too.
Wow I've never seen this product not sprayed on and assumed that was the only way to use it. Would love a little more detail on # of coats, work/dry time, sanding between coats. Great video!
Hello, you can apply Brite Tone by brush or spray also. Generally 5-8 coats will do the job. It may vary depending on experience and getting the feel for the product. The key is thin coats so that the top coat can self level properly and dry. Dry times are 2-4 hours, (will feel dry to touch much sooner). No need to sand between each coat as it will bond to itself. When level (dry) sanding, we recommend waiting 1 day per coat to allow the topcoat to harden first. If wet sanding, much more time is needed before water is introduced to a water-based product (it will soften it). A full cure/harden is 30 days, but can be used lightly sooner.
I’ve only sprayed it. Got a very nice high gloss result. I do like the look you got on that one but I tend to fill grain and bug trails. Guitar don’t look finished to me with all that texture.
Hi D- what type of rod/handle is that on your guitars when you dye/spray etc. I know I’ve seen that metal before but I can’t place it. It looks much easier to hold than the curtain rod on mine
This stuff is incredibly hard. It's a very long total cure time of about 30 days, but if you wait, you can't scratch it with a pocket knife. I use it all the time and just sprayed a couple of guitars this morning with it. Super easy clean up. The only downside is the cure time.
Hi,First time for me with this product.Tried a paint brush and a foam brush.It was not good.I tried to put thin amounts on the brush but still had drips and runs.I see you used a rag did you have any issues using a rag any tips would sure help.Thanks.
I have a stupid question, I'm just wondering why so many coats are needed? is the problem that with one coat, you would level sand through it too quickly?
Hey jason, I usually spray it. And even then, I usually sand every two coats. Because his water base, you don't need to like you would and oil-based, but it just helps to even it all out. I also use either flat or satin. I never use gloss. I've also never tried doing it by hand. Kind of curious to try it out.
Hey there, feel free to reach out to our customer service to help figure out what is causing those streaks. We'd love to help. Temperature and humidity can cause streaks.
@@jyoun79 it can get expensive for sure. To make it cheaper on yourself, you could always buy a used compressor, and then find the right gun with the CFM requirements that meet your compressor. There are several guns out there nowadays that require low CFM and if you're only spraying 1 or 2 guitars at a time, you won't need that big of a compressor. I will say tho, if spraying water based, best to find a gun with an all stainless steel passageway (not just tip & nozzle), otherwise it can rust.
Yes of course. Best to do a light mist coat so you don't pull up the colour. Also, I prefer to use their sanding sealer (or shellac) over the colour first, and then hit it with Brite tone
hes going to regret the big run on the side and wiping it on is not recommended. spray it or at least use a pro brush or foam brush but dont wipe it on because its a recipe for some serious wet sanding
As far as waterbased finishes go, I’m not a fan. The ppl at crystalac are awesome, but I did not have good long term results with brite tone. Some ppl have had great results! But it’s not for me.
@@gbish6906 several things. Wasn’t brushing. I sprayed. With a pretty decent setup. Good hvlp gun, huge compressor, proper waterbased filter strainers to prevent bubbles while spraying, proper weather conditions etc. First prob, amount of coats recommended: they say 6-12 coats. Way too many fir waterbased products. I had issues with the finish not getting hard. And it didn’t harden up at all. Not in a year. Can still put a fingernail mark in the finish with ease. Also, being a poly based product, you have to lay the last coat on thick enough to level sand without exposing previous coats, otherwise you’ll get witness lines when level sanding. The problem there- in order to prevent witness lines, you end up with a soft coat. It shrinks tremendously. I let a finish cure for over a month, level sanded perfectly flat, few months later the finish had shrunk into the grain. Also, If you intend to mix a color into any of the crystalac products, be prepared for it to separate and pool up as it goes on. I actually experienced my finish (white blonde) do the opposite of what a traditional finish does when it ages. Usually the exposed areas turn yellow over time but anything covered stays white. My finish did the opposite. Anything covered up by a pickguard or bridge etc turned yellow. Not a big issue, just strange. But it did Pool up in areas and was a noticeable color separation. I was using a schedule of all crystalac products. So it wasn’t an issue of incompatibility. The cherry on top, when I got to the polishing stage, thousands of tiny pin holes appeared. Not solvent pop, not contamination, not air bubbles. I went through a maddening amount of trial and error trying to determine the cause. Never could figure it out. All this to say, I am not a proponent of waterbased products. I switched to nitro and the results are great and it’s way easier to use. That said, some ppl have had good results with crystalac. Or So Ive heard. But for a professional result, waterbased finishes just dont match the quality of finish achieved with a nitro or polyester finish. If you need a proper spray booth so you can step up your finish game, look for a makers space in your area. Or booth rentals. They exist. Pro results that are on the level of fender/prs/Gibson etc won’t happen with brite tone. Just one of those things. So if that’s your goal, keep all this in mind
@@mgcnashville6615 thanks for your response! I've done 6 guitars now with crystalac, and I do get really good results, however they just take a while to achieve, and IMO requires a good spray gun. 1-2 coats per day max for a whole week, another couple/few weeks of cure time before buffing, but I can buff it out to a mirror gloss shine as I could with polyester. I also notice that I need to keep it in a stable climate the entire time. However, I also didn't find brushing it worthwhile, albeit brush finishes don't really have a place in the pro finish category IMO.
@@mgcnashville6615 there was a learning curve for sure though. I have a small spray booth in my basement shop with ventilation, and because it's at my home it's a big reason why I use it. Otherwise I'd just use a 2k product and be all said and done in 3 days
Stellar work as always, Derek.
That's some seriously good looking spalted maple 😍😍
First video of yours I saw, you put a burst on a flame maple Tele.
Purple or Raspberry, I think.
And I was HOOKED!!!
In the first four or five burst videos, there was always this moment I thought,
Why would you do that? Then a few minutes later.... A revelation of art.
I think those videos are to me, what ASMR videos are to those who enjoy that stuff.
Thank you, for sharing, and more than a few times taking the edge of a stressed out day
"Keep doing that voodoo, that you do, sooo well"
Looks even better in person!! Great Vid, Derek…👍🤘🏼👊
put the for sale link here and I can pin it
Love CrystalLac products! They are hard to get here in Australia but we’ll worth the effort, great to work with and a very durable finish. Water based and low-toxicity helps a lot too.
Looks nice! Crystal Lac works well for me in wood working adventures.
Looks great 👍
Wow, looks nice!
Love the face in the grain
It's on the list!
That is a sweet looking top
Wow I've never seen this product not sprayed on and assumed that was the only way to use it. Would love a little more detail on # of coats, work/dry time, sanding between coats. Great video!
Hello, you can apply Brite Tone by brush or spray also. Generally 5-8 coats will do the job. It may vary depending on experience and getting the feel for the product. The key is thin coats so that the top coat can self level properly and dry. Dry times are 2-4 hours, (will feel dry to touch much sooner). No need to sand between each coat as it will bond to itself. When level (dry) sanding, we recommend waiting 1 day per coat to allow the topcoat to harden first. If wet sanding, much more time is needed before water is introduced to a water-based product (it will soften it). A full cure/harden is 30 days, but can be used lightly sooner.
I’ve only sprayed it. Got a very nice high gloss result. I do like the look you got on that one but I tend to fill grain and bug trails. Guitar don’t look finished to me with all that texture.
I know. I should have. but its got a neat look
Wow, looks really good! Did you apply sanding sealer before doing anything else?
Hi D- what type of rod/handle is that on your guitars when you dye/spray etc. I know I’ve seen that metal before but I can’t place it. It looks much easier to hold than the curtain rod on mine
Looks good front and back. And you got a purty mouth
Did you put any sanding sealer on before the brightone? Just curious if that would have helped with the absorbtion.
Sanding Sealer will definitely help with the absorption. Also, our It's Knot Shellac will do that same, except it also contains a tannin blocker.
@@CrystaLacInstruments expand to russian market when
This stuff is incredibly hard. It's a very long total cure time of about 30 days, but if you wait, you can't scratch it with a pocket knife. I use it all the time and just sprayed a couple of guitars this morning with it. Super easy clean up. The only downside is the cure time.
yea cure time with the pores wasn't the best. I thought it was more my wood.
Hi,First time for me with this product.Tried a paint brush and a foam brush.It was not good.I tried to put thin amounts on the brush but still had drips and runs.I see you used a rag did you have any issues using a rag any tips would sure help.Thanks.
Will have to see if they ship to the uk
They ship wherever but there’s a UK distributor
Can this be used over angelus leather dye?
I have a stupid question, I'm just wondering why so many coats are needed? is the problem that with one coat, you would level sand through it too quickly?
Really cool satin finish! Being water based, did it raise the wood grain at all?
no I didn't see that. I did wetsand once around the 3rd coat
Make an Offer to Mark its for sale here:
reverb.com/item/44646814-custom-built-body-telecaster-style-spalted-maple?
Did you sand between coats? I got tons of streaks when I tried using this
Hey jason, I usually spray it. And even then, I usually sand every two coats. Because his water base, you don't need to like you would and oil-based, but it just helps to even it all out. I also use either flat or satin. I never use gloss. I've also never tried doing it by hand. Kind of curious to try it out.
Hey there, feel free to reach out to our customer service to help figure out what is causing those streaks. We'd love to help. Temperature and humidity can cause streaks.
You'll get much better results by spraying it. I can get by with doing 3-4 coats before sanding in between, depends on how well I spray the coats tho
@@gbish6906 yeah problem is it looks like spray equipment can get really costly and it's hard for me as an amateur luthier to justify that
@@jyoun79 it can get expensive for sure. To make it cheaper on yourself, you could always buy a used compressor, and then find the right gun with the CFM requirements that meet your compressor. There are several guns out there nowadays that require low CFM and if you're only spraying 1 or 2 guitars at a time, you won't need that big of a compressor. I will say tho, if spraying water based, best to find a gun with an all stainless steel passageway (not just tip & nozzle), otherwise it can rust.
Can you use it on painted bodies though?
Yes of course. Best to do a light mist coat so you don't pull up the colour. Also, I prefer to use their sanding sealer (or shellac) over the colour first, and then hit it with Brite tone
is that body for sale?
mark bundy has it
goodbye Nitro!
hes going to regret the big run on the side and wiping it on is not recommended. spray it or at least use a pro brush or foam brush but dont wipe it on because its a recipe for some serious wet sanding
WHY ARE YOU NOT ANSWERING MY EMAILS ?
As far as waterbased finishes go, I’m not a fan. The ppl at crystalac are awesome, but I did not have good long term results with brite tone. Some ppl have had great results! But it’s not for me.
Were you spraying or brushing? What didn't you like about it?
@@gbish6906 several things. Wasn’t brushing. I sprayed. With a pretty decent setup. Good hvlp gun, huge compressor, proper waterbased filter strainers to prevent bubbles while spraying, proper weather conditions etc.
First prob, amount of coats recommended: they say 6-12 coats. Way too many fir waterbased products. I had issues with the finish not getting hard. And it didn’t harden up at all. Not in a year. Can still put a fingernail mark in the finish with ease.
Also, being a poly based product, you have to lay the last coat on thick enough to level sand without exposing previous coats, otherwise you’ll get witness lines when level sanding.
The problem there- in order to prevent witness lines, you end up with a soft coat.
It shrinks tremendously. I let a finish cure for over a month, level sanded perfectly flat, few months later the finish had shrunk into the grain.
Also, If you intend to mix a color into any of the crystalac products, be prepared for it to separate and pool up as it goes on.
I actually experienced my finish (white blonde) do the opposite of what a traditional finish does when it ages. Usually the exposed areas turn yellow over time but anything covered stays white. My finish did the opposite. Anything covered up by a pickguard or bridge etc turned yellow. Not a big issue, just strange.
But it did Pool up in areas and was a noticeable color separation. I was using a schedule of all crystalac products. So it wasn’t an issue of incompatibility.
The cherry on top, when I got to the polishing stage, thousands of tiny pin holes appeared. Not solvent pop, not contamination, not air bubbles. I went through a maddening amount of trial and error trying to determine the cause. Never could figure it out.
All this to say, I am not a proponent of waterbased products. I switched to nitro and the results are great and it’s way easier to use. That said, some ppl have had good results with crystalac. Or So Ive heard.
But for a professional result, waterbased finishes just dont match the quality of finish achieved with a nitro or polyester finish.
If you need a proper spray booth so you can step up your finish game, look for a makers space in your area. Or booth rentals. They exist. Pro results that are on the level of fender/prs/Gibson etc won’t happen with brite tone. Just one of those things. So if that’s your goal, keep all this in mind
@@gbish6906 oh also, I did try brushing too. Still had issues with soft finish and pin holes. Wasn’t really a worthwhile endeavor for me
@@mgcnashville6615 thanks for your response! I've done 6 guitars now with crystalac, and I do get really good results, however they just take a while to achieve, and IMO requires a good spray gun. 1-2 coats per day max for a whole week, another couple/few weeks of cure time before buffing, but I can buff it out to a mirror gloss shine as I could with polyester. I also notice that I need to keep it in a stable climate the entire time. However, I also didn't find brushing it worthwhile, albeit brush finishes don't really have a place in the pro finish category IMO.
@@mgcnashville6615 there was a learning curve for sure though. I have a small spray booth in my basement shop with ventilation, and because it's at my home it's a big reason why I use it. Otherwise I'd just use a 2k product and be all said and done in 3 days