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Do you think finish thickness affects tone?
- Thread starter Engle
- Start date
I believe that the effect of finish and its thickness is one of the least important influences on the sound quality of an electric bass or guitar, especially solid bodied instruments. SOme of the best sounding instruments have multiple coats of finish including sealer, undercoat, finish coats and clear coats.
My belief is that strings, the bridge, the pickup and pots all have a significant impact on sound, but finish is not significant.
And differences perceived in most cases are, I believe, due to psycho-acoustics on the part of the listener.
My belief is that strings, the bridge, the pickup and pots all have a significant impact on sound, but finish is not significant.
And differences perceived in most cases are, I believe, due to psycho-acoustics on the part of the listener.
Can I ask what you put on them?
I've got a raw body that I've sanded the terrible cloudy lumpy not so clear coat off of and I'm trying to decide what finish to put on it.
I'm thinking maybe dye it with Angelus leather dye first and then finish it.
But maybe an amber or garnet shellac will be enough to color it and then final finish.
I've wondered how good is Tru Oil is for a final finish.
EVERY aspect of an instrument affects its tone. As does every aspect of the player, everything that it's connected to, and the environment in which it's being played. The question is whether a particular aspect affects its tone detectably.
My experience... check out my avatar. Those are both 1979 Sabre's. The greenburst one was spray painted pink when I got it, in '88. I hated it. I sanded it down, stained the green, and rattle canned the black. My Cousin, who own's a body shop, then sprayed a thick coat of poly on it. The sound is very discernable. The Green one has a deeper tone, while still being as bright, and articulate as the 100% original Sunburst. Now... this isn't a 1/1 comparison. I've had the pleasure of playing at least 6 other '79's, as I've wanted another original one, and friends have purchased a few in order to copy/emulate the sound of My BABY. The result is ALWAYS the same. BABY just kills it/them. This is the ONLY comparison that I can go by. But... it's all I got.
I hear differences in this Vertex vid, the high end is more open to my ears with nitro. They refinished a poly guitar in nitro, so it's a great test. Nonetheless, I prefer poly for durability and its lower impact on the environment. It's not enough of a difference to my ears where I'd chase a nitro bass. As the video shows, we also all have different ears, so even if scientific tools show a difference, that doesn't meant all of us hear it. That to me feels like more reason to just play what you like and not take the tone talk too seriously.
If someone picks up a bass and likes the way it feels & sounds, does it matter what kind of finish it has?
I think every part of an instrument will affect iot's tone, some parts less than others.
What I KNOW is that I don't like the feel of thick finishes or those that feel that way.(Ritter basses I have tried,being one example that comes to mind, but there are others.)
What I KNOW is that I don't like the feel of thick finishes or those that feel that way.(Ritter basses I have tried,being one example that comes to mind, but there are others.)
I believe that a wooden instrument will accentuate the characteristics of the player's technique and touch if it stays with that player for an extended period of time, as it gets used to vibrating a certain way. If that's true (and not just my imagination), then it seems to me that a bass with a thick poly finish will take longer to become accustomed to a given player since you're basically adding mass and rigidity while removing the ability for the wood to age and breathe. YMMV.
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...
Do you think it makes a difference? If so, can you produce evidence?
Think Physics here:
What can affect the tone of a bass?
Something that can affect the string vibration, yes? OK
What can affect the string vibration ?
Hardware? Wood density? Mechanical construction? pickups? Strings material?
Yes to all.
BUT how much each of theses can affect the tone?
I'm guessing here but the string "tone" is way much important compare to the rest.
We can also compare resonant frequencies between a nitro finish and a poly finish.
Again guessing but i think the resonant frequencies of such hard material is way higher than your fondamentals, and first second and third harmonics.
Spectre youtube channel took multiple guitars and demonstrated that even pickups do not matter in a mix. So... Don't bother too much.
Finish affects bass tone as much as rearview mirror shape affects acceleration.....somewhere in a navel-gazing, theoretical universe buried deep in an obsessive mind, but not out here on Earth One.
Pretty awesome for a song that’s a bit of a joke! I think the lesson learned is to worry less about the minutia and focus more on making what you have work - because it mostly likely can.
