I would not worry about the effect of finish on tone - unless you notice that the finish is exceptionally thick, which is never good. All of them have benefits and problems, and there is no one finish that is perfect (otherwise everyone would be using it!). Why a manufacturer chooses a particular finish usually has less to do with its sonic properties than with some other factor - regulations, technology, cost, repairability, tradition, just to name a few.
The point of finish is to 1, protect the material underneath from a wide range of things, and 2, to alter or enhance the appearance of the material under it. FOr instruments, you might add sonic quality, but how you evaluate that is very subjective. And then it starts to get tricky - a finish may be amazing in durability and protection, but virtually impossible to repair cleanly and in an aesthetically acceptable fashion. Others may excel at repairability, but limited protection. And so on, and so on - insert thesis here -
Its always interesting to learn about these things, but I would not base purchasing decisions about a guitar based on the makers choice of finish. I might think about it if looking at a used guitar that needed some finish repair and it was important to me to see those repairs done, but even then -
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More than a few Santa Cruz’s, a few Sexauers, a Patterson, a Larrivee, a Cumpiano, and a Klepper!!
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