What's the difference? Which is better? And can I get mine professionally changed?

To be extremely brief:

Urethane is tough as nails.
Nitro is not as durable, will relic faster.

Urethane.

No tonal differences whatsoever

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No no and no

Its just preference.

I like the feel of nitro, and the "natural relic" idea.

although urethane can look very nice and shiny. like glass.


Edit: just noticed the "satin" not sure if it makes a difference. but i still like the nitro.

The one good thing about Nitro is that if you ding it you can just about get an invisible repair done, not so with Poly as it will always show. Hopefully someone in the future will solve this problem.

Very true! I built my own L5 copy years ago and sprayed it with lacquer. It's a different animal all together. It's more temporary. That said, I'm a sucker for nostalgia and had my pine modern custom 5f2a finished in lacquer. It's all preference. Oh, and the environment. Lacquer is supposed to be bad for the air.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

I own both and others mentioned,nitro is a softer finish and urethane is tough,but as far as refinishing a guitar...I wouldn't,I would just buy the other that you don't have and try both and come to your own conclusions.
That way you will have a choice to sell one that you don't like.
It's great to have so many choices when it comes to Strats and you can spend money on guitars and not refinishing.

I'll take nitro, for me it is a better look and i like the way it wears.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

I have both and like both. Like Nick said, no tonal differences.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I prefer nitro simply because the name sounds cooler.

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Urethane better neck finish than nitro I reckon, I cant stand a glossy neck

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I think that as to which is "better" it simply depends on what sort of effect you're trying to achieve. As other's have said, poly's are generally very durable and typically have a very nice look...and will maintain that look pretty well. Lacquer tends to "age" better and that after a few years it will start to have what many to be a more natural look to it (compared with something that's been artificially aged).

Now personally I tend to prefer working with lacquers myself but that's a personal preference...I find lacquers easier to work with. I've tried using polys in other non- guitar related projects (cupboard doors and a jewelry box to be specific) and i just can't get the results I like. Lacquer is actually more labor intensive perhaps but for me the results are much more "predictable"...I know how to get the results I'm after with lacquer. On the other hand I know there are people who do refinishing that are quite happy with polys and are quite able to get really fine results. That's not to say that lacquers are better than polys or vice-versa...that's just what I prefer to work with myself.

As far as sound goes...I know there's probably a few folks out there who really think this makes a big difference but personally I think they tend to suffer from delusions or some other form of dementia, LOL! The truth is that a lot of people -think- they can hear things that they really can't -if- you were to put a blind fold on them. Digital recording for example is a really wonderful tool for the average musician but you'll always have some folks who swear that "analog" is superior or that they have to use such and such piece of equipment because they can "hear" the difference. Don't even get me started on people who swear by tube amps! LOL! The truth is though that when it comes to something like a finish on a guitar, chances are changing your pickups or using a different amp is going to have a -significantly- great affect on your sound than even the type of wood that's in the body let alone the type of finish that's covering that wood. In other words; dude...don't sweat it.

That said, if I were looking for someone to do a really decent job with a refinish (other than myself now of course), I'd probably look to a car guy...someone who knows someone who does auto refinishing. A word of caution though...not all guys who do "auto refinishing" do good auto refinishing and a hot rod paint shop isn't always the gentlest environment for something like a guitar! That said, if you can find someone who does really decent auto refinishing, chances are they're going to be less expensive than someone who is a professional at refinishing guitars. I would expect to pay at least a good $800 to $1000 for a proper luthier to refinish my guitar...the labor alone will usually drive the price up that high. But for a car guy if you're willing to do at least some of the work yourself (such as finish removal and finish sanding and such) you might get away for as little as a couple hundred dollars or less and still have something that's quite "acceptable". As with so many things, it's really about what you're looking to do and how much you're looking to spend.

As far as the lacquer over poly...that really depends on what you want done and how you want it to look...and only you can really decide that.

Peace,
Jim