What are acoustic guitars finished with?

Water based finishes, penetrating oils or natural violin type varnishes are rarely used on standard "production" acoustic guitars, which today are usually finished with shellac, lacquer or a catalyzed polymer. The finish may be a high gloss, completely dull and flat, or somewhere between (“satin”).

What finish is used on guitars?

Polyurethane and polyester guitar finishes are considered the industry standard; the modern norm if you will. In mass guitar production, poly finishes largely replaced nitrocellulose lacquers from the late '60s onwards.

What varnish is used on guitars?

Shellac resin is the most common type of varnish used to fulfill this important role for guitars. It is a renowned for its outstanding gloss and superior durability, and it can even improve sound quality.

What is a satin finish on an acoustic guitar?

Satin finish - A satin finish gives the guitar a matte look and a bit of a rougher feel. This type of finish does not bring out the wood grain as much as a gloss finish does. A satin finish also tends to wear off with time, leaving some parts that are shiny.

Is gloss finish good for guitar?

Gloss guitars come with a thick coating layer and reflect light like glass. The finishing polish gives a modern feel and is smoother to touch. The gloss finish is perfect for giving your guitar a stylish and expensive look.

What is a gloss finish on guitar?

There are two main types of guitar finish: Gloss: these are a thicker glossy, shiny finish that is smooth to touch. Matte: a very thin finish, rough to touch and doesn't reflect light.

Can an acoustic guitar be refinished?

Like every other instrument, your acoustic guitar may need to be refinished, being something that you can do for yourself at home or have a professional do the job. Refinishing an acoustic guitar involves dismantling the strings and sanding the guitar to give it a new life.

Can I sand down my acoustic guitar?

Sand down the entire surface of the acoustic guitar until no existing finish remains. To tackle tight spots like the neck joint, use a coarse grit sanding sponge to clean those hard-to-reach places. Wet sanding can speed up the hand sandpaper process.

What is guitar lacquer?

Lacquer is a pretty general term that actually describes a few different finishes. Typically, when it comes to guitars, the type of lacquer used is either nitrocellulose or acrylic. For a great number of years lacquer was the go-to finish for many products including guitars.

Is nitrocellulose the same as lacquer?

Nitrocellulose was adopted quickly by the car industry and remained the finish of choice through to the late-1950s. Furniture and musical instrument manufacturers also switched to nitrocellulose lacquer, and mostly it was referred to simply as 'lacquer'.

What finish does fender use?

Fender continues to use urethane finishes on many of its instruments (American Standard Series, various artist models), with variants including flatter satin urethane (necks on Deluxe, Standard, Highway One, American Deluxe and American Standard models) and thicker, shinier gloss urethane (American Specials, Ritchie ...

Which guitars have nitrocellulose finish?

Nitrocellulose is a century old lacquer used by guitar companies such as Gibson, Fender, Martin and many others.

What is a polyester guitar finish?

Poly finishes completely harden and solvents cannot break them down, Poly finishing is very resistant to cracks, dulling and scratching while also being durable. If you want the new shine finish to last a long time, as long as you have your guitar, then a Poly finish is what you want.

What kind of paint do you use on an acoustic guitar?

Ultimately, any paint can be used on a guitar, but some are more suitable than others. Acrylic paint can be used and is often favored as the coats dry quickly. Oil paints are not the best as they have long drying times and are easy to damage.

Can you remove lacquer from a guitar?

Re: removal of lacquer on guitar

You want to start with a coarser sand paper and sand the finish until it is close to bare wood. Then use a finer grit sand paper to take the rest out then a very fine sand paper to finish out sanding the guitar. The tricky part is sanding the guitar down to an even finish.

How do you remove polyurethane from an acoustic guitar?

Re: How to remove Polyurethane

I use a grinder with a disk, atached to a light dimmer, so I can slow down the speed. The dimmer should be at least the power of your grinder, if not it will burn the resistance. If you have a regular disk sander even better. A scrapper works well on the neck.