hey does it matter what kind of finish you use. Polyester, Polyurethane, Acrylic, Nitrocellulose, are my options. Does it make a difference of sound in a solid body electric guitar(dean ml). I would think not as the type of wood, strings, pickups, and amplifier really make the sound. Thanks
you want to us nitrocellulose. the others "trap" the guitar, whereas nitro allows it to "breathe". "trapping" it is bad because the would will lose its resonance over time and sound very thin and empty.
@greensp4rk Wood does not "breathe"...it's dead. The #1 enemy of wood is moisture...poly seals it out WAY better then nitro. Poly protects the wood WAY better than nitro. If you want a wood table top to last a long time, seal it with poly. If you want the finish to crack & the wood to damage, use nitro. There is no difference in tone between poly & nitro. There is no evidence that poly "is bad because the would will lose its resonance over time and sound very thin and empty."
@OddTimeMan wood most definitely breathes my friend. and the way to avoid moisture is not to leave your guitar out in the rain. poly does provide a more dense coating than nitro, but is is also extremely stiff. wood expands with heat and contracts with cold much more than poly does, unlike nitro which is more flexible. So, a poly finish is actually more likely to crack with extreme temperature differences than nitro. If you want evidence, take a look at old gibsons. they had nitro finishes, and
@greensp4rk You could not be more wrong. Yes, wood expands & contracts with temp changes, but that's NOT breathing. EVERYTHING expands & contracts with temp changes. Poly is way more flexible than nitro, that's why nitro cracks! Yes, look at old Gibsons & Fenders, the finish is cracked & chipped away all over which means the wood is unprotected & exposed to the elements. Nitro is more brittle...Poly doesn't crack all over like nitro does. Look at old Gibsons & Fenders!
@OddTimeMan and they're absolutely beautiful. and just because you have not had a guitar with a poly finish for many many years, and experienced the degradation of tone over time doesnt mean there is no evidence. I have seen, well rather, i have HEARD, this degradation, and i have had the opportunity to compare a 10 year old poly finished guitar to a 30 year old nitro finish guitar. The nitro guitar looks and sounds better. oh and you said that nitro damages wood... again, LOOK at old gibsons.
@greensp4rk There are MANY high-end expensive guitars & basses that have poly finishes. Why? Because it protects the wood better. Even some Fenders now come with a poly undercoat, & then a nitro top coat. This way, you get the best of both worlds; The wood is protected by the poly, and the finish cracks & chips for that relic'd look.
@OddTimeMan well i guess it's whatever floats your boat. i'm definitely a gibson guy, and i like my guitar finishes spotless to be honest. If poly suits you better, well use it then. I would rather use nitro though.
Everything you add "steals" something of the frequency range that the strings produce. The rest is what you hear. When you build a guitar with very hard woods like maple the wood resonates more in the high frequencys than in the lows. The same with the lacquer. When you add a thick coat of flexible lacquer like polyester, it it damps certain frequencys. But there is no difference between polyurethane and nitro. Because both lacquers can be sprayed in very thin coatings.
it depends on what you are trying to achieve - most common on guitars are nitrocellulose and polyeurethane. nitro tends to allow more resonance giving your guitar a nicer tone so a gloss nitro is probably what i would reccomend
@rokstr3 nitro give you the best tone, but is easy to mess up if you dont know how to care for the finish, poly is okay, al long as you keep the finish thin. it's also the most durable. polyester finishes just suck, dont use them. acrylic lacquer is a little more stable then nitro, but it's almost the same.
The two kinds of finish people generally decide between are polyurethane and nitrocellulose.
The general consensus is that they both sound good, but some believe that nitro sounds better. However, that isn't due to the makeup of the finish, but rather, how thin the finishes are. Nitrocellulose finishes are much thinner than polyurethane finishes. So whatever you get, keep it thin!
@rokstr3 Type of finish doesn't matter much to the sound, the thickness of finish does, both acoustic & solid body. The thinner finish is applied the more resonant a guitar will be. Try to put thick sticker on an acoustic body, u'll hear the guitar sounds dull & less resonance. It's the same with a guitar that has thick finish on. Yes electric guitars need pickups to amplify its sound but it amplifies what it already has. Two different guitars with the same pickup will sing different!
The colour is from staining (google it, very easy to use "paint"), nothing special there, just regular "staining powder" dissolved into water. Finished it with Osmo colour wax used for furniture and few layers of carnauba wax (Dunlop sells it). Very easy way to finish a guitar and doesn't require lots of tools, space etc.
is that the final look of the guitar? i like it cuz its sort of a satin look... man do you have msn or something? id like to talk about guitar finishing, im about to build one myself and i want that "natural" wood look on it but dont know much about wood products
so you didnt buff out?
you can do it by hand?
avatarcollides2day 2 months ago
@avatarcollides2day
No, not really, as I wasn't really going for shiny surface. I guess you can do it by hand too.
laripsspiral 2 months ago
why is it hollow
caulinrocker1 3 months ago
Vey Nice!!!! Check out some of my guitar builds....Thanks
alexis221woodworks 1 year ago
hey does it matter what kind of finish you use. Polyester, Polyurethane, Acrylic, Nitrocellulose, are my options. Does it make a difference of sound in a solid body electric guitar(dean ml). I would think not as the type of wood, strings, pickups, and amplifier really make the sound. Thanks
rokstr3 3 years ago 4
I have to admit my expertise is very limited when it comes to finishing, so I cannot really answer you.
laripsspiral 3 years ago
you want to us nitrocellulose. the others "trap" the guitar, whereas nitro allows it to "breathe". "trapping" it is bad because the would will lose its resonance over time and sound very thin and empty.
greensp4rk 3 years ago 2
@greensp4rk Wood does not "breathe"...it's dead. The #1 enemy of wood is moisture...poly seals it out WAY better then nitro. Poly protects the wood WAY better than nitro. If you want a wood table top to last a long time, seal it with poly. If you want the finish to crack & the wood to damage, use nitro. There is no difference in tone between poly & nitro. There is no evidence that poly "is bad because the would will lose its resonance over time and sound very thin and empty."
OddTimeMan 1 year ago
@OddTimeMan wood most definitely breathes my friend. and the way to avoid moisture is not to leave your guitar out in the rain. poly does provide a more dense coating than nitro, but is is also extremely stiff. wood expands with heat and contracts with cold much more than poly does, unlike nitro which is more flexible. So, a poly finish is actually more likely to crack with extreme temperature differences than nitro. If you want evidence, take a look at old gibsons. they had nitro finishes, and
greensp4rk 1 year ago
@greensp4rk You could not be more wrong. Yes, wood expands & contracts with temp changes, but that's NOT breathing. EVERYTHING expands & contracts with temp changes. Poly is way more flexible than nitro, that's why nitro cracks! Yes, look at old Gibsons & Fenders, the finish is cracked & chipped away all over which means the wood is unprotected & exposed to the elements. Nitro is more brittle...Poly doesn't crack all over like nitro does. Look at old Gibsons & Fenders!
OddTimeMan 1 year ago
@OddTimeMan and they're absolutely beautiful. and just because you have not had a guitar with a poly finish for many many years, and experienced the degradation of tone over time doesnt mean there is no evidence. I have seen, well rather, i have HEARD, this degradation, and i have had the opportunity to compare a 10 year old poly finished guitar to a 30 year old nitro finish guitar. The nitro guitar looks and sounds better. oh and you said that nitro damages wood... again, LOOK at old gibsons.
greensp4rk 1 year ago
@greensp4rk There are MANY high-end expensive guitars & basses that have poly finishes. Why? Because it protects the wood better. Even some Fenders now come with a poly undercoat, & then a nitro top coat. This way, you get the best of both worlds; The wood is protected by the poly, and the finish cracks & chips for that relic'd look.
OddTimeMan 1 year ago
@OddTimeMan well i guess it's whatever floats your boat. i'm definitely a gibson guy, and i like my guitar finishes spotless to be honest. If poly suits you better, well use it then. I would rather use nitro though.
greensp4rk 1 year ago
The finish does make a difference in your tone. I don't know the exact characteristics that are affected by each type of finish.
ech10 3 years ago 2
Everything you add "steals" something of the frequency range that the strings produce. The rest is what you hear. When you build a guitar with very hard woods like maple the wood resonates more in the high frequencys than in the lows. The same with the lacquer. When you add a thick coat of flexible lacquer like polyester, it it damps certain frequencys. But there is no difference between polyurethane and nitro. Because both lacquers can be sprayed in very thin coatings.
Thorsten11 3 years ago
There are MASSIVE differences between poly and nitro
EdMardell 2 years ago
nitro is best but its super fradgile
yllsacky 2 years ago 2
it depends on what you are trying to achieve - most common on guitars are nitrocellulose and polyeurethane. nitro tends to allow more resonance giving your guitar a nicer tone so a gloss nitro is probably what i would reccomend
thebettyfier 2 years ago
@rokstr3 nitro give you the best tone, but is easy to mess up if you dont know how to care for the finish, poly is okay, al long as you keep the finish thin. it's also the most durable. polyester finishes just suck, dont use them. acrylic lacquer is a little more stable then nitro, but it's almost the same.
oipunkguy 1 year ago
@rokstr3
From everything I've read, I can tell you this.
The two kinds of finish people generally decide between are polyurethane and nitrocellulose.
The general consensus is that they both sound good, but some believe that nitro sounds better. However, that isn't due to the makeup of the finish, but rather, how thin the finishes are. Nitrocellulose finishes are much thinner than polyurethane finishes. So whatever you get, keep it thin!
Shark71warrior 1 year ago
@rokstr3 Type of finish doesn't matter much to the sound, the thickness of finish does, both acoustic & solid body. The thinner finish is applied the more resonant a guitar will be. Try to put thick sticker on an acoustic body, u'll hear the guitar sounds dull & less resonance. It's the same with a guitar that has thick finish on. Yes electric guitars need pickups to amplify its sound but it amplifies what it already has. Two different guitars with the same pickup will sing different!
alnicoprov 7 months ago
but what products did you use to get the look? :O
eetfvk 3 years ago
The colour is from staining (google it, very easy to use "paint"), nothing special there, just regular "staining powder" dissolved into water. Finished it with Osmo colour wax used for furniture and few layers of carnauba wax (Dunlop sells it). Very easy way to finish a guitar and doesn't require lots of tools, space etc.
laripsspiral 3 years ago
is that the final look of the guitar? i like it cuz its sort of a satin look... man do you have msn or something? id like to talk about guitar finishing, im about to build one myself and i want that "natural" wood look on it but dont know much about wood products
eetfvk 3 years ago
Yup, that's the final look. It is kind of satin finish, feels very comfortable.
laripsspiral 3 years ago
I'm sure the guitar looks prime after all the waxing, but the video quality doesn't really show too much of a difference...
wearyfootsteps 3 years ago