Nitro Vs Poly

[japanstrat]

About the wood used for LP's and SG's.
Gibson uses South American Mahogony.
The Orville by Gibsons and all Orvilles use African Mahogony.
The OBG's and all Orvilles including the K serials use the same wood and it's different from Gibson.
Some high end OBG's like the reissues might use Honduras mahogany but all the OBG's I've seen are using African Mahogany like the OBG SG's.
None of the Orvilles including the K serials use the wood that Korean Epiphone's or Korean Tokai's use such as Alder, Agathis or Nato (Eastern Mahogany).


African

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=34&category_id=27

Honduras

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=862&category_id=663



On this page you can see that Gibson gets it's mahogony from Guatemala

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cacheH7qapBU9P8J:www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp%3FContentID%3D462+gibson+South+American+mahogony&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=au

John Suhr who worked for Fender sums up the Poly vs Nitro debate for me on this page

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-186115.html

 

[villager]

very very interesting thread on finishes....

I have to agree with the main point..which seems to be...

its not what you use, its how thin you use it...

 

[BigTone]

Of course the hardness of the finish will affect the tone too (though to what degree I'm not sure). the finish will surely affect the resonant frequency of the instrument just like altering the dampers on a car suspension affects the ride. In this case the finish is like the dampers on a suspension setup. A poly finish tends to be more pliable and plastic and will have a greater dampening effect and lower resonant frequency. Whereas nitro is harder and more brittle and would have a smaller dampening effect and higher resonant frequency.......Of course in practical terms I'm not sure how big a differnce this makes and I might of just drunk too much wine and be speaking utter tosh! :-?

 

[villager]

I have just played a nitro LP against a poly lp and a nitro strat against a poly strat all afternoon...

absolutely no tonal inferiority in the poly ones that I could tell....

I also tested the strats against a oil finished strat that I have ...again no discernable difference.....

same PU in all strats...and the 4 LP's.....

 

[BigTone]

guess you just have to judge each instument on its own merrits then!

I personally prefer nitro as I like the way they age better, and I guess they are more traditional. Its certainly a more expensive way of finishing as its more labour intensive to apply......now where's that wine gone....

 

[villager]

that discussion was an eye opener for me ...i always assumed that nitro was just better , but after reading that, and trying it out for myself, I have changed my views..

 

[Glamrockmegastar]

On a newer guitar how would you tell the difference?

In that forum link (thanks japanstrat!) they mentioned the smell of nitro. What does it smell like?

I have a '97 USA Deluxe J bass, and when I take it out of the case it just smells fabulous! Almost woody. Would that be it?, or is it the wood I can smell?

 

[cmguitar]

I own a 50 year old Gibson- Nitro finish.
I own Takamine, Fender, G&L, Fernandes, GTX/Kaman - all poly.
Like in the previous posting: Judge guitars own their own merits.
I have found out all guitars are different if built by machine or hand.
The finish of poly is more durable. The wood doesn't breath like nitro.
But like a 50 year old Gibson J50 the finish is fragile.
On newer guitars with the sound From poly to nitro is not that significant. 50 years from now when you here a difference in sound. I won't care.
There is a reason the manufacturers switched to poly, not just cost but durability.
Give me poly.