D-18/D-28 Satin vs Gloss

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

... several players have purchased satin finished guitars but later buffed out the surface to get a gloss finish... I have read that the thinner satin finish sounds better...

I briefly had a 2003 Larrivee O-01 Rosewood Special Edition parlor. I thought its satin finish looked cheap and was wondering if it could be polished to gloss.
It would have been a good combination of a less expensive finish with maybe better sound, made to look good. Another candidate would be the Martin D-16.

[azjohn]

When I was shopping for my D28, I was able to play a satin and gloss version. The gloss was much more to my liking. I think the only way that I could consider a satin version is if I already had a great looking and playing guitar with a gloss finish.

I also think that the gloss will hold its value over the long term better than the satin finished guitars.

All my opinion, though, and so . . .

[llew]

No argument that the gloss finish will probably hold it's value better. I'm only interested in the tonal differences. The type of finish doesn't matter so much to me...just how it sounds?

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by llew

No argument that the gloss finish will probably hold it's value better. I'm only interested in the tonal differences. The type of finish doesn't matter so much to me...just how it sounds?

As mentioned, there was a previous thread on this exact same subject about a month ago, here. Some people swear they hear a difference, others don’t. When I was at the Martin factory, they had all of the NAMM guitars on display for people to try, including all of the new satin guitars—the D-18s and D-28s in natural, Amberburst and StreetLegend. They also had a gloss D-18 and D-28 to try. I played then all (as well as the CEO-10, fwiw), and I could not tell any difference between the gloss and the satin versions. More recently, I also tried one of each side-by-side at Rudy’s—same thing.










But as we know from another recent thread, people can listen to the same recording, and one person hears Laurel and another person hears Yanny.

While I don’t currently have a D-28, I did for a while (and currently have a pre-reimagined and a reimagined HD-28), and have a standard D-18, a D-18 Modern Deluxe and a D-18 Authentic 1937. To me, the satin versions of the D-18 and D-28 sounded great, but not any different than their gloss counterparts (taking into account the fact that no two guitars of the same model sound exactly alike).

[llew]

I appreciate your input. Wish I had a place to play them (gloss vs satin) back to back.

[sinistral]

The good news is, for $400 less than a gloss finished guitar, it sounds at least as good. As is the case with multiple guitars of the same model, you’re bound to like the sound of one better than others. I should also mention that there were several other guitarists at the factory trying out the guitars at the same time. We played them, and listened to others playing them. We all thought that the satin guitars basically sounded the same as their gloss counterparts. Maybe we were all Laurels and no Yannys.

I think Martin did an excellent job with the finish on these guitars. Some satin-finished guitars have a cloudy haze when the light hits them a certain way. These have a bit of luster to them that is really nice.

[SalFromChatham]

Well, I do love the look and feel of my new D18-Satin, and as I stated before, I definitely believe it sounds bigger and bolder than nitro reimagined gloss D-18s.

However, to be fair, I do wish I could try them again side by side. Live vs “memory” is perhaps not the best test. That seems logical.

Anyways whatever you decide, these 18s, satin or gloss, are a fantastic complement to a good J-45.

[Tralfamadore]

I bought a D-28 Satin (natural finish top with aging toner, not the sunburst or Streetmaster) last October, after spending time playing both this one and the standard high-gloss nitro version alternately. As far as sound is concerned, the satin sounds more open; one would expect that, since the extra lacquer required to get that high-gloss coat does dampen the tone. There's a case to be made for each, in that the gloss version's slightly dampened tone is a bit more refined and dare I say dark, while the openness of the satin makes it feel brighter and a bit louder overall, although not to the point of being brash. I decided I actually did prefer the open sound of the satin model, but it was close, as I liked them both. Let me add that Martin did a terrific job with the appearance and feel of this particular satin finish - it's a lot better than what they've done on the less expensive series, including 16 and 17. It's satin but seems very lightly polished, and after 6 months looks exactly as it did when I purchased it. It cleans easily with a drop or two of water or any any satin guitar cleaner (I use Taylor's, which works very well on this guitar) and microfiber cloth. As for the high-gloss version holding up its value better as someone suggested, I think that's nonsense, but remember, it's 400 bucks more to begin with. Anyhow - if you go to the Maury's Music's website, you can find a video that gives a side-by-side comparison of the satin-vs high gloss, and it's quite useful.

[Simonix]

I tried around 10-15 different d28 and d18s in both satin and gloss a few months back.

All I can say is that the individual examples sounded different enough from each other that I genuinely couldn’t attribute any of them to their respective finishes.

I also felt that the satin finishes looked a bit “cheaper” , but of course that is very subjective and only my opinion.


In the end, I actually went home with a b stock gloss d18. Sounded the “biggest” out of all the ones I tried. Despite me always originally wanting a d28.

[Tralfamadore]

The satin finish of the D-18 and D-28 in no way looks or feels "cheap" - it's high quality. Not to mention, Martin isn't the only high-end guitar company jumping on this trend, and some of the satin guitars currently on the market are VERY pricey, in the $6-10K range.

This is an excellent video from Alamo Music worth watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyOaQNq2UUI

[kizz]

Originally Posted by Tralfamadore

The satin finish of the D-18 and D-28 in no way looks or feels "cheap" - it's high quality. Not to mention, Martin isn't the only high-end guitar company jumping on this trend, and some of the satin guitars currently on the market are VERY pricey, in the $6-10K range.

This is an excellent video from Alamo Music worth watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyOaQNq2UUI

As Simonix writes, it is probably subjective what people think about the satin finish, there are already many divided opinions both here and on umgf, it has nothing to do with price and there is also no guarantee of aesthetics because it is Martin . I've seen some not-so-lucky sunbursts on Martin guitars, including one i owned with a 1935 sunburst that was almost black, but again that's all subjective.