I have seen oiled burl maple and have enjoyed the faults on show and have seen few problems down the road unless the guitar is heavily gigged but its each to there own.
I like very woody guitars and i would take the tonal benefits of a oiled body of a clear coat every time but again this is just my opinion.
The 3 guitars i used are oiled (quilt maple with padauk back and neck, Spalt maple with bubinga back and neck, solid claro walnut) and i have had no problems. Sure a little neck maintenance is required but I sometimes think on woods like that of my guitars its a lot more durable than many think.
But as I said tis a lovely looking guitar (the quality looks top notch). The clearcoat thing is all preference realy. :D
I do love oil & wax finishes, but i prefer them on simple plain guitars, like the african walnut one I have actually done oiled necks on most of the guitars i made before these. I am particularly fond of oiled zebrano necks! .
My thing with the glue is probably a slight paranoia (sp?) but there it is, and i have seen it start to happen around the inlays on some oiled necks i have done. I should probably do some tests on the scr@p bits of wood and see but like i said, if someone wanted that at the moment i would go for acrylized wood and only semi buff it - its good stuff to work with and i know there would be no problems with it
What colour is your paduak gone when its been oiled? My first guitar with a sprayed neck was a solid paduak one because i was told it would loose its bright red colour and turn brown if i oiled it.
It really does depend on the wood whether you can get away with the oil or not. I have not had many tops that needed areas reinforcing but it is somethng that we ned to be aware of, paricularly with spalted or burl wood.
I dont really have any preference either way, its usually something specified when i get a commission, but when i am making things for sale in the general marketplace it makes sense to go with what most would want. Do you know that G&L charge a lot more for their oiled maple neck guitars? These are actually cheaper to make, but G&L apparently get more returns and faulty necks on oiled ones. I dont think this is actually G&L's fault, there is no real reason for oiled necks to be any more unpredictable than lacquered necks but i dont think everyone is always aware of the extra maintenence they require. Oiled necks are actually more stable than lacquered necks because they have a balanced finish (oil on both side as opposed to oil on the fretboard and lacquer on the neck) This should mean they respond to enviromental conditions (temp & humidity) better tha a normal neck
