HoboKen
Member
Ok....I'm all ears to hear how any poly finish will improve the tone of a guitar over the years!
Let's hear about the science of this one.
Let's hear about the science of this one.
I didn't mean to buy a GAD Guild today at Elderly
- Thread starter Lickety Split
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HoboKen
Member
I read the Taylor Article on poly finishes......this from the same folks that a few years back were writing articles on how the "new science" and design allowed Taylor to make their tops thinner for better tone.....and how the superior neck-to-body metal set was a better mouse-trap being built.
Well all I can say is:
1.The thin tops almost ruined the company when the tops started pulling up behind the bridge within a year of being built.
2. 440 vibrations and over-all tone do not transmit as well from the neck and finger board as from the more traditional way of making guitars with wood to wood dove-tails.
Sorry, I can't buy-off on any Taylor article as being really factual. Their track record is just not that good in the long run.
I'll believe it when the luthiers I've known for years and my own ears and my sound engineering sons' ears tell me that poly is as good tone-wise as nitro. Don't get me wrong.....I'd like to see the poly finish do as well as the nitro over a period of 10 to 30 years.........I just don't see any real proof that it has or will just yet.
Well all I can say is:
1.The thin tops almost ruined the company when the tops started pulling up behind the bridge within a year of being built.
2. 440 vibrations and over-all tone do not transmit as well from the neck and finger board as from the more traditional way of making guitars with wood to wood dove-tails.
Sorry, I can't buy-off on any Taylor article as being really factual. Their track record is just not that good in the long run.
I'll believe it when the luthiers I've known for years and my own ears and my sound engineering sons' ears tell me that poly is as good tone-wise as nitro. Don't get me wrong.....I'd like to see the poly finish do as well as the nitro over a period of 10 to 30 years.........I just don't see any real proof that it has or will just yet.
Ken, I'm with you on the Taylors, and they're still having problems with the tops. I have six friends with Taylors, from low end models up to 800 series, and every single one of them has had top cracks and other problems related to the tops. And they've gotten to the point where they won't fix them either, even for the original purchasers: "you must have not had it properly humidified".
The interesting thing I read in that Taylor article was that with poly finishes they "can now cure a guitar finishin a few minutes"...and therein lies the real motivation for changing finishes. :roll:
The interesting thing I read in that Taylor article was that with poly finishes they "can now cure a guitar finishin a few minutes"...and therein lies the real motivation for changing finishes. :roll:
Benee Wafers
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Hobie, I provided the Taylor article for you and directed you to the luthier section of the Acoustic Guitar site. I really think that no matter what or whose opinions and facts you were presented with you would not change your opinion based on what your sound engineer sons are telling you.
Do you?
I simply wanted to refute your opinion that a polyester finished guitars tone would remain the same over a 20 year period.
I feel I have successfully done that by presenting other expert opinions,facts and examples.
Lets move on.
Benee
Do you?
I simply wanted to refute your opinion that a polyester finished guitars tone would remain the same over a 20 year period.
I feel I have successfully done that by presenting other expert opinions,facts and examples.
Lets move on.
Benee
reply
I just traded a Martin HD28 for a Corona F-50. Guitars are a very personel thing - what one person loves might not come close to your personel favorite. I have seen this all my life. I have played the new Gads - and they are very nice well built guitars. Are they as nice as their American cousins? Who knows and really its a personel thing -So who really cares. Cheers - Gasman
I just traded a Martin HD28 for a Corona F-50. Guitars are a very personel thing - what one person loves might not come close to your personel favorite. I have seen this all my life. I have played the new Gads - and they are very nice well built guitars. Are they as nice as their American cousins? Who knows and really its a personel thing -So who really cares. Cheers - Gasman
HoboKen
Member
Benee,
One has to ask oneself one question as to what the bottom line is in the opinions (scientific or not) of the pros as to a Poly finish -v- Nitro finish.
If the poly finish is as good as or better than a nitro finish, why does Gibson, Martin and Guild still make their top-of-the-line models with nitro finishes?
When all is said and done, it comes down to what sounds good to you the buyer and player of a fine guitar. I stand with what my ears tell me.
But to be fair, I've given the issue to a friend of mine who is a chemical engineer who also loves fine guitars. He is well aware of electro and
chemical bonding of surface materials. I'll be interested to hear what he has to say.
One has to ask oneself one question as to what the bottom line is in the opinions (scientific or not) of the pros as to a Poly finish -v- Nitro finish.
If the poly finish is as good as or better than a nitro finish, why does Gibson, Martin and Guild still make their top-of-the-line models with nitro finishes?
When all is said and done, it comes down to what sounds good to you the buyer and player of a fine guitar. I stand with what my ears tell me.
But to be fair, I've given the issue to a friend of mine who is a chemical engineer who also loves fine guitars. He is well aware of electro and
chemical bonding of surface materials. I'll be interested to hear what he has to say.
Benee Wafers
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Hobie You just said:why does Gibson, Martin and Guild still make their top-of-the-line models with nitro finishes
and on May 1 I said :Taylor, Larrivee, Collings, or Bourgeois. There's polyester on all of them.
The fact is is that no one knows or has been able to prove anything with regards to finishes, woods and the aging of guitars producing a better sound than when newly fnished.
And no one has funded any scientific tests to try and discern what processes take place which could effect the change of tone of an aged guitar. Lets hope your chemical engineer friend knows enough to not comment one way or the other on unsubstantiated rhetoric.
Of course it does seem that Taylor spent a good deal of money on researching their finishes and deciding in favor of polyester. Then again you didn't accept their opinion.
Benee Wafers
and on May 1 I said :Taylor, Larrivee, Collings, or Bourgeois. There's polyester on all of them.
The fact is is that no one knows or has been able to prove anything with regards to finishes, woods and the aging of guitars producing a better sound than when newly fnished.
And no one has funded any scientific tests to try and discern what processes take place which could effect the change of tone of an aged guitar. Lets hope your chemical engineer friend knows enough to not comment one way or the other on unsubstantiated rhetoric.
Of course it does seem that Taylor spent a good deal of money on researching their finishes and deciding in favor of polyester. Then again you didn't accept their opinion.
Benee Wafers
