#16
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Do it youll be glad. A buffed satin finish is my favorite look.
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#17
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Someone post before, and after photos of the process.
Dan |
#18
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Quote:
With the polyurethane finishes on the inexpensive imports, the poly is relatively thick and tough as nails. The satin top layer is done with marketing spin about how it "makes the guitar more sensitive", but really just allows less careful first layers of gloss to be covered with the satin, which masks small imperfections and allows less care and time (i.e. less money) to be spent on finishing. Yeah, don't be careless, but I think there's very little to fear here unless you're glossing an expensive guitar and/or looking for perfection. Here's one of the Masterbilt's I glossed - i don't have "before" pictures but it was standard epi masterbilt satin... and actually, "glossed" is a bit of a misnomer - all i did was removed the satin top coat to reveal what was already there. You can see this coat under the satin on most of these guitars if you hold the guitar up toward a bright light and look across the surface. get it to an extreme angle and you will see the gloss finish clearly just under the satin. [IMG][/IMG] Last edited by sublro; 03-03-2016 at 05:00 PM. |
#19
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Quote:
To me: It's stupid and ugly. Last edited by Charmed Life Picks; 03-03-2016 at 07:03 PM. |
#20
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Quote:
Last edited by stuco; 03-03-2016 at 06:00 PM. |
#21
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Anyone with pics????
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#22
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Photos of buffed-out satin finish guitars can be very deceptive, in large part because while they can look spectacularly glossy from one or two angles, when seen across a room there's generally no mistaking them for anything than what they are. True high gloss finishes look shiny from any and all angles, buffed-out satin finishes do not.
Look, I know perfectly well that I've offended some folks who like to believe that they've saved themselves a bundle by getting an inexpensive satin finish guitar and shining it up into something truly gorgeous, but while the photos of these guitars can look impressive, when you see one from across a room they're generally not very shiny-looking, or even all that attractive. They're lost in this sort of nether world of not really shiny, not really satin. There simply isn't enough finish on satin finish guitars to achieve a genuine high gloss. Satin finishes are not actually designed as do-it-yourself projects for ambitious guitar-polishers. Part of the reason that I persist in the truly thankless task of pointing out that there can be very real drawbacks to doing this is that otherwise this sort of thread turns into an "Amen corner" of a bunch of enthusiasts telling each other how great all their guitars came out. Whereas in real life, the vast majority of these buffed-out guitars I've personally looked at have had little blown-through patches of bare wood here and there. Now, admittedly, most of the thirty or so guitars I've looked at that have had this irreversible modification done to them have been up here on the Last Frontier in Alaska. Which leads me to two possible conclusions: 1.) Alaskans are uniquely inept at performing this task - perhaps they forget to remove their mittens, mukluks and snowshoes before sitting down to buff out their guitars; OR 2.) A lot more people booger up this job than are willing to publicly admit it on a guitar forum like this. Personally, I'm leaning more towards choice #2. Obviously, all of us have property rights, so everyone has the freedom of action to buff out a satin finish, paint their guitar purple and/or pepper it with birdshot from twenty feet away. That's doesn't mean I'm obliged to say: "Gee, what a great idea! I'll bet that looks awesome!!" As for it being "reprehensible" for Epiphone or any other guitar company to put a satin finish guitar on the market, the simple fact of the matter is that having a shiny finish on the guitar adds significantly to the price. Shining up a high gloss finish is a labor-intensive, and what most guitarists don't seem to realize is that the guitar factory workers who work in the finish department are usually among the most experienced, at the top of the non-management pay scale. Time is money, and those added labor costs have to be borne by the consumer. So what Epiphone has done by offering their version of the J-45 in satin finish is to try to keep it as affordable as possible. There's no sinister motive involved beyond trying to fit a market niche. When I spoke to Will Jones and Scott Riley at Epiphone a few months ago, they told me that while guitar aficionados like me and most of you appreciate what great guitar values the Epiphone Masterbilt line represent, the average guitar shopper doesn't necessarily recognize that. So they have to keep the price as low as they possibly can to even be able to retain the Masterbilt line in the Epiphone product lineup. However beloved they might be by many of us, Epiphone Masterbilts don't actually sell all that well. The numbers just aren't there. As for irreversible guitar modifications, many people come to guitar forums to seek validation for what they want to do, rather than to truly have the pros and cons of any modification discussed in depth. In other words, they don't really want to hear what might and often does go wrong, they just want reassurance. But there are many others who actually do want a complete airing of the pros and cons. So I'm sorry if I've angered some of you who think that buffing out satin finish guitars is a GREAT idea, but I simply don't agree, and I've seen plenty of messed up attempts at it. To answer your question, Blue, I've seen somewhere between thirty and three dozen guitars where this has been attempted, and there were bad spots on all but three or four of them. My own attitude is that it's never a great idea to modify an instrument in such a way that it can't be returned to its original condition. So I will continue to say so when the occasion arises. Wade Hampton Miller |
#23
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There has to be a level of "I want to pay Epi prices, but I want it to pass for a Gibson" when it comes to anger over this. If someone wants that, there are always Chinese counterfeits
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#24
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The only satin finished guitars that I've found to have a thinner finish are Martins (their gloss finish is thin too), and it's still plenty thick to buff out if you know what you are doing. I've polished a few and haven't burned through to the wood on any of them, not one single spot. Larrivee is one I may not polish again (then again I might!). They look good but up close you will see sanding swirls in the wood. They don't sand the wood as finely on the satin models, at least not as of a few years ago.
The ones you've seen must be using an electric sander (no sanding is needed) or electric polisher or something to be burning through to the wood. The supposed "thin" satin finish on a lot of import guitars is generally actually quite thick. So thick that you'd have try very hard to burn through to the wood. I know how thick because I've rest the bridges on many of them. Also, a properly polished satin finish guitar will not look 100% as glossy as an originally glossy guitar but if you want to you can get it about 95% the way there. The guitar will usually look 100% better though when done correctly, in my opinion of course. It shouldn't look splotchy or have areas where it's still satin, with special care around areas like the bridge, body/neck joint and fretboard extension. The pickguard has to be removed to do it correctly. Last edited by stuco; 03-04-2016 at 12:24 PM. |
#25
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Ok, I took some quick smartphone shots of two guitars I have with me currently. One is a vintage yamaha full gloss, one is a satin finished Alvarez. I could've spent more time with the Alvarez to make it even glossier but I'm not looking for absolute perfection. Again, a polished guitar won't usually be quite as glossy as a factory finished guitar but you can get very close if you want to. Achieving an even finish is one of the most important parts to doing this properly.
Last edited by stuco; 03-04-2016 at 10:36 AM. |
#26
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Here's what an MD-60 looks like with the original satin finish:
My MD-60 Polished: Not to say one is better or worse. I personally prefer the look feel and lack of "swoosh" sound that a glossier finish offers. Also satin finishes tent to get glossy spots on them where they are touched the most. Everyone should make up their own mind about what they like and if they wish to modify their own guitars. In the end it really isn't a big deal. Last edited by stuco; 03-04-2016 at 11:14 AM. |
#27
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I never knew the finish could affect the sound of an instrument. Beyond its thickness of course...
PJ |
#28
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Poly has been described as "being dipped in plastic" A tad overstated!
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#29
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#30
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Beautiful work, Stuco.
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