Warmoth finishes

[Marco78]

Hi boys, I have read that Wamoth use only polyester and plyurethan on top and they don't use nitro finishes. I know that polyester is a bad and thick finish that yon can find on cheap instruments.
What do you think?

 

[hannaugh]

You find poly on cheap instruments, but it's not a bad finish.  Nitro is better in many ways, but there's nothing wrong with poly. 

 

[Marco78]

You find poly on cheap instruments, but it's not a bad finish.  Nitro is better in many ways, but there's nothing wrong with poly.

I have read that polyurethan is good, but polyester is the cheap one...

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth uses polyester for the base to level out the wood grain, then a polyurethane finish over that for the finish coat.

It's a good finish, very attractive and much more durable than lacquer. It's also not any thicker than lacquer and has no effect on the tone of electric guitars. That's an old myth that got started from the acoustic side of the industry, where finish does make a difference. Regardless of the material used, if it's too thick it has a deadening effect on the soundboard. You don't have a soundboard on electrics, you have pickups that are excited by the strings.

Lacquer continues to be the choice of the DIY crowd because it's just too much trouble and expense to deal with the urethanes. It's also much easier to recover from mistakes or to make repairs if necessary. The 'thanes are almost impossible to repair seamlessly. You often end up doing a complete refinish if it's important that scratches or blemishes disappear.

 

[Jusatele]

I think the myth of Nitro being better is becoming an urban legend
Nitro is not better. it is, as Cagey said easy for the DIY crowd to use where poly is cost prohibitive and deadly if proper PPI is not used.
Poly does have a lot of advantages to Nitro, it does not require the long curing time of Nitro being one of them, aging characteristics and durability are among others.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Anyway - I have 5 Warmoth-finished bodies and the finishes is by no means thick.

And when you start play those guitars any thoughts regarding "bad and cheap" will rock themselves away instantly.

 

[Marco78]

Sorry for my english, but I'm speaking to polyurethan vs polyester, not nitro vs poly.

On my guitar I want poly, not nitro, but the good one: polyurethan that is more thin in comparison to polyester.

 

[hannaugh]

You find poly on cheap instruments, but it's not a bad finish.  Nitro is better in many ways, but there's nothing wrong with poly.

I have read that polyurethan is good, but polyester is the cheap one...

Ah, sorry I misread the original post.  I thought we were talking about polyurethane.

 

[Cagey]

Here's an interesting bit about polyester finishes from a furniture manufacturer.