Body refinish and tone changes
 

Would a factory refinish (say Martin) affect the tone of a guitar? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks

snake ridge

It would depend, I would think, on the age of the guitar. On a guitar that is just a couple of years old, I don't know that it would really make much of a difference. On an older guitar, the difference might be more noticeable. On a vintage guitar, aside from any sonic consequences, the market value would be significantly effected by a refinish.

On a guitar that is 15 years old and has a wonderful tone.....I suspect the tone might be somewhat dampened initially, but return to normal as the nitro ages?

I have an '02 Tacoma DM10 that suffered from the Tacoma "rash". I contacted Tacoma about it and it was right at the time Fender bought them. Long story short, Fender repaired the finish under warranty.

I had to send it to Tennessee to be repaired. It left with a high gloss top, and satin back and sides. Came back (4 months later!) with a full gloss all the way around. It sounded very stiff for a while. But after a bit, less that a year, it started to reopen and sounds even better that it did before. I thought it was ruined at first.

Interesting. So I guess a poly finish "cures" as well? Or could it be just the settling in of the neck/body joint?

I have a '64 Martin D12-20 which was sent back to Martin for a rebuild in 1998. I didn't own it until much later but it was obviously completely re-finished.

I had another 12 string (long scale Stella style) that had the finish of the top damaged by an idiot guitar tech that tuned it up to normal pitch when it was obviously designed for no more than B or C.

The shop that he worked in accepted full responsibility and I had the top refinished at their expense. The guy who did ythe refinish told me that the original finish was far thicker than he'd done so it should sound better. It did.

Some feel that a thin varnish is better than the more common nitro or poly.