Painted and glossed compare to natural and glossed?

[LeDave]

Are acoustic guitars that is painted, lose sound quality over natural gloss finish, is this true? I'm just curious is all. I like glossy natural wooded finish anyway.

[Nctom]

Do you mean opaque finishes like sunbursts as opposed to unstained finishes or true painted colors like red or black or blue guitars?

I haven't really noticed the color(s) of thin modern finishes affecting the sound as opposed to "natural" finishes. Enough coats of "natural" finish can deaden a guitar's tone as easily as an opaque finish.

[mtdmind]

Probably does not make much difference on the real world. All comes down to the individual guitar.

[Mark Stone]

I don't think it would make any difference, unless one was painted with house paint or something. But then again, how many of us have actually made the comparison? Actually sat and played two identical guitars, one sunburst and one natural, and documented the results? Not many of us, if any. But the sunburst Gibson J-45 has a mighty good tone - - - I don't think it's critical.

[LeDave]

Thanks guys. I have another question with non polished, rather matte finish guitars. Dont matte guitar suck up sweat and stain it? Why matte finished guitars?

[Mark Stone]

Originally Posted by LeDave

Thanks guys. I have another question with non polished, rather matte finish guitars. Dont matte guitar suck up sweat and stain it? Why matte finished guitars?

My Taylor 110e is matte - Taylor calls it "Satin" - and it doesn't absorb sweat at all. It still seals the wood as much as a gloss finish does. I think whether a person chooses gloss or satin is just a matter of personal taste, although satin does have one advantage - smudges and fingerprints don't show.

[nchin241]

The Beatles at 27 years old would love to convince you that stripping guitars down to wood improves tone. They were also smoking a lot of dope back then so certainly take that advice with a grain of salt. It's advice they themselves didn't adhere to- Lennon and Harrison both intentionally refinished and painted guitars different colors and with dragon murals and things well into their twilight.

I think people have come to think satin finishes sound better because older guitar's gloss finishes have worn down to a semi-gloss or satin-like texture. Ultimately there are many other factors that cause a guitar to improve tone over time, the least of them being their finishes dulling.

And then there's new guitar companies whose marketing departments are trying to convince you that satin finishes 'sound' and 'feel' better, when really the matting agent is just there to make finishes cheaper to spray and quicker to produce.

[UncleJesse]

I don't think I could buy a matte finished guitar on something priced over $1000. It just doesn't feel or look right to me. I have an xseries martin that has a matte finish and I just never thought it looked good.