Tru Oil - Long term review

[wazkelly]

Having used Tru Oil as a top coat on all of my builds I wanted to start another thread showing how it ages and can transform the look over time. On my 1st & 2nd builds I used Dingo Tone MkI for the base colour stain and intensifier but could not get the DT top coat to behave and switched to TO instead.

After many, many coats and wet sanding sessions both Explorers came up looking nice and shiny. What you are about see is basically before and after shots representing photos submitted in GOTM when build was completed plus photos taken today to try and highlight the differences over time.

EX-5: Completed 29 Feb 2016

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Photography skills were not so good back then as these were taken in bright sunlight.

[wazkelly]

EX-5: 27 Jan 2020

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Considering this was done almost 4 years ago it looks pretty much the same now. No obvious signs of yellowing or discolouring.

[wazkelly]

EX-1: Completed 25 April 2016

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This looked super shiny back then.....

[wazkelly]

EX-1: 27 Jan 2020

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This Guitar has gone a more Caramel colour over time which I quite like as it now looks closer to a traditional Korina finish. (Look closely around neck heel joint to see a truer aspect of the colour) What I did not expect shall be revealed in next few photos.....

[wazkelly]

EX-1: 27 Jan 2020......Finish is now more satin than the original high gloss???

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This is really weird as the guitar has lived mostly in a closed hard case under a bed and not played too often. The DT finish has also started to wear on the back edge and it feels soft and almost tacky on back of the neck too. But the transformation from high gloss to almost satin has me baffled? The angled shot shows a bit of shine on the side but there is next to zero reflection on the top or back anymore?

Still looks OK to me and not tempted to refinish and happy to live with it as is and let it take on a naturally relic appearance.

[wazkelly]

Non PBG Tele: Completed 11 May 2017

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This started off as a nice shade of blue and started to go green fairly quickly.....

[wazkelly]

Non PBG Tele: 27 Jan 2020

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Control plate is loose as I am doing some work on the 4 way switch. Next shot shows the yellowing on binding...

[wazkelly]

Non PBG Tele: 27 Jan 2020

yellowing on binding

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No longer need to do a green guitar anymore as the longer I wait the greener this one gets!!!

[Simon Barden]

Interesting. It may be that the finish has sunk into the wood as time has gone by. It wouldn't need to sink much to turn gloss into satin. It could also be a slow Dingotone/TruOil reaction.

[wazkelly]

Interesting. It may be that the finish has sunk into the wood as time has gone by. It wouldn't need to sink much to turn gloss into satin. It could also be a slow Dingotone/TruOil reaction.

3 and a half years?

[McCreed]

Good post Waz!

I have at least two builds that were finished entirely with Tru Oil.
One all natural Alder, no stain, just TO. And one alcohol analine dye with TO. (that one has binding too)

If I can get motivated, I'll snap some before & afters like you. The Alder was done July 2017, the dyed one April 2019.
I'd be interested in the difference (if any) myself.

It's a bit like us getting older, you don't notice day-to-day, then suddenly... Holy crap!!! When did I get so OLD!!! :p

[wazkelly]

Here's the next bunch.....

Non PBG J Bass: Completed 02 May 2016

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[wazkelly]

Non PBG J Bass: 27 Jan 2020

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Neck has aged/yellowed quite a lot and the Red possibly gone just a shade deeper in colour. Original shots taken in strong bright sunlight which makes it harder to distinguish.

[Marcel]

Yup, My LP-1P build has the same yellowing on the binding and it was a early 2017 build. The body and neck were stained with Wattyl Rosewood and seem to have maintained their gloss and hue....

I also have a 2016 non PNG LP build, Gloss and hue are fine and the binding on it has Yellowed...

[wazkelly]

TL-1AR: Completed 31 July 2017

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Notice how bright & shiny the chrome neck sticker kit is......33470

[wazkelly]

TL-1AR: 27 January 2020

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Yellowing on fret board from 5th to 12th frets is quite noticeable as are the yellowed headstock logos. Body colour appears to be a shade darker too.

[wazkelly]

MMB4 : Completed 09 Sept 2018

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[wazkelly]

MMB4: 27 January 2020

This has more of a honey shade now compared to the original iced doughnut look.....

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[wazkelly]

Build # 7 lives in NZ so I cannot show what it looks like now but it is a fair bet that the binding would have yellowed and shade of red gone a fraction deeper as it was the exact same colours as used on the J Bass.

[JimC]

An interesting question is how much is the tru oil, how much the underlying pigment, and how much the wood itself.

[wazkelly]

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

Tru Oil has good points and some bad points too.

Most obvious bad points are in relation to yellowing of binding and turning any shade of blue into green.

What I do like is the natural aged look on maple necks, finger boards, headstocks and unstained timber. Even the deeper hue on EX-1 looks great, just a pity that batch of DT seemed cursed as I used same finish on the EX-5 and it worked out fine.

Takes a lot of patience and commitment to do a good shiny/glossy TO finish and if you like how some of these have turned out I highly recommend using the stuff. My method of application changed from one build to the next but if anyone wants some tips just let me know and I will be happy to pass them on.

Cheers, Waz.

[wazkelly]

An interesting question is how much is the tru oil, how much the underlying pigment, and how much the wood itself.

Good points Jim.

On the MMB4 it was Basswood with Maple neck so therefore a very light coloured kit to begin with and next to no pigment in the timber. Latest shots highlight the ageing process after just 16 months.

[king casey]

Three Years?
High time for another kit building episode eh?

cheers, Mark.

[wazkelly]

Three Years?
High time for another kit building episode eh?

cheers, Mark.

Yeah, it has been 16 months since last one was finished and it took about 18 months in total.

Last year was a very busy year and had no spare time at all. Seriously thinking about a semi scratch build at some stage, just not sure when.

[Simon Barden]

You need to remember that in its original use as a gun stock oil, some slight yellowing on dark wood would never be an issue. And it is expected to wear and be reapplied on probably a yearly basis.

[McCreed]

You need to remember that in its original use as a gun stock oil, some slight yellowing on dark wood would never be an issue. And it is expected to wear and be reapplied on probably a yearly basis.

Exactly the point I was going to make!
And not necessarily many multiples of coats to get a "deep" (thick) gloss finish, as we do with guitars.


Now where'd I put that AK-47?????

[Dikkybee007]

As Simon said it is a gun stock finish but you only apply once not yearly. The main advantage of this over a varnish is that when the stock gets marked it doesn't leave a white mark like a varnish so it looks good even when abused. On the guns I have used it on I have only ever put 2 coats maximum after sanding back to bare wood as that is al that is required. First to seal and second to make a satin finish as the last thing you want is a shiny gun. Where this finish is great is if you get a scratch you just reapply on the spot not the whole gun as it is quite easy to fix a scratch as it is an oil based finish so there is no need to strip and start again. Just use a piece of steel wool and spot finish and if done right you wont even know there was ever a mark there, unless you are a goose and put a scratch that is 3mm deep then a single coat wont fix that.
I have used Tru-oil on most of my guns for about the last 40+ years and unfortunately I used it on 2 guitar necks and found out it was less than desirable. I found that when I started to play it is fine but once my hand warms up and got a little sweaty it started to be harder to slide up and down the neck and I only put 2-3 coats on and it was at least 3 years of drying time so it wasn't still soft. I now use a Scandinavian oil to high light the grain and seal with a poly or leave it unsealed but unlike most people here I only ever use at most 3 coats of any finish as I find any more than that you are just wasting time and money. Personal opinion over many years of experience.

[wazkelly]

Plenty of good points there Dikkybee007.

Initially I was more obsessed with the shiny appearance of a build rather than the functional playabilty whereas these days don't care so much about dings, scratches and imperfections. Some like glossy necks and others prefer satin yet over time glossy ones will eventually wear and take on more of a satin type feel. If not, that can easily be fixed with some 0000 steel wool or 1500 grit wet & dry paper.

[blinddrew]

I think all my guitars have gloss necks, but i'm a chorder not a shredder...
My ES-5V is about 18 months old and probably had about 30-40 coats of tru-oil. When the weather is a bit more consistent I'll take some pictures in similar light and see if there's any change so far.

[wazkelly]

Not as hot or humid in you part of the world Drew compared to here Down Under but would still be interested to see if there is much change in colour over that period of time.

Cheers, Waz

[Sonic Mountain]

Good thread, I've been thinking about giving tru oil a go.