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Nitro or poly?

Nitro or Poly

  • Nitro

    Votes: 200 70.7%

  • Poly

    Votes: 92 32.5%
  • Total voters
    283
#61
deff said:
Redd was it really not a great instrument in 1952? I bet it sounded identical.
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That would be my bet as well. Acoustics open up with age, and that can be a process that can take more than 20 years (most notable on the old Guilds from the 1970s, which sounded awful then but glorious now) but I've never heard it with a solidbody.

The thing which has improved more than anything since those old guitars were built are strings. If they sound better nowadays that would be why.
 
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#69
I vote Poly, because I am just not a fan of the 'relic' look. I like shiny. I have 5 basses in the rack with build dates ranging from 1990 to 2020, and from across the room they all still look new because they are all poly. And up close, they still look darn good, only thumbnail and fingernail swirls in the expected places. And as far as difference in tone, eh, I doubt that anyone in the bar / reception hall / outdoor stage would hear a difference, including me standing in front of my cab.

I get that some folks dig relic'd or beat-up basses and guitars for the 'mojo'; but for me, I like shiny. And I'm admittedly borderline-OCD about my keeping my gear in pristine condition. But I also realize that level of OCD ("Sorry, no, you can't play my bass with that belt buckle exposed") is annoying to some. To each their own.
 
#70
If it feels good in my hands, I don't care what it is. I had a nitro finished Ric that was sticky no matter what. Nitro finished Gibsons are great. I almost bought a poly finished Fender but the neck felt like an adhesive pad. I have a poly finished Epiphone that needed a good neck scrubbing to be playable. Another Epiphone felt great despite the thick coat of plastic. The body? I don't care, although nitro generally feels a little better if I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt.

I like shiny. I don't mind a patina. Anal isn't my thing. A ding in poly looks like a ding in poly. A ding in nitro looks like a ding in nitro. They age differently. Both are just fine with me. I'll get kicked out of TalkBass for not having a strong opinion one way or another.
 
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#71
All my guitars and basses are poly except for the bass in my profile pic which has been stripped of the poly, sealed and painted with thin nitro and artificially aged. I can't compare it with the original finish but I don't hear any additional resonance or high end from this magical nitro.
The nitro neck feels better now that it has shined up from use. The body is all reliced. I like the look and the peace of mind.
Poly is fine but I like the idea of the bass ageing with me, even with a head start.
 
#72
SJan3 said:
If you could have your choice between nitrocellulose or polyurethane on a Fender "type" bass at the same cost, what would you choose and why?
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Well, in the 2 instances where I actually had a choice between nitro or poly... I chose nitrocellulose. Why?
1. Nostalgia - pure and simple. And,
2. When I had to have the finish replaced on my '78 P-Bass (most probably poly, judging from the way it was coming off - in big chunks), the luthier who worked on it was really happy to refinish it in nitro. Which doesn't do that crap - usually... And,
3. When I built it's "Mini Me" brother - a Warmoth Mini-Precision - having it finished just like the Fender, was pretty much a a no-brainer.
But, other than that? I really don't care what kind of finish my instruments have. They simply are what they are...:whistle:
 
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#74
SJan3 said:
If you could have your choice between nitrocellulose or polyurethane on a Fender "type" bass at the same cost, what would you choose and why?
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I had a '65 Jazz, which of course was a nitro finish, and I used it through high school (bought it in 1966) and some college, toured with it for about 750 performances in 3 years (5-nights a week 50-weeks a year), and then played weekend gigs after that until it was stolen in 1976 along with all my touring gear. It was in excellent shape when it was stolen and didn't exhibit any of the wear that you commonly see applied on relic basses. I'm not particularly sweaty when I'm playing and evidently it's not acidic because it really did nothing to the body over the years unlike other players.

Nonetheless, I'd pick the poly because I want my bass to look as good as possible for as long as possible. I have an Olympic White Jazz I've been playing since 1985 and the color has faded to a sort of butter cream color and some of the finish is wearing off the binding on the top of the neck but otherwise, it looks great.
 
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#76
arbiterusa said:
Oh, it most certainly can and does. You've just been lucky enough to not see it.
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I got an 86 and a 84, 84 is obviously nitrocellulose cause of the way it's aged, yellowed a bunch and crackles, the 86 might be nitro too, but obviously put away wet, treated worse, an entire strip on the right side of the neck has a strip where it's all flaked off, super bizarre, but it doesn't seem as shiny of a finish?
 
#77
I've had basses finished with urethane, lacquer and combinations of both.

In making a purchase decision between two different Fenders or FSOs, especially if the prices were the same, I'd rank consideration of whatever the other tie-breaking functional features are, and even the color and quality of finish application, before the finish material; urethane vs lacquer.
 
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