How to Measure the Thickness of a Guitar Finish?

jaymenon

...without breaking off a piece?

I have an 10 year old Chinese Burny Les Paul, which sounds and plays absolutely beautiful - despite rather 'basic' ingredients.  I've been gradually optimising the instrument in so many ways, but it of course has a (probably thick?) poly finish.

I'm not obsessed with nitro - but I do find myself wondering:

If the current finish is really thick, would having it re-finished thinly it make it actually sound significantly and audibly better?

GoldenEraGuitars

“Better” is tonally subjective 

mart

It sounds absolutely beautiful, and you want to mess with that? Put the belt sander down, and enjoy playing your guitar.

jaymenon

https://www.defelsko.com/resources/measuring-lacquer-thickness-of-guitars

Probably way too expensive though for the average amateur guitarist like me...
..and probably more than I paid for my Burny.

WezV

You can get an idea in certain places.  Sometimes the esgeof a pickup cavity is a give away on burst style LPs,   Or ream out a pot hole slightly and it will become clear how thick the finish is.


But if you take it apart, strip it, refinish it and it sounds better, it's because it's been put back together in a better way.   Vice versa if it sounds worse.  There are many small factors here that will do more than finish type or thickness on an electric.  Very different on an acoustic top.

I would only refinish if there is an aesthetic or tactile reason to do so.   Not for tonal reasons

jaymenon

WezV said:

You can get an idea in certain places.  Sometimes the esgeof a pickup cavity is a give away on burst style LPs,   Or ream out a pot hole slightly and it will become clear how thick the finish is.

What a great idea...! Can you tell from these pics below please? (I suppose the presence of a flame maple veneer doesn't help...)

https://i.imgur.com/aLo3BVB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OHU20As.jpg

WezV

The veneer actually does help as it gives you a clean line where the guitar wood stops and finish starts, but it's hard to judge the thickness of a clear layer on a still image.

ICBM

That looks pretty thin to me. Or at least, it's not like the 'polyester glass' finishes you find on 70s and 80s Japanese guitars - the thickness of the finish would be clearly visible even in a still pic that size on one of those!

Removing an overly thick finish can definitely 'open up' the tone of even a solidbody electric guitar - but on that one, I would be reluctant to try it unless you don't like the finish already for other reasons - especially if it's a veneer, where you can't risk sanding it really.

victorludorum

It looks thin to me too. Having stripped a thick poly finish once i know i wouldn't bother if it were my guitar.

thermionic

jaymenon said:

https://www.defelsko.com/resources/measuring-lacquer-thickness-of-guitars

Probably way too expensive though for the average amateur guitarist like me...
..and probably more than I paid for my Burny.

You can get car paint thickness gadgets like this for £20-30, although I suspect they won’t be very accurate. And they might not even work if they depend on detecting an interface between paint and metal.

jaymenon

I'm not sure how a guitar is finished in the manufacturing industry - but I would imagine that the thickness will be similar on the front, back and sides of a guitar - would that be correct?

I took some photographs with my newer iPhone at various levels of resolution. Would this be a reasonably thin finish please?

X1 Magnification

https://i.imgur.com/JnNeTWO.jpg

X2 Magnification

https://i.imgur.com/sWX9pun.jpg

X4 Magnification

https://i.imgur.com/pLArHDP.jpg

ICBM

Yes, that still looks very thin even at the highest magnification. In particular, where it's chipped very slightly just right of the centre of the last pic, you can see it's far thinner than the veneer - I think clearly less than a quarter of it, and possibly as little as a tenth.

If that was a typical late-70s Japanese polyester finish, it would be thicker than the veneer! The veneer itself looks much less than 1mm too, which makes stripping the finish risky if any sanding at all is necessary.

It's a near certainty that the finish thickness will be similar all round too.

WezV

Standard veneer thickness is 0.6mm, usually a bit less than that once its been applied and sanded smooth. 

jaymenon

Thanks chaps, that’s really good to know. Does it necessarily mean that the finish is likely to be equally thin on the back and sides as well?

[Edit] Sorry @ICBM I just noticed that you answered that - Thanks!