Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

[Nikromancer]

Hey Guys!

What is the difference of a transparent gloss or a transparent satin finish on a maple neck? Is one of those more sticky, slick? What are the pros and cons of each type of finishing? What i am looking for is a fast playing neck!

Also for the body, i will probably have a swamp ash body... wich of those two type of finishing looks better (your opinions).

thanks!

Nik

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

my favorite neck finish is a hand rubbed tung oil, easy to do and feels great
for the body i love a nice glossy finish on an ash body

 

[darkshadow54321]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

For a guitar body, glossy is the only way to go IMO. Looks really good...

For the neck, either is cool.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

i love my music man with its oil filnish on the neck. Glossy is too sticky, but satin is great.
I like satin bodies as well.

 

[Curly]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

yeah, glossy body, either nitro if you can do it, or very thin poly

I finished one of my last necks with an amber dye, and a combination of Tru Oil and lemon oil:

amber neck

(scroll to the bottom)

like jeremy's tung oil, this is a simple finish that can be done easily at home. I like the richness of the amber color compared to the raw maple, too.

 

[Pandemonium]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

What Jeremy said. Another superfast finish for necks is French polishing, but unlike tung oil it's not easy for a beginner, oh no. Just make sure you're getting 100% tung oil, many products sold as "Tung Oil" are not.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

it's best to finish a neck satin, then wear it down to gloss by playing it. nice and buttery... glossy but not sticky.
dan

 

[clint_41]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

a clear gloss is going to look shinier, but its going to make a slower neck. a satin neck isnt as shiney, at first, but they are a lot smoother. after time, your satin neck will get shinier and look nicer. I have both a clear gloss and a clear satin and the clear satin is much nicer. it feels better, and i think it is cheaper. and thats all i have to say about that.

 

[7th Hell]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

Fast necks generally have a satin finish. I personally hate gloss finished necks- my hand gets all sweaty (when I'm in full-on shred mode), and it slips all over the place. I like the feel of Tung Oiled necks- these feel very fast to my hand. Tung Oil won't slick up, like some clear satin finishes will. But then that can be remedied by a few passes of some steel wool.

 

[Nikromancer]

Re: Guitar Finishing -- Gloss or Satin?

Thanks guys for all the replies!

So Gloss for the body and satin for the neck it shall be!

nik