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Post subject: satin/nitro body finish on strats?
Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:48 pm
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I am interested to see if anyone can tell me when fender had more finish options available. I"m really not a fan of the new poly finish, I like my guitar to show wear and tear. So i've been looking at the highway one and it feels like the guitar can actually breath without having plastic wrapped around it. Are there any other models that feature a similar finish? one that wears off easily?


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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:17 pm
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Hey, just thought you would like to know that the Billy Corgan artist strat has a nitro finish.

Strat-cat


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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:34 pm
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i dont really like satin very muck. not my type


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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:30 am
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I like the nitro for that reason, that it wears nice. I'm not a fan of the satin look much though. Makes it look cheap to me.

Satin finishes are great for an older guitar, or one that's relic'ed. They look funny on a brand new guitar to me though.


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Post subject: Re: satin/nitro body finish on strats?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:16 am
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Highway Chile wrote:
I"m really not a fan of the new poly finish


What's new about polyester? Or polyurethane?

Do you know the difference?

BTW, it is perfectly possible to take a HWY-1 and buff it up into a gloss finish. In fact, some folks who like to look after their guitars have trouble stopping that satin finish from turning shiny...

Cheers - C


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Post subject: Re: satin/nitro body finish on strats?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:49 am
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Ceri wrote:
Highway Chile wrote:
I"m really not a fan of the new poly finish


What's new about polyester? Or polyurethane?

Do you know the difference?

BTW, it is perfectly possible to take a HWY-1 and buff it up into a gloss finish. In fact, some folks who like to look after their guitars have trouble stopping that satin finish from turning shiny...

Cheers - C
Quote
What's the Difference?

Polyester Paint jobs are easy and inexpensive to make look very good. Most every company uses it from Ibanez to PRS. Polyester finishes are easily identifiable by the thick glossy finish. Polyester as opposed to Polyurethane is resin based and therefore thicker and goopier. (Not great for tone). Polyurethane is much more expensive but it's thinner and sounds measurably better than Polyester.

Nitrocellulose is a lacquer and it is much harder to work with. Nitro is what all the companies from Fender to Gibson to D' Angelico used to use in the 50's & 60's. Nitro is a much thinner finish than Polyester and it doesn't clog the wood pores.

Today only a few companies offer a Nitrocellulose option, I know that I do. However there are other ways to extract good tone from wood even using Polyester or Polyurethane.

The real key of course is thickness. An easy way to measure thickness is to unscrew your strap lock or strap pin and look inside the hole. If you can see a layer of filler like on ESP, Jackson, Fender & Ibanez you will know what I am talking about.

This filler stifles your tone. It dampens the resonance so much that you get a very dead tone. Ok, that may be fine if you are playing metal but a jazz guitarist or blues guitarist will want more natural overtones than one of those guitars generates.

Part of Rickenbacker's distinctive tone is their beautifully finished nitrocellulose guitars.

End Quote
I got that from the Roman site I think they state it fairly well when they say the key is the thickness of some finishes when applied.

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Post subject: Re: satin/nitro body finish on strats?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:57 am
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cvilleira wrote:
...The real key of course is thickness. An easy way to measure thickness is to unscrew your strap lock or strap pin and look inside the hole. If you can see a layer of filler like on ESP, Jackson, Fender & Ibanez you will know what I am talking about.

This filler stifles your tone. It dampens the resonance so much that you get a very dead tone. Ok, that may be fine if you are playing metal but a jazz guitarist or blues guitarist will want more natural overtones than one of those guitars generates.


I noticed this exact thickness issue when I was refinishing my 98 mia. A small "chip" in the paint showed that the finish was probably as thick as a nickel. After I took all that off and refinished it with a wood grain, and put a few very thin satin polyurethane coats on the stained body, the tone was noticeably different, more focused, and much warmer. I'll never get another painted body guitar again, and will be very careful about the finish on a new one, or just finish it myself.


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Post subject: Re: satin/nitro body finish on strats?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:14 pm
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cvilleira wrote:
Ceri wrote:
Highway Chile wrote:
I"m really not a fan of the new poly finish


What's new about polyester? Or polyurethane?

Do you know the difference?


Polyester Paint jobs are easy and inexpensive... ... ...


Hi cvilleira: good evening to ya. In fact, I kinda had an inkling of the answer. It was more a rhetorical question to Mr Highway Chile. I was off on my "poly" thing again...

But thanks anyway!

:wink: - C


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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:27 pm
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I here what your saying Ceri my Friend :mrgreen:

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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:26 pm
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dgonz wrote:
I like the nitro for that reason, that it wears nice. I'm not a fan of the satin look much though. Makes it look cheap to me.

Satin finishes are great for an older guitar, or one that's relic'ed. They look funny on a brand new guitar to me though.


Here is an example how you can turn the satin into a shinny finish.

http://areyouexperienced.net/fender_highway_1.htm

More info....

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?d ... ber=591216


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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:41 am
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cvilleira wrote:
I here what your saying Ceri my Friend :mrgreen:


As always, great respects to you! Here, I'm raising a glass of Glenmorangie in your direction as I write.

Cheers man - C


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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:53 am
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contrabassist wrote:
Here is an example how you can turn the satin into a shinny finish.

http://areyouexperienced.net/fender_highway_1.htm

More info....

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?d ... ber=591216


Thanks for those links. I would also do the same thing that Taylor Guitar recommends when people that buy a satin-backed acoustic of theirs, and want to shine it up. I've done this with my L7 Blackwood guitar, and it does very nicely...

http://www.taylorguitarforum.com/forums ... ?p=1658041


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