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Possible to keep Nitro looking pristine…?
- Thread starter revd
- Start date
I have a 2002 nitro-finish F-Bass BN5 that has been played/gigged regularly and still in basically mint condition.
Floating thumb technique, being careful with clothing zippers/buttons/buckles, lives in the gig bag when it's not in my hands.
F-Bass switched to Poly sometime later, but evidently before the relic craze took over.
Floating thumb technique, being careful with clothing zippers/buttons/buckles, lives in the gig bag when it's not in my hands.
F-Bass switched to Poly sometime later, but evidently before the relic craze took over.
I'm sure that it is easily marked, but there has never been a Fender electric instrument where nitrocellulose lacquer is applied to the bare wood. There is either a polyurethane or hard plastic undercoating on every single last one.
OP here, thanks for the discussion
lemme clarify couple things.
My AVRI is 2016 so may well have quite a thin nitro layer.
Small confession: I bought it without knowing what nitro was, so was initially a bit perplexed about how easily it marked. I have now made my peace with it, love the bass and accept the aging.
The thread is basically a deep dive for me into nitro and a discussion for other nitro owners, rather than a plea for tips on how to preserve my bass’s finish.
Bit of natural road worn is cool!
From how I see people use that word a lot of people still don't. All nitrocellulose lacquer is lacquer. Not all lacquer is nitro. Not all lacquer finished Fenders are 100% nitro, including the ones made in '50s and '60s, FCS, AVRI, AO, etc.; I mean that separate from sealers or undercoats.
Even a lot of so-called nitro instrument lacquers made these days aren't purely nitrocellulose, they're blends that include acrylic.
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This is the back of my 2004 finished with ultra-thin Nitro, I have been cleaning it after every session and being very careful. Lots of checking but no significant wear, although I've seen some tiny chips of paint missing in the front.
“Nitro” is a term that covers a rather wide bunch of related, but not identical, finishes. PRS reportedly uses some type of nitro, but they’re using stuff that holds up. Fender used to use a formulation that falls apart. Whether what they use now will perform the same… who knows? Finishes in general are changing over time, as environmental regulations force things to change. As a result, what was done 70 years ago and what’s done today are probably different, even if they use the same word to describe it.
I have a 58 with the thin skin see through white. Aside from a small flake on one corner of the neck plate it is as new. It has only left the house a few times. I am incredibly careful with it and it's my guilty pleasure at home bass. They can be kept as such but frankly is a PITA to do so. I built it a stunt double with a poly finished body to bash about on.
Amen, brother.
When I write Nitro I’m referring to what Fender appear to call Fender Flash Coat Lacquer. The stuff on my AVRI 63 which feels thin and dulls, dings and comes off easily.
I don’t know or really care if it’s a blend or not, for me anyway the thread is about it’s durability rather than chemical construction.
And to reiterate for the final tome, when I bought it I had no idea that it was any different from any other guitar finish. And now it ages quite easily, I still like the look and love the bass.
I still like the look and love the bass.
There!
Right there.
End of discussion.
It sounds like you and your bass mate have met, at last.
There!
Right there.
End of discussion.
It sounds like you and your bass mate have met, at last.
I still like the look and love the bass.
There!
Right there.
End of discussion.
It sounds like you and your bass mate have met, at last.
There is no doubt it's a total bass love affair
The thread is just a discussion out of curiosity. In a post on another thread somebody commented that they always keep their basses in pristine condition, which simply prompted me to think "man, not with my bass you wouldn't" and hence the thread.
For me the answer was yes.
I had a 1965 Jazz that I bought in 1966 and I kept it in almost pristine shape right up until 1976 when all my touring gear was stolen, including my '65 Jazz. The only mark on it was on the back. We had just invited a female vocalist named Nancy to join us so we could do some of the Jefferson Airplane stuff back in 1968. At the end of the practice she was trying to be helpful and for some reason unscrewed that heavy base off of one of the Atlas Mic stands that we used. I had leaned my bass up against my 66 Fender Bassman amp for a minute while I brought my case over and Nancy is carrying that heavy mic stand base in one hand right in front of my bass and amp.
I hear a "thump" and turn around to see the mic base on the floor, Nancy's hands up on her face with her eye's as bit as silver dollars and she's saying, "I'm so sorry Danny, it slipped out of my hand." I thought, "no big deal", and then I realized that the edge of that mic base had hit the back of my Jazz and put about a 1½" half-moon dent on the back of it exposing some bare wood at the deepest part of the dent. That was really the only distressed spot on the bass for the entire 10-years I owned it. That was the only time I ever leaned my bass up against my amp. After that I found out I could hang it by the strap around the head of the amp and it held it nice and secure. The guitar stands (and bass stands) back then were really flimsy and were not very stable.
I never had any problems with wearing off the finish like a lot of folks do with nitro finishes. My arms don't really sweat much when I'm playing, even when resting my plucking arm along the top edge of my bass where you see a lot of nitro finishes wear through. I think the nitro finishes are just more susceptible to some folks sweat than others because I used it a lot in the 10-years I owned it. When I toured for 3 years in the early 70's, I played 5-nights a week 50-weeks a year or about 750 performances over 3 years. I did take good care of my Jazz though. I'd wipe it down and put it in its case at the end of the night and take it out for practices or the next night's performance. I could smudge it up pretty well during a 4-hour gig, but always wiped it down with a "Fender" soft cloth that I kept in my case. Whoever the thief was that ended up with it got an almost pristine 1965 Jazz in 1976.
I had that bass and mine stayed pretty good despite me trying to wear it in by playing it and gigging it. I eventually sold mine to buy a Fender Custom Shop. I didn’t think it was all that fragile.
I understand that, but durability in finishes comes from the chemistry. They are one and the same.
Nitro is going to age. Period. even if it never leaves the case.
poly does too, just not as quickly
poly does too, just not as quickly
FIFY
I have several heavily gigged poly finished instruments that show very little, if any, wear. Poly finishes are incredibly durable barring an accident or just being really rough.
