Do you think a nitro guitar finish sounds better than poly?

[gnugear]

I've never had a nitro finish but I do have a tung oil finished guitar. While the poly guitars seem to be pretty consistent sounds wise, my oil finished guitar has really changed over the past year (probably becuase it can breathe and dry out?)

[Necrovore]

Six in one hand, half dozen in the other Dax. If either finish is done by a competant skilled painter I think you would be hard pressed to hear the difference. Im talking guitars that are made out of "good" wood and not cheapo budget stuff.

[daniel]

I think both finishes will sound pretty much the same when the guitars are brand new but that a nitro lacquer finish will sound better as it ages. Poly finishes seal the wood so they always sound the same(like a taylor), lacquer finishes allow the wood to breathe so they don't sound the same for the life of a guitar. A lot of the mojo behind vintage guitars is that the wood has aged. I recently recorded an acoustic track on '57 Gibson j45 and it sounded much better the reissue. I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact the wood has aged and the finish has thinned and dried out.

[Billy Batz]

Six in one hand, half dozen in the other Dax. If either finish is done by a competant skilled painter I think you would be hard pressed to hear the difference. Im talking guitars that are made out of "good" wood and not cheapo budget stuff.

I dont know if I agree with that at all. Just because its a finish doesnt mean its not a material the guitar is made out of and in the case of those glass like poly finishes thats a very large amount of material added to the guitar along the entire surface. A very hard dense material that in theory should always make the guitar sound brighter, which is what I have heard but I never did any comparisons. It adds a good deal of mass to the guitar and I cant imagine that not effecting the tone the same as wood in a different way then wood.

[Necrovore]

Dan, what you are saying might be true to older poly finishes. They were quite thick. The stuff that is being used now on higher end instruments is sprayed to roughly the same mil that NC is sprayed at. I guess its the newer technology finishes they are using now allowing poly to be shot at thinner mils.

I'm sorry, I misread what gnugear wrote. I was thinking poly vs. NC. Yeah an oil finish will make a truer wood sound from the guitar as like gnugear wrote. It is breathable and you rub some off each time you handle it. It will allow the wood to age and mature unlike a laquer or poly. Laquer never truly dries so eventually it will start to rub free and the wood will mature like unfinished at that point.

I am also talking about two guitars that are new.

[Billy Batz]

Yeah I dont know about 2 similar finishes. That would be tough. youd need some real listening tests. Theres just something I dont like about the poly finishes. I like oil, french, blah blah. Seems more like an instrument then furniture

[bob barcus]

Poly is for floors and Kmart furnishing and bowling balls,Nitro has the Soul

[NY Chief]

NONE!!

[guest]

My two cents is that Hendrix had poly guitars. Man did he sound good!!!

[bob at music city]

When I was coming home from jr.high school,there was a guitar shop down the street Hendrix was in there buying some stage guitars,he was sitting on a fender twin with a right hand les paul after about 15- min he pointed to 3 strats that he must have already tryed,or his "guy" did earlyer with strats it doesnt make a big differece when you are blasting through 3 marshall stacks and a showman

[rjgtr]

Hendrix stole the guitar smashing trick from Townsend, and also paid very close attention. He did what townsend did...

Hendrix played his favorite guitars most of the night until the song where the guitar was destroyed. He would then switch to a guitar for this purpose. Any parts that survived were saved. Bodies were gued back together. A "good" neck was placed on a body and another victim was ready for another night. According to interviews, the original guitars came right out of the box and the strings were swapped and tuned and that's it. When they couldn't make another one from parts a new guitar was purchased.

He didn't trat his "real" guitars like that though...

[Bluesgeetar]

Yeah the guitar gods will always be laughing at us. So many people where having custom work done and we just assume that everything was stock cause we idolize them and have put them on a pedastal. Pages number one 59 had phase and coil options. Needs four wires. Not a option on 59 LP pups. ALso there are verified reports that some pup wizard in NY did Pages PUPS as he also did Duane Allmans PUPs and Jeff Beck and some others. It's verified that Hey joe was done on a Tele. Clapton use a Tele many times on the studio in the Cream days and else places. It still amazes me that so many people still think that what they see on stage is was the artist uses in the studio. Even then so many folks had stuff behind those Marshall stacks mic'd and PA'd. Guitar players, we have got to be the must stubborn lot in the world. We're always right!!!!!!!!

Pages number one acoustic was a Harmony Sovereign. But Gibson owners who have paid a stupid price for some Gibby model that Page used on occasion will rip your head off if you argue with them about it. Gibson acoustics are not the Shet! THey made awsome electrics but many folks were making and are making mean acoustics. You can spend your whole life chasing a stars equipment only in the end to die an unsuccessful picker cause you should have been playing instead of arguing over finishes and who used what and on and on.

Easy route? Buy a 68 RI strat or build one from Warmoth parts. Call up Fralin. Tell him what sound your after and let him build them. put them in. Finish your JTM 45/100 clone and rock man. ANd don't be afraid to do a little investigative research. Google ain't gonna bite you. Don't be afraid of it.

Life is good

[NY Chief]

You can spend your whole life chasing a stars equipment only in the end to die an unsuccessful picker cause you should have been playing instead of arguing over finishes and who used what and on and on.

AMEN, Brother! I got one friend that is obssessed with everything Hendrix. Can't play a decent lick to save his ass, but man he's got every website, and tab, and effect and strings and picks, etc, etc, etc dialed in. I get a dozen emails a day asking ablut this tab or that pick up or the upcoming Guitar Techinques with VooDoo Chile transcribed "exactly" how Jimi did it. Currently he's obssessing over getting a LH Strat and turning it over to "get the right mojo". I call him a poor kid but he's f'n 50

[Billy Batz]

I have my own thing going and Im not obsessing over stuff. I have a warmoth guitar put togetyher with Fralins And Marshalls I love to crank and let it sing. But since I cant always play I enjoy talking endlessly about details here

[Country Boy Shane]

I've never had a nitro finish but I do have a tung oil finished guitar. While the poly guitars seem to be pretty consistent sounds wise, my oil finished guitar has really changed over the past year (probably becuase it can breathe and dry out?)