wear on finish?

[arjepsen]

Hey.

I'm still in the process of deciding on what exactly to build.
I'm thinking hard about a flame maple top with some-kind-of-burst.
However, I think I'd like rear routing, and this is where my question come in:

Could someone comment on the wear on the finish over time?
I don't think I'm gonna get through the finish (not for the first 20 years anyway), but I'm afraid it's gonna look bad when it gets scrathed by playing.  :sad1:

Anyone here with experience of wear on such a top finish over time?

Regards.
Anders

 

[-CB-]

Warmoth finish - no discernable signs of wear on the bodies or necks... on guitars built and played since 1996.

OTOH, a nice lacquer finish.... that DOES wear through, is considered way cool mojo by many.

 

[SlingBass]

Not to be rude......BUT, are you going to really play the guitar OR put it on a pedestal?  It's a relevant question.  Some here are playing out, some play in a studio, some play in their bedrooms, and some play.......well, let's not go there.  My basses are for playing out, and as such will be bumped, scratched, and sweat on.  Even with my respectful care - wear and tear is a reality.  More live playing requires care of strings, necks, and body parts if they're to remain operable and presentable.  Warmoth products are second to none on their finishes (whatever type that may be).  You may do your own finishing. The finish will probably hang as long as you do.  Worry less about the wear, and concentrate more on mastering that plank-o-wood you're dreaming about building!  BTW: don't forget to post pics  :glasses10: 

 

[Mor Paul]

Not to be rude......BUT, are you going to really play the guitar OR put it on a pedestal?  It's a relevant question.  Some here are playing out, some play in a studio, some play in their bedrooms, and some play.......well, let's not go there.  My basses are for playing out, and as such will be bumped, scratched, and sweat on.  Even with my respectful care - wear and tear is a reality.  More live playing requires care of strings, necks, and body parts if they're to remain operable and presentable.  Warmoth products are second to none on their finishes (whatever type that may be).  You may do your own finishing. The finish will probably hang as long as you do.  Worry less about the wear, and concentrate more on mastering that plank-o-wood you're dreaming about building!  BTW: don't forget to post pics   :glasses10: 

My guitars are my best friends. They'll get old with me.

 

[SlingBass]

My guitars are my best friends. They'll get old with me.

What happened to that cute little blonde you were seeing  :dontknow:


:laughing7:


:icon_biggrin:

 

[Mor Paul]

My guitars are my best friends. They'll get old with me.

What happened to that cute little blonde you were seeing   :dontknow:


:laughing7:


:icon_biggrin:

I hope she doesn't start looking too old My guitars will get beat up.

Then again, we end up abusing each other in a sibling kinda way...  :laughing7:

And I'll be seeing her the next two days.
That's right, New Year's Eve with her.

 

[-CB-]

Lord help us, and remind me to buy some more shares of Drambuie stock.....

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Back to the topic, mine have all worn, however I don't have the typical body finishes.  The three Warmoth bodies I have are all Warmoth finished in their Satin Matte.  The oldest I've only had for a year and a half and it's played the most.  It's a J-Bass and the Satin finish has turned glossy on the forearm contour and around the pickup where my thumb rests most of the time.  I will add that Warmoth (and other forum members) did mention this and the Warmoth sales person even advised against ordering this finish for that reason.  But IMO, wear is not a bad thing and is even expected.  My house, clothes, tires, and my body all shoes signs of wear.  I've had a lifetime to get used to it, so an instrument showing wear at my hands does not alarm me.

The Satin finish necks wear most definitely.  After a few weeks of heavy play, only the headstock and least played fret positions will remain Satin.  In fact, on the 1 1/2 year old J-bass mentioned above, my thumb has already worn through the finish on the back of the neck.

 

[arjepsen]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Well, yeah, I'm gonna play it (hopefully a lot!)
But right now I'm still deciding on exactly how I want it to look. I would like it to look great, and kind of standing out.
I'm pretty locked in on the neck (raw canary/ebony) but not so sure about the body.

What I've been looking hard into, is either a flame maple "bursted" top, or maybe something like a pau ferro top.
I'm leaning towards the flame maple, but this is kind of ...well.... ordinary. So In order to make it a little more special, I thought about rear routing, thus removing the pick guard.
But I'm afraid it is gonna look worse with wear and tear, than a pau ferro laminate top would.
My problem with pau ferro is, that I feel that such a top would require a natural wood core body.
I would like this one to be solid, not chambered, but the wood that I feel would go well together with a pau ferro top, is either mahogany or walnut, and both seem quite heavy.
(and even though people say it's a minimal impact on sound, I'm still a little worried to have it sounding too warm or muddy :-\  )

 

[dmraco]

to sum up my experice...NITRO will wear, some think it is cool...( take a look at all the 250K Les Pauls andtheir crackled finishes).  Nitro is also easierst to fix.

Poly will last forever and is only victim to dings and scratches YOU put on it.

My most durable guitar is either and oiled finish or a satin poly.  Both very durable and easy to fix.

Concerning the pickguard thing.  I do not have a guard on most of my guitars and it does not seem to be a problem.  Only my LP has one and it was for asthetics only.

If you are going with a flame maple, you will need to finish and oil my not be the best.  I would go with poly...either satin of gloss based on your taste.

PLEASE ....lets not get into the poly vs. nitro tone thing.....plenty of other threads on that....

 

[SlingBass]

Back to the topic, mine have all worn, however I don't have the typical body finishes.  The three Warmoth bodies I have are all Warmoth finished in their Satin Matte.  The oldest I've only had for a year and a half and it's played the most.  It's a J-Bass and the Satin finish has turned glossy on the forearm contour and around the pickup where my thumb rests most of the time.  I will add that Warmoth (and other forum members) did mention this and the Warmoth sales person even advised against ordering this finish for that reason.  But IMO, wear is not a bad thing and is even expected.  My house, clothes, tires, and my body all shoes signs of wear.  I've had a lifetime to get used to it, so an instrument showing wear at my hands does not alarm me.

The Satin finish necks wear most definitely.  After a few weeks of heavy play, only the headstock and least played fret positions will remain Satin.  In fact, on the 1 1/2 year old J-bass mentioned above, my thumb has already worn through the finish on the back of the neck.

I should mention I have a nitro bass bodies and satin spar urethane finishes on my maple necks.  I've seen first hand how Warmoth satin OR poly finishes wear over time.  I still maintain Warmoth finishes will hold as well as anyone's commercially available.  I get the feeling a poly body finish is going to provide you what you're looking for.  I've had both walnut and mahogany bass bodies...and come full circle back to alder - but that's me.  It's difficult to go wrong with a maple/mahogany guitar body.  I've had 3 Warmoth necks that required no finish (ebony/bubinga, bubinga/bubinga, and bloodwood/bloodwood) and concur with most that Warmoth's more exotic (if you will) wood necks are their strong suit.