finish of the axe, please educate me
- Thread starter pac112
- Start date
casblah
New member
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Poly= polyurethane. Tends to be very tough, high-gloss, a little tough to polish (initially after finishing). Nitro= nitrocellulose. Lacquer-based finish. Easy to apply, not as tough as poly, not as glossy either. Some feel nitro "sounds" better than poly, but I don't know. Also, don't know what finish comes on the guitar you mentioned.
Poly= polyurethane. Tends to be very tough, high-gloss, a little tough to polish (initially after finishing). Nitro= nitrocellulose. Lacquer-based finish. Easy to apply, not as tough as poly, not as glossy either. Some feel nitro "sounds" better than poly, but I don't know. Also, don't know what finish comes on the guitar you mentioned.
krankguitarist
Krankitupologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Laquer finishes are also easier to repair. 99% sure that the ESP has poly.
casblah said:
Laquer finishes are also easier to repair. 99% sure that the ESP has poly.
Bob Zombie
New member
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Im pretty sure everybody uses poly now. But nitro is still available.
pac112 said:
Im pretty sure everybody uses poly now. But nitro is still available.
krankguitarist
Krankitupologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Actually, fender typically uses polyurethane finishes, except on a few models, like the highway 1 series or the eric johnson signature strat.
I've never heard of gibson using anything but nitrocellulose.
Edit: Epiphone, though, uses polyurethane
pac112 said:
Actually, fender typically uses polyurethane finishes, except on a few models, like the highway 1 series or the eric johnson signature strat.
I've never heard of gibson using anything but nitrocellulose.
Edit: Epiphone, though, uses polyurethane
krankguitarist
Krankitupologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Hmm, Its difficult to say. On the site they only mention the laquer finishes in the factory tour thing, but not what type of finish each guitar has.
I have a friend who has an SG thats about 10 or so years old, and it feels like a nitro finish to me. Most the new ones i've played have felt like nitro too.
dunno bout the paul though, never had the chance to play one of those.
guess the guys at gibson know...
Hmm, Its difficult to say. On the site they only mention the laquer finishes in the factory tour thing, but not what type of finish each guitar has.
I have a friend who has an SG thats about 10 or so years old, and it feels like a nitro finish to me. Most the new ones i've played have felt like nitro too.
dunno bout the paul though, never had the chance to play one of those.
guess the guys at gibson know...
Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
All regular production Gibson guitars (LP's, SG's, ect) are nitro. All regular production Fenders (except the Hwy 1 and EJ, & a couple others) are poly. Fender custom shop and most artist series still use nitro. Heritage uses nitro and I believe Hamer uses nitro. My Dean Hardtail is Poly, and that's the one downside to the finish. I'm not sure about the other makers. Anymore, with the exception of Gibson and Heritage, the majority of guitars that are produced in any significant numbers are poly.
All regular production Gibson guitars (LP's, SG's, ect) are nitro. All regular production Fenders (except the Hwy 1 and EJ, & a couple others) are poly. Fender custom shop and most artist series still use nitro. Heritage uses nitro and I believe Hamer uses nitro. My Dean Hardtail is Poly, and that's the one downside to the finish. I'm not sure about the other makers. Anymore, with the exception of Gibson and Heritage, the majority of guitars that are produced in any significant numbers are poly.
Quencho092
New member
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
how can fender afford to make the highway 1 a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than the american series if it's nitro?
how can fender afford to make the highway 1 a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than the american series if it's nitro?
Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
Nitro is a clear finish that can be sprayed over a solid, dye or stained finish. The Highway 1 is not actually nitro, but a thin lacquer type finish. Nitro finishes involving long drying times and wet sanding between coats. It must be built up in many thin layers to it's final depth. It also must be wet sanded and polished to a mirror shine after the final coat. It takes too much hand labor and time for most companies to do nitro.
Nitro is a clear finish that can be sprayed over a solid, dye or stained finish. The Highway 1 is not actually nitro, but a thin lacquer type finish. Nitro finishes involving long drying times and wet sanding between coats. It must be built up in many thin layers to it's final depth. It also must be wet sanded and polished to a mirror shine after the final coat. It takes too much hand labor and time for most companies to do nitro.
krankguitarist
Krankitupologist
Re: finish of the axe, please educate me
There's a few people on the forum that do refinishing. I'm in the middle of refinishing about 3 seperate guitars right now actually. I've got two more lined up.
I'm using the guitar reranch products for the first guitar I'm doing, after that I'm gonna get a gun and mix my own paint.
To the guys who have experience finishing, I know that nitro is harmful to the enviornment, but what about waterbase laquer? I've seen waterbase on stew-mac, and I've been thinking of using that instead of nitro. Anybody have any experience with waterbase? how does it compare to nitro?
n00b said:
There's a few people on the forum that do refinishing. I'm in the middle of refinishing about 3 seperate guitars right now actually. I've got two more lined up.
I'm using the guitar reranch products for the first guitar I'm doing, after that I'm gonna get a gun and mix my own paint.
To the guys who have experience finishing, I know that nitro is harmful to the enviornment, but what about waterbase laquer? I've seen waterbase on stew-mac, and I've been thinking of using that instead of nitro. Anybody have any experience with waterbase? how does it compare to nitro?
