Who has the most durable finish ?

I have a 1989 Carvin that has a seemingly invincible Nitro finish. You can see all sorts of pretty deep scratches and such that seemingly should have broken through, but there isn't a single one that has in 17 years- and I don't exactly pamper it!
The G&L I have seems to have a similar sort of finish, only time will tell though!

Karl Zickrick

 

The finish on both my Hamer and Zon are quite indestructable...

 

While Ibanez doesn't have the prettiest finishes per se, I have seen many tossed/dropped/beaten upon with no remorse, and very little to no damage.

Haven't had a chance to get my SRX out to a gig because I recently left our band (difference of opinion), but it looks pretty solid to me. I have whacked the headstock on a couple of things, and still couldn't find any damage whatsoever, even under 10x magnification with a Zeiss jewelers loupe.

 

I will agree with you that G&L really does a nice job with their finishes. After two years of hard playing (in some fairly interesting places), it doesn't have a mark on it. And it's been bumped in places as well, but nothing to show for it.

Just really nice, really deep finishes...even the headstock is frickin' hard....rammed it into the roof on one stage with a low hung ceiling...not a mark.

Jay

 

IME, Zon and G+L.

 

strangely, late 80' early 90's MIJ Fender's. I have seen a Robin's egg blue that looked like it had an indestructible finish.

 

The "dipped in plastic" polyester finishes of early '90 Ibanezs. I'm so glad they offer oil and satin on a good deal of their models now, and even their poly finishes have been significantly thinned-down.

 

Sorry, but curiousity gets the better of me: what's the point of this question? Would you really buy a bass based on the durability of its finish alone?

 

Depending on the quality of the places you play and if you're a clumsy person, then IMO it would be at the very least a factor... perhaps a large one. That's up to the individual.

 

Musicman SUB...if one could call it a finish.

 

21 years of regular heavy duty use:

 

I'd definitely have to say Zon. That polyester finish is just ridiculous. I'm also always impressed by Pedulla's gloss finishes (at least on the MVP models).

 

The textured finish on my SUB5 also doubles as sandpaper. Seriously this stuff is so thick and tough I don't think anything can even scratch it, never mind cutting through to the wood below.

 

+1 on the Pedulla polyester finish!

 

I seem to recall someone--maybe Andreas-having a sort of rubberized finish.

 

Venue quality (or lack of), clumsiness... and caring about dings... would make it a factor. OTOH, some of us don't mind that our workhorses look like they've been rode hard (to coin a phrase)!

But I can certainly understand how someone with a fancy figured top bass, perhaps in emerald green , would want to keep it looking pristine.