The advantages of a nitro finish.

Three-ColourSunburst

Reading around it seems that a lot of people have problems with 'nitro' finished guitars. Crazing, cloudiness, softness, yellowing, flaking. Even using a rubber-coated guitar stand for a long period is not recommended as this may chemically damage the finish.

Given such problems I guess having a nitro finish on a guitar (rather than something more durable such as polyurethane) must bring with it some big benefits. Can anyone explain what these are?

Thanks!

ToneControl

saves money on relicing
;-)

Neil

From personal experience; When you bash nitro you just get a dent, when you bash poly you get something akin to broken glass, it's horrible. 

MartinB

I haven't seen a sunburst in polyurethane that looked as nice as a good nitro finished Gibson, for whatever reason.  Also, some people prefer the feel of a nitro finish on necks.  
You're waiting for someone to comment about tone, aren't you?  

Gassage

Right, I'll end this debate before it reaches 18 pages.

Because it's fucking cool. Simple.

peteri

Gassage said:

Right, I'll end this debate before it reaches 18 pages.

Because it's fucking cool. Simple.

This!

And the crazing is just beautiful when you see it on a lovely old guitar (not this relic nonsense)

Sassafras

It allows the wood to breathe and resonate rather than having its inherent tone strangled by a heavy coat of polyurethane.
The smell of the wood doesn't get masked, this is easily provable just by sniffing it.
Studies have been carried out by the University of Albania on this very subject proving that polyester finishes make all 'tonewoods' sound exactly alike.

antonyiv

I've played only two guitars with nitro - a strat and a Les Paul. I couldn't hear much difference in the sound of the strat, however, the Les Paul sounded so much open, airy and sustained longer. 

StuartMac290

It looks better, it feels better, it sinks into the grain in a most appealing way, and it ages better. There's also an argument it sounds better.

vasselmeyer

StuartMac290 said:

It looks better, it feels better, it sinks into the grain in a most appealing way, and it ages better. There's also an argument it sounds better.

You're right on the look and feel;  a nitro finish is more attractive  than  a poly finish. There may be an argument it sounds better but it's wrong  There's no difference in sound.

Gassage said:

Right, I'll end this debate before it reaches 18 pages.

Because it's fucking cool. Simple.

This is the only reason.

BloodEagle

antonyiv said:

I've played only two guitars with nitro - a strat and a Les Paul. I couldn't hear much difference in the sound of the strat, however, the Les Paul sounded so much open, airy and sustained longer. 

Unless you played the same Strat and Les Paul, first finished in Poly then refinished in Nitro then how do you know it was 'the nitro', not just the difference between 2 guitars, which made it sound better or not? A poly finished LP is likely to be a lower end model, a Nitro finished one is likely to be a full fat USA Gibson, which on paper at least would be more likely to account for the difference in sound than what they were painted with

Sassafras

It's also more resilient than poly.
There was a study carried out by the University of Stonehenge that proved the point beyond doubt.
A guitar finished in polyester was repeatedly beaten with a sledge hammer and another identical nitro guitar was tapped with a sponge hammer.
The nitro guitar was relatively unscathed whereas the poly guitar had quite a few scratches.

proggy

Does anyone know how much it would cost for a nitro refin on a Tele?

Thinking of getting one of mine done.

Gassage

proggy said:

Does anyone know how much it would cost for a nitro refin on a Tele?

Thinking of getting one of mine done.

Depends who does it. c. 250-350. The very best I've encountered are Jaydee in Brum. Superb.

Three-ColourSunburst

MartinB said:

 
You're waiting for someone to comment about tone, aren't you?  

After that other thread that's the last thing I want! I doubt anyone really takes the idea that finish affects tone seriously in any case!

Moving along, I can see that some might appreciate any differences in feel and appearance. Can't say that getting the relic look would be very appealing to me.

So, just how hard is it to live with a nitro finish? Must admit the warning not to leave a nitro finished guitar on the stand I have just bought (a Konig and Meyer) really put me off the idea of ever buying a nitro finished guitar. Not sure where one does keep them given I have also seen reports that the colour from the lining of a case can also bleed into the finish.

Gassage

Sassafras said:

It's also more resilient than poly.
There was a study carried out by the University of Stonehenge that proved the point beyond doubt.
A guitar finished in polyester was repeatedly beaten with a sledge hammer and another identical nitro guitar was tapped with a sponge hammer.
The nitro guitar was relatively unscathed whereas the poly guitar had quite a few scratches.

Indeed.

I've had several nitro finished guitars stuck in the revolving door of my gear store and not a mark on them.

TheBigDipper

So what if your stand ultimately marks the back of your guitar? It still plays the same and sounds the same. It's not as if these guitars are precious jewels that should never come out of their glass display into normal air and light, is it?

Oh, wait....

PS: Disclaimer. I gigged my 1959 LP VOS (the most expensive electric I've ever bought) and it has dings and scratches. I don't care. 

MartinB

I think the fragility can be exaggerated.  I've got a Kalamazoo archtop acoustic from 1936 that has just a little crazing (which is kind of charming anyway), a few dings and pick scratches and some thumb wear behind the neck.  It's still a good looking guitar.  I guess it's never done sweaty rock n'roll touring.  
I reckon a lot of the feelings around nitro finishes are just from it's association with premium instruments - it's a visual indicator that attention has been paid to detail.  

Three-ColourSunburst

I guess it was predictable, but I see the jokers are out in full force. Well done chaps!

Gassage

Three-ColourSunburst said:

I guess it was predictable, but I see the jokers are out in full force. Well done chaps!

Physician heal thyself.

underdog

It smells nice, every time I open my Gibson case the smell is wonderful

In all seriousness, it's the feel, it doesn't feel like a nice piece of wood encased in a layer of plastic.