(07-16-2021, 05:53 AM)RoyBoy Wrote: I'm late to the party on this one. As a builder, I have switched over to post-catalyzed conversion varnish on my instruments. One of the biggest advantages is the very quick cure time. Nitro has to sit for weeks before it's cured enough to final sand and buff, that's a big slow up in the production schedule for an operation that produces a lot of instruments. It also means you get to that same hardness that puts a crisp edge on the tone WAY faster. Nitro shrinks back and becomes thinner and harder over time. The biggest improvement is in the first few years, at ten years it can sound really good, in 30 years it can be fantastic (depending on the build). Cured finish is buffable in 1-2 days, and as cured as it will ever get in 30 days.
The fact that someone as meticulous as Dana Bourgeoise has made this change tells you something. Nitro is currently 3-4x as expensive as the synthetics (at least in the quantities I buy) but I doubt that's behind the change. When a Bourgoise goes for $5-6k new, they're not going to sweating $10 in finishing materials. His reputation is most important.
RoyBoy,
thank you for wading in here with your knowledge and experience sir.
I know very little about Lutherie or chemistry but maybe you could clear some things up in my mind..and of course it's the end-result that really matters..
Mark Herring said that the new finish is a "water-based laquer. Very close to nitro." ... that it is thinner than nitro and will "age" like nitro with respect to color and he also said that he heard that it gets thinner over time (like nitro).
Yet Eastman calls it a dual part Urethane.
Is a water-based laquer a "urethane"?
My concept of a urethane finished guitar brings to mind cheaper guitars with not-so-resonant sound.
Mark also said that this is the same finish that Dana uses on his guitars.
Doesn't Bourgeoisie have three different finishes? Gloss, something else and an "antique"
Which one is Eastman using? (rhetorical question)
Thanks!
