I'm new to finishing myself, I'm at my 6th instument as we speak. I think understanding different products (comatibleness/temerature/variables) and understanding where in the process what went wrong takes time. Compressor/gun too, I guess I just have to shoot many bodies before I can be satisfied without having to 'go back and start anew' on any of the steps in the process. At least I have learned that a mahogany body needs some skill in the grain filling process. At least things are getting easier when doing it often
However, to respect gibson for their current finishing is stretching it a tad far... The way I see it, I have
improved my grain filling skills during the last 10 months, going from bad to acceptable. Gibson on the other hand, have spent over 100 years going from GREAT to .. uh.. I'm not sure, but most of today's gibsons are not grain filled
I know, it costs more to have a worker filling the grains, but at least they have had the
time to figure out how to do it at a proper cost. And don't get me started with gloss.....