Each Indian Hill Guitar is finished using the traditional and highly skilled technique of french polishing. This time-intensive process yields a beautifully warm and glossy finish that allows the true nature of the wood to shine both visually and acoustically. Due to its incredibly smooth surface, the playability of a french polished neck is far superior to the plastic stickiness plaguing most modern lacquered guitars.

French polishing is essentially a method of applying a hand rubbed spirit varnish that has been used for hundreds of years and been proven to stand the test of time. Using only shellac flakes and resins dissolved in denatured alcohol, french polishing is a natural and environmentally friendly finishing technique. It was the primary method used for finishing guitars until the advent of sprayed finishes, such as nitrocellulose lacquer, in the 1930's. At this point more production minded guitar factories opted to cut costs by eliminating such a skilled and labor intensive process.