Nitrocellulose

[fenderfan]

hi,

anyone can educate me on how to tell if a guitar's finish is:

1. Nitrocellulose
2. Lacquer
3. Ebony

thanks

 

[Mew]

I belive Ebony is not a finishing , rahter its a wood?

 

[fgl]

Nitrocellulose IS a type of laquer... ebony is a type of wood that blackish / brown in colour

 

[turtlemuscle]

Ebony is used mainly for some fretboards. they look quite similar to rosewood tho.

Nitrocellulose is a better and more lasting finish than lacquer. but technically how to tell... beats me...

 

[echoist]

Ebony is used for fretboards most of the time.
but it is being used for other parts too:
tuning pegs, bridgepiece of acoustic and archtop jazz guitars, strap pins and bridge pins of acoustics. its actually darker in colour than rosewood. more black than brown and u can't see the wood grain too much.

 

[edder]

Ebony is black. Very fine pored. Not at all similar to rosewood.

Nitro finishing is NOT as durable as Poly.

One way to see OLD nitro type of paint is by the amount of cracks. Nitro paints are in general thinner than poly.

Not many companies does nitro these days as it is outlawed in US if I remember correctly.

 

[JMguitars]

Maybe not outlawed but definitely not seen as enviroment-friendly and labour-efficient. :wink:

Some of the boutique builders still use nitro for clients that like the look and perceived sound of a nitro-finished instrument.

 

[mamemo]

nitrocellulose explodes when ignited! ok not explode, but my nitrocellulose picks go up in a puff when i light em up :lol:

 

[turtlemuscle]

ops... pardon my mistakes...

 

[bigmouth]

nitro finish is not outlawed in the states.. its just expensive and difficult to apply evenly as a finish on guitars. so most manufacturers just use poly finishes as its thick, doesnt wear easy and cheaper.

nitro also pretty sticky and applied as thinner coats to the guitar "wood" to breather better and hence produce more natural and better tone...

you can easily see how much nitro can wear over time by checking out old fenders and gibsons.. expensive classic guitars like the vintage strats and les pauls or boutique guitars like PRS are usually nitro finishes.. though not all..

 

[fenderfan]

hi guys, really thanks for all the input. no harm done turtlemuscle, no one died in the process.

but how do we tell if it is nitro finish?