satin finish on a nylon guitar
 

After years (18 years now) of playing steel strings (acoustic and electric) I want to get into a classical guitar. I play a lot of chet atkins style songs, tried it on a classical guitar and it felt so much better. Plus I want to explore classical music on the guitar.

So now Im looking for a classical guitar and there is one thing that is kind of a must for me, and that is the satin finish on the back of the neck.

I have sticky hands. My experience with glossy finish is mainly based on my old Gibson SG. I used to clean it and it would be so smooth. After about half an hour it would start to get sticky. I now have a Fender strat and a Faith acoustic steel string with a satin finish and I never stick to those guitars.

So for a classical guitar my must have is satin neck, or at least a non sticky finish on the neck. However I cant find them. The only place where I found them was on cross overs. I tried a Furch with a lovely deep sound and the neck I was looking for, I tried the Taylor 12e-n which had a lovely neck, but they are all crossovers. Im seriously thinking of buying a cross over, because I loved the way they played, but my only concern is regretting this on the long run. My fingers are quite long and slender so I didnt experience any problems with the smaller nut width of these guitars, at least not at the moment. But I would like to try a real classical guitar (not a cross over) with a satin neck. Do you guys now of guitars with this feature? I cant seem to find them and I dont want to buy a guitar and get the finish of the neck right away. I would like to feel the guitar before buying it, instead of buying it and just hoping it will come out nicely.

Welcome to the forum! Good question...

I am not sure what is your budget, but if you custom order from a builder/luthier, you can request that feature. Most classical guitar necks will have either a lacquer (nitro or Poly) or a French Polish (most high end classical guitars do), so if you want to get an off-the-shelf guitar, you would have to shave/sand the finish off from it, I am afraid.

I'm a huge fan of non-sticky necks. ;)

Since you are still in the decision making stage of figuring out what you ultimately like I'd suggest you first find an inexpensive second hand classical guitar. Sand the neck's finish off and apply Osmo PolyX European hard oil. I've been doing new instrument necks with this finish and it's hand's down the best "speed neck" finish I've found. This finish has been used in Europe for decades as a floor finish, is quite durable, feels like bare wood, and is the easiest finish in the world to apply.

Osmo PolyX Hard Oil

You may end up never needing a better guitar! ;)

Do you apply that Osmo oil over bare wood, or with a sealer coat of some sort?
I'm interested. Thanks.

How about ovation?

Havent player them in years. They are not traditional to say the last. According to spec sheets they have nylon string guitars with satin neck finish, cant find the nut with though, any experience?

Also, hard to find ovation dealers in the netherlands apparantly

The Osmo PolyX is applied directly to bare wood sanded to 220. It "soaks in" just a bit and surrounds and bonds with the cells of the wood.

If you would like further information about Osmo PolyX, please read this product use and review from Naperville Hardwood.

HERE are detailed directions and notes for using Osmo PolyX Satin for finishing a short scale bass.

My last acoustic, with a mahogany neck, is finished with Osmo PolyX. I love the feel of it.

https://i.imgur.com/e9Msz3I.jpg

Thanks for all that info, and the photo. I'll probably try it soon..

I believe that the current Yamaha CG and NCX series guitars now all feature satin-finish necks.

That's the case with my Yamaha CG-TA and NCX1.

satin finish on a nylon guitar
 

You know, I’ve been thinking about making one of my classical guitars neck a satin finish too!! GR Bear recommended the OSMO product on one of my acoustics. My classical guitar has a French polish on it…I’ve also been thinking about darkening the neck color…I’m a bit worried about the junction between the neck and body though…steel wool the finish off??

Good one, ill check those out

update: its now between the taylor 214ce-n and the furge gnc2