Satin finishes, do you like them?

[Johnny StingRay]

Yes

 

[OnTheDownLow]

I'm a gloss fan all the way, satin never really did it for me. A heavy satin kind of reminds me of a chalkboard for some reason.

 

[calypsocoral302]

And here's a quick comparison of satin (red), oil (brown) and gloss (blue). Check out the lower body edge... Satin is basically "low gloss" and the oil finish kind of absorbs light.

5sg.

View attachment 4795051

I think you buried the lede here-- did those aftermarket pickups on the blue one actually fit the stock rout? If so, what size are they, Bart BC?

 

[AngelCrusher]

Yeah, I got a NYC Sadowsky with a satin finish and it's one of my all-time greats.

 

[Relayer71]

I’m feeling pretty ambidextrous about the topic, but my last few purchases have both been satin. I love them both. Before that was the one at the bottom.

 

[rashrader]

View attachment 4795386

Oh, it does. I just felt like throwing a curveball to upset folks like you. I can play either finish equally well.

 

[Willie5String]

I’m ok with them, although I prefer a shiny finish on the neck, anytime they use a satin finish on ash or mahogany and don’t grain fill, I’m not a fan of that either.

 

[db4124]

Neck yes for the smoothness and lack of stickiness. Body a big no. They rarely stay nice.

 

[Pop C]

If I could I would have all my basses with a satin finish. Although I sometimes like the look of a nice gloss, I am a sucker for satin.

0000 steel wool will dull a shiny finish nicely. I generally like a gloss finish, but have done this with success on an instrument that had a lot of scuffs etc. in the gloss finish.

 

[okabass]

But the question is: do you like them?

No.

 

[Flaked Beans]

Yes I do!

Here are mine:

PS. I like high gloss basses too and own a bunch of them.

 

[michael_t]

I love the satin finish on my Yamaha TRBX505. It doesn't show any finger prints and doesn't have any glaring reflection of stage lights.

 

[Relayer71]

Oh, it does. I just felt like throwing a curveball to upset folks like you. I can play either finish equally well.

I'm not upset.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

We can see more and more satin finishes in recent years, probably because they cost less to produce. But the question is: do you like them?

I am not sure satin body finishes cost less to make. It's the trend for matt finishes which show up finger prints I am not convinced by. I finished a body as satin with an oil finish over stained wood. I like it.

 

[Thegreatzambini]

Never really liked shiny basses.
They show fingerprints,dings and scratches easily and grip the bare skin on you arm.

I go for oil finished or satin natural wood basses.
View attachment 4794868

Love the wood knobs and ramp on that Ibby on the left!

 

[Dincrest]

I'm fine with satin finishes on basses I use in the studio for recording (since they're treated more gently and played with more nuanced technique), but prefer gloss on basses I use live, because I throw my all into live performances and depending on my energy level, venue, and everything else, my bass will be subjected to sweat, grime, and even dings. Gloss offers superior protection to satin.

 

[fivestringgecko]

I think you buried the lede here-- did those aftermarket pickups on the blue one actually fit the stock rout? If so, what size are they, Bart BC?

Ha! "Buried the lede."

I'll keep it short so as to avoid derailing the thread too much... The blue one is my 2015 Carvin Icon, I replaced the stock pickups and electronics with Aguilar Super Doubles and a Pope Flexcore preamp. The Aguilars were 100% drop-in with no mods, but I had to widen the holes for the pots with the new preamp.

I've got a couple posts about the swap... A quick description of the stock electronics and why I changed them: Versatile but bland, a post with a bit of detail about the actual swap: Pickups are drop in, but the preamp was not, and another post discussing the spacing of the new pickups in the factory routing: Icon Routing Spacing. (Unfortunately the video in the second link looks like it was taken down.

5sg.

 

[jeffb28451]

Yes but hard to touch up if chipped.

 

[biggredd]

Yes. I went from "honey violin" to black satin. Before and after pics.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Tough one, Sterling does ia inexpensive finish in the ray4 I would rather buy a bass with a inexpensive satin finish than a
Nice finish with really bad neck & hardware.