Official Luthiers Forum!

We haven't had an good can o' worms in a while...
I know wood is more likely to become impregnated with oils and such. Why not just finish the neck, or just the b/s and neck. The top would have nothing dampening it. Maybe this is a stupid question, most of mine are.

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-They made me do this-
My name is Matthew Luce

Baroque guitars and early guitars usually did not have a heavy finish, used egg tempra or maybe nothing, very light finish. I can't believe some of the plastic stuff that goes on guitars now.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Look at this thread that is currently running. I posted a couple of pictures of a lute that restored some time ago, I think the pictures will answer your question.

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=19085

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Matthew my friend this is actually a great question - thanks for asking it!

Well you already know that finish protects the guitar from the things we humans leave behind. Finish, at least some finishes will also protect the guitar from an occasional bump, mild forms of scratches etc. And finish can be cleaned much more effectively and easier than bare wood can be cleaned.

Finishes do impact tone more or less depending on the finish and thickness. But..... the tone that many of us have become accustomed to is the tone of a guitar with a factory finish. And factories have traditionally favored finishes that are better at withstanding abuse.

IMHO nothing gets you closer to the sound of raw wood than a French polish finish but the trade off is that FP does not provide the protection of nitro or cat poly.

So, in short, guitars need to be finished so that they will be more practical in terms of the things that guitars will encounter that may damage them. If you ever want to know to what degree the finish impacts the tone of a guitar build two alike and French Polish one and use nitro or something else tougher on the other. I did this with 2 L-OOs and the difference is like night and day. But they are different, one is not better, just different.

Ok....on the flip side of the coin. Why not finish the inside of the guitar as well? At least a sealing coat.

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Gravity, its not just a good idea.....its the LAW! (the poster formerly known as Sparticus)

Spart buddy some builders do indeed finish the inside and I have read claims that this belays the ravages of being dried out in very low humidity. I personally don't buy this argument and am more concerned about the serviceability of a guitar in time. If a repair person has to remove some of the finish inside a guitar to get a good glue bond no one was doing them any favor finishing the inside of the guitar.

BTW Mario has mentioned this before that some of the most highly prized pre-war guitars were not only not finished on the inside but they were fuzzy with little finish sanding and visible saw and tool marks.

some high end classical guitars have unfinished tops... jody

As usual !
I'm a brain dead computer user!!!!!!
Mike
Finish is needed to keep Hesh's body fluids from upsetting the guitars natural look!!
mike

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Mike Collins

Matt, if you don't finish your guitar you'll never be able to play it.

Please accept my apology. If I didn't, somebody else woulda said it.

In my personal opinion as has been mentioned, outside finish coating of some sort is needed to prevent environmental damage from the player and the general environment.

I have seen al lot of high end classical guitars that one may think have no finish on the top but closer inspection shows that most of those have been burnished with a very thin short oil varnish.

Many high end classical guitars are seal coated internally. You see this more in the areas of the southern hemisphere where the relative humidity is high. Some steel string builders will paint the inside of tops claiming better tone. I have my doubts about that, but it certainly provides some moisture protection.

Wood will UV depredate slower if it has a finish protecting the wood from both the atmosphere and the suns UV rays.

So there are several reasons to finish a stringed instrument, a coffee table a fine crafted chair or any piece of fine wood work.

Why must a guitar be finished? So Tony and I can pay the mortgage!

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jw ( o)===:::

I've sanded down the finish of a guitar once and to be honest, I felt it sounded a lot better without the finish. The only real problem was taking care of the blasted thing because it became much more sensitive (or at least I felt) to environmental changes such as temperature, humidity, and also things such as oil and sweat...

As far as being on stage,a finished guitar needs the good looks that a finish brings out.As far as sound in the studio,no finish gets my vote.