Poly KILLS Tone

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Oh - in Canada, we have this thing called central heating.  That and a lot of tube power...

I would of ran with the idea of baby-making to stay warm in the winter, but that's just me.

 

[m4rk0]

Watch the new ZZ Top From texas DVD, their guitars are all paint, bodies, neck, fretboard, all painted, and it's not nitro,  they( Billy Gibbons) sound as good as they ever have, tone wise.

+ he is using 008 strings these days, so there you go another myth solved. thicker strings do not equal better tone.

 

[GoDrex]

I wouldn't know what to do with "good tone" even if I could magically have it. So I'll stick with the tone killing polly since it seems tougher and doesn't get all gummy like my V neck used to. :icon_thumright: :laughing7:

 

[jay4321]

Since I'm now a member of the nitro club, I feel okay saying that while I think there are tone benefits of nitro, they're greatly exaggerated. The "poly kills tone" issue seems to be more a matter of how thick the poly is applied. Of course an armored M&M-shell-thick poly finish is going to dampen a body's resonance much more than a thin nitro finish will. Having said that, I can definitely understand the aesthetic appeal of having nitro on vintage-style guitars. It looks good and does neat things as it ages.

At the end of the day though, of all the things that make or break a guitar player's sound, this has to be down near the very bottom of the list.

Strictly my opinion, of course.

 

[-CB-]

And I agree with Max.  accustic and solid body guitars are worlds apart, whereas the sum of all parts make an accustic guitar, the pickups make up 95% of a solid body guitar.

Watch the new ZZ Top From texas DVD, their guitars are all paint, bodies, neck, fretboard, all painted, and it's not nitro,  they( Billy Gibbons) sound as good as they ever have, tone wise.

Oh I gotta jump in on this.... pickup and neck make up most of the tone.  I cant vouch for 95 percent being the pickups, since I've had different neck woods on the same body, with huge differences in tone - maple, goncalo, mahogany... they all sound hugely different.  We can agree to disagree that if its not 95 percent its still some huge percentage for each of those two factors.  Gotta add FINGERS to that mix as well.

Fender used a polyethylene finish on a far east made guitar, whose wood was so soft that the finish was used as a structural element, and therefore, greatly effected the tone.  Those are the Strats and Teles with the 1/8 inch or more thick plastic finish that sometimes bursts apart in a big way.

Poly vs Nitro.. what is poly, what is nitro.  So many forumulations, so many hardness grades.  Anyone who's ever sprayed a bit will tell you that there is hard nitro and soft nitro, the same is true for poly. I dunno for sure, but I really dont think it effects thinks all that much, as long as you put a not over thick application on the wood, and use good woods and good components.