Grainfill, Wetsand and Buff - PRS Acoustics | Shop In Detail

Randy discusses acoustic grainfilling, wet sanding and buffing processes.

With the neck and body assembled and a thin coat of finish sprayed on the guitar, it is ready to be grainfilled. In this step, grainfiller is spread evenly over the guitar, filling in the pores of the wood. Every guitar receives two coats of grainfiller. This allows the finish to be applied in a thinner coat than it could be without this filler base (see previous segment on finish application).
After the guitar is done being finished and has cured for a week, it is wet-sanded and buffed. Wet-sanding removes orange peel. When the guitar finish dries, it develops a subtly dimpled surface, like the surface of an orange; wet-sanding smoothes this out without scratching or damaging the finish. Once the guitar is smooth, it is buffed and reviewed to make sure there are no scratches or areas of uneven finish. Next, the bridge is glued to the top of the guitar. It is then ready to move on to final assembly where it will receive its hardware (and possibly electronics) and be played for the first time.