Here’s a vote for varnish. Do you know if Nick is using oil or spirit varnish? I have a guitar with spirit varnish, and it has a lustrousness to it that is very different from the sometime “hard” clarity of nitrocellulose. There’s a standing debate on whether it affects tone, and I know a couple of master luthiers who switched to spirit varnish based purely on the sound, but there’s a pretty compelling case that the thickness of the finish as applied is more of a determinant. That said, spirit varnish makes the guitar look like it’s in candlelight, so on that basis alone it’s a great choice.
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