The original finish was lacquer, which cures hard & brittle, & has good sonic properties. However, this is a painted instrument that is assaulted w/ wood sticks, so the finish always has a short life, (especially because the underlying wood is usually quite soft). If you use a modern , tougher polyester paint, it may not sound the same, (because it will basically be a plastic coating). I have many of these woodblocks, & everything I have tried was very short lived, or altered their crisp sound. (They can be painted up to look appealing, but it just doesn't last very long). Good luck, I'll be watching this thread for some good advice myself.

Oil base paint (hi gloss), Auto Lacquer with clear top coats or Red shellac (Chinese lacquer), ask your professional paint store guy to tint the shellac for you, Home Depot won't do it.

Prep as you would as if you are restoring antique furniture, (cleaning, sanding, etc), follow directions for the product chosen. Allow to dry and cure completely before playing (up to 30 days, depending on product).

These product cure hard so there will be little or no effect on the sound.

Hi, Thanks so much for this valuable information. I found this advice to be very helpful and inspiring.

Could you give me some advice on what steps to take to remove all of the paint before reapplying the new? I think that rather than leave the black and gold paint on them, I would rather paint them all red, but I read that if you use paint remover, it may cause the paint to to stain the wood while trying to remove it. I wondered about using a heat gun or hairdryer, but didn't know if it would affect the tone of the blocks. Would you know by any chance the best way to do this?

Thanks ever so much.

Steve