This from Luthiers Merchantile International:
"Nitrocellulose lacquer, however, has been the primary wood finishing material, and American guitar factory preference, for over eighty years. More recently polyurethane, polyester, and other catalyzed coatings have been used in guitar manufacturing and the quality of water-based finishes has increased steadily so that now the best of them equal or exceed the quality of nitrocellulose finishes . The more exotic synthetic or catalyzed finishes are best suited to factory situations, not to the average small-scale guitar maker."
That being said, I do have a $99 guitar that had a rather thick layer of poly on it, and I scrubbed it down with automotive rubbing compound. This is my experimental guitar - it taught me how to install a nut, and do a setup, soon it will sport different tuners, and if I really get bored, scalloped braces.
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