Strats with nitro finish?

[Kac]

I've had a few old MIJ Squier Bullet Strat's from the 80's and one of the biggest things I loved about them was the thin nitro finish on the body. I hate thick poly finishes that don't let the body breathe at all.

My question is; Is there currently an option out there for strats with nitro finished bodies rather than the thick horrible poly finishes?

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

the road worn strats have nitro on the body but not the neck.
Guitar center did a run of classic series with nitro bodies a few years ago
The hwy 1 had nitro but those are gone now too.
Avri is of course nitro body

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

Lacquer finishes in Japan are quite rare and highly unlikely ever used on a Squier. However, the finishes used were much thinner than US counterparts in most models.

The thickness of the finish matters more than the material. Getting a real nitrocellulose thin finish means custom or custom shop

 

[dystrust]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

Lacquer finishes in Japan are quite rare and highly unlikely ever used on a Squier. However, the finishes used were much thinner than US counterparts in most models.

The thickness of the finish matters more than the material. Getting a real nitrocellulose thin finish means custom or custom shop

+1

MIJ Squiers are all poly.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

I should expand on what I posted.

Fender and Gibson use some form of quick drying "lacquer" and sometimes that is over a poly basecoat. You will be hard pressed to get it to behave like a traditional nitrocellulose.

If you are looking to have a finish that will check and chip like old (dried out) lacquer, then there are painters who can do that for you. If you are looking for the best chance for a great sounding guitar, thinner is better.

There is no "breathing" with wood, but there is resonance. The thickness of finish (among several things)can affect how much vibration gets transferred. My advice is to first get a great sounding guitar, then look into having it refinished (if need be).

There are no guarantees of course, but the odds are in your favor that a good sounding block of wood will only sound better with little or no finish.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

First of all, let me dispel a favorite cork-sniffer myth...Guitar do NOT breathe! They don't have even the tiniest lungs. And they don't sing either, so they don't even need to breathe. But in case you weren't aware, guitars make their "noise" by vibrating.

If you had two identical unfinished guitars that sounded exactly alike and you couldn't tell them apart in a blind test, and you painted one with nitro (lacquer) and the other with polyurethane, and you did the blind test again, you WOULDN'T be able to tell them apart. An oscilloscope may detect some differences, but NOT your ear.

Next let me say that there are too many advantages to poly to just blanketly sweep it under the bus just because of some fallacious rumors.

It never ceases to amaze me what people are so quick to believe and cling to.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

First of all, let me dispel a favorite cork-sniffer myth...Guitar do NOT breathe! They don't have even the tiniest lungs. And they don't sing either, so they don't even need to breathe. But in case you weren't aware, guitars make their "noise" by vibrating.

If you had two identical unfinished guitars that sounded exactly alike and you couldn't tell them apart in a blind test, and you painted one with nitro (lacquer) and the other with polyurethane, and you did the blind test again, you WOULDN'T be able to tell them apart. An oscilloscope may detect some differences, but NOT your ear.

Next let me say that there are too many advantages to poly to just blanketly sweep it under the bus just because of some fallacious rumors.

It never ceases to amaze me what people are so quick to believe and cling to.

The type of finish doesn't matter, but thickness absolutely does. The stigma attached to poly finishes is the fault of the absurdly thick poly finishes found on lots of guitars back in the 80s.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

Catalyzed finishes have improved greatly and can now be applied thinner than anything used in the ‘50’s, and still be more durable. Lacquer certainly has its place but it has nothing to do with sound quality

 

[Kac]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

+1

MIJ Squiers are all poly.

Ok, well I guess what I liked was how thin the finish was. You could actually tell get me was wood there. And if you wanted you could just grab some sand paper and remove the finish by hand. No power tools or chisel’s required to get through the thick finish.

So what I’m wondering is if there are strats out there available with that nice thin finish now.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

There are certainly more thin guitars now than before. There are I think even some thin-skin ones from Mexico.....and the nitro ones like the HWY 1 from maybe 10 years ago that might come in cheap secondhand.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

Highway One's are nitro over thin poly. They chip, wear and get marked up very easily. Cool for some, not so cool for others.

Here's mine, it's a 2004 and I've owned it since 2005.

 

[justFred]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

warmoth, paint or have painted with Reranch products using their detailed instructions (MUST HAVE PROPER VENTILATION AND MASK)
http://www.reranch.com/gallery/gallery.htm

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

Ok, well I guess what I liked was how thin the finish was. You could actually tell get me was wood there. And if you wanted you could just grab some sand paper and remove the finish by hand. No power tools or chisel’s required to get through the thick finish.



So what I’m wondering is if there are strats out there available with that nice thin finish now.

I have a late '80's MIJ Tele that the finish has shrunk and checked, so I can see how someone might think it was lacquer.

Look at getting a '08-'10 Road Worn or '05+ Hwy 1. The early Road Worn '60's strats were just great.

 

[Cobra1957]

Re: Strats with nitro finish?

I just bought this one. It has a Nitro Satin finish. They are USA made and only produced from 2006-2012.