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Do you think finish thickness affects tone?

Does finish thickness affect the output of an electric bass?

  • No, that's crazy talk!

    Votes: 164 61.2%

  • Yes, and I am posting irrefutable scientific proof

    Votes: 49 18.3%

  • Carrot juice is the best finish for tone

    Votes: 68 25.4%
  • Total voters
    268
Engle

Engle

Oct 5, 2014
15,216
93,457
62
Pacific Northwet
#1
Over in the Thunderbird club, I commented that part of what makes an Epiphone thicker than a similar Gibson is the thick finish on Epiphones (at least the modern ones).

That thick poly finish is durable and probably a lot faster to produce than a Gibson nitro finish.
I don't believe the finish thickness makes any difference to the output sound of an electric bass, but
I've been wrong before...:D
Do you think it makes a difference? If so, can you produce evidence?
 
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#3
Engle said:
Over in the Thunderbird club, I commented that part of what makes an Epiphone thicker than a similar Gibson is the thick finish on Epiphones (at least the modern ones).

That thick poly finish is durable and probably a lot faster to produce than a Gibson nitro finish.
I don't believe the finish thickness makes any difference to the output sound of an electric bass, but
I've been wrong before...:D
Do you think it makes a difference? If so, can you produce evidence?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Well, maybe.
And, no.
 
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#5
Well, only if it’s this color.
upload_2023-10-31_15-14-56.jpeg
 
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#9
The original finish on my Swirl bass was so thick it choked the wood and the tone.

When it was refinished by my luthier friend (also a gloss finish), he finished it such that the wood could breathe a little better. Everyone now says it's my best sounding bass. So the finish is thinner, yet still durable.

So, yes, I'm a believer that finish application can choke or open up tone.
 
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#10
Where it should really matter would be acoustic drums. I have made drums from shell pack and I can tell you that covering the drum in thick vinyl versus tung oil or Danish oil does not really make a difference. The bearing edge design, whether you use a wood ring is more influential to the drums tone than the finish. The type of wood (birch , maple or mahogany , the ply number, the drum dimension --- those contribute more to the tone. The finish rarely, And a drum vibrates more than an electric bass. If you take high resolution video it is visible.

I do not think the finish on a solid body of a bass contribute that much to the tone. If it helps you sleep better or feel good about yourself, go ahead and get the finish you want. Violins yes, that is why Strads and Amati are different. They do not know how exactly these old makers formulated their finishes.
 
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#11
IMHO, Yes, I believe it could have an effect on the sound in that it may change the sound. Not drastically but it can.

I worked a bass company in Nashville in the 90's, a customer had purchased a fretless neck through bass with an oil/poly hand rubbed finish. He sent it back to requesting it to refinished in a bright color that required it to be stripped, then resprayed with polyurethane. We all kind of freaked out thinking it was going muffle the sound, but it came sounding brighter. In the end I felt it was an improvement.

YMMV
 
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#12
Dincrest said:
The original finish on my Swirl bass was so thick it choked the wood and the tone.

When it was refinished by my luthier friend (also a gloss finish), he finished it such that the wood could breathe a little better. Everyone now says it's my best sounding bass. So the finish is thinner, yet still durable.

So, yes, I'm a believer that finish application can choke or open up tone.
Click to expand...
When you say choke, is that attenuated high frequencies?
 
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#14
Water buffalo said:
IMHO, Yes, I believe it could have an effect on the sound in that it may change the sound. Not drastically but it can.

I worked a bass company in Nashville in the 90's, a customer had purchased a fretless neck through bass with an oil/poly hand rubbed finish. He sent it back to requesting it to refinished in a bright color that required it to be stripped, then resprayed with polyurethane. We all kind of freaked out thinking it was going muffle the sound, but it came sounding brighter. In the end I felt it was an improvement.

YMMV
Click to expand...
So brighter with poly. How thick was it?
 
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#15
I think it makes a difference but not a huge one. It would make a bigger difference in feel, which can correlate to a player being more comfortable with the instrument and therefore play and sound better.

But if someone wants to provide two identical basses with different finishes I’m sure someone could test it.
 
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#16
To this end Fender are using a thinner poly coat since the introduction of the 2008 Am.Std. series, of which I own a couple of Pbasses, and I'd like to think it makes them sound better.
 
Last edited:
#17
Do you think finish thickness affects tone?

i think there is ample evidence that everything has some effect, some components more than others. but,
- if you chase tones = it matters a lot.
- if you don't chase tones = choose a red finish!
- if you can't hear a difference, ever = choose tort.
 
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