Ricardo -> RE: Is French Polish more fragile??? (Aug. 20 2021 18:53:43)
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ORIGINAL: lohan I am really confused.. A french polish guitar needs lots of cares and i prefer to have a lacquer guitar. but most people say that a french polish guitar has a better sound. Is it really a big advantage compare with lacquer? what about if I have a guitar with back & side lacquer and top (soundboard) french polish!!? I believe French polish is a technique of putting on finish, so some people say that but they mean the type of material used as finish. The same material can also be sprayed on (shellac for example). So in the end any guitar will sound “better” if you strip all the finish off. What matters is how thickly it is applied. Obviously the French polish technique runs the risk of being too thin (as I usually see especially on the back of necks with otherwise beautiful guitars full of all these little scratches everywhere) and conversely the spray can be done too thick (as we often see these lovely shiny guitars that sound muted or muffled). THe goldilocks scenario is a thick shiny application of plastic to the back of the neck, a medium thick nitro on back and sides, and thin shellac French Polish for the soundboard. That is not very practical in reality but you get the idea. So I would not worry too much about it, even guitars with too thick finish can open up soundwise when played aggressively. I have seen it happen with the cheapest thick plastic finish guitars. Vice versa just because a guitar is French polished so thin if you sneeze it gets a scratch from dust moving, doesn’t guarantee the guitar is in it’s optimal finished state of existence. As a personal example, my 1973 Sobrinos de Esteso I bought used came with a clear nitro sprayed over top of the old original finish to preserve whatever was left of it, for looks reasons. While it looks great and plays pretty good, I can tell the added finish is muting or covering the true voice the guitar once had. Whenever I play or make recordings with the guitar, everybody praises it’s “warmth” and tone. [:D]
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