What causes these pits?

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

Barring contamination, it probably is a void in the pore filler. Before you strip, try the ultra thin fill n finish if you have not already. I would apply it with a paperclip and try to break the surface tension. If the paper clip doesn’t break the surface tension, try an exacto blade.

Pore fill is the most important step in flat finish. Next time, you might follow up your colored grain fill with some of the epoxy products available just to make sure.

[Christian Salisbury Christian Allen Luthiery]

I have had very little luck drop filling but I haven’t tried thinning the lacquer. Could it be worth dropping small amounts of lacquer thinner first to “loosen” the lacquer or will the thinned lacquer accomplish that?

[Ethan Muter Muter Music]

Yeah it’s just the physical properties of the wood. Some more porous woods might need a second pass at pore filling or a sanding sealer after pore filling, before applying lacquer. I’ve even used vinyl sealer on more porous stuff like black limba.

Are you thinning the lacquer when you are trying to fill these spots? If so, less thin would not tend to sink in as much. Similar to CA glue- the thin stuff wicks into pores, but the medium stays more on the surface. I do like Ian’s advice on epoxy sealer next time around before applying lacquer, that would stay on the surface more as well. I wouldn’t recommend putting it on this guitar, as putting epoxy over lacquer probably would not adhere as well. Lacquer breathes a bit, it can flex a bit with humidity changes, where epoxy would not.