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Early finishes

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Lefty665
Posted 2024-06-21 11:05 PM (#560302)
Subject: Early finishes



Joined:
December 2018
Posts: 38

Location: Richmond, VA		There have been several threads over on the Martin forum about their newer satin finishes that are thinner than their high gloss finishes. The take is that the thinner finished guitars sound better than the thicker finished ones on otherwise the same model instruments. There is some disagreement. They are talking lacquer finish.

That made me think about my older Ovations and wonder about what impact the heavy poly finishes have on sound. It seems early Ovations were lacquer finished, up to something around #100. Back then Ovation was doing sound testing so I presume they would have tested before and after on poly finished guitars. I always supposed it was durability that drove the choice of poly. That they don't need pick guards is pretty impressive (although I do have an Elite with pick wear on the treble epaulet - whoever owned it was a serious strummer). But at what cost in tone? If they had nitro finishes would my old Balladeers be Martin killers?

Of my Ovations the best sounding are a couple of late '60s/early '70s X braced deep bowls and an early '90s A braced mid bowl. Even with heavy poly finish they sound better than a '10 LX modern X contour bowl with thinner finish, although it sounds pretty good. That makes me think that the top bracing, bowl composition or depth are not necessarily the driving components, although they clearly are major players. That leaves top finish as a variable in sound in addition to the wood in the top and its thickness. That plus we know that sunbursts sound better

Does older Ovation finish make a difference in sound, and how could we tell? What do y'all think?

Edited by Lefty665 2024-06-21 11:23 PM
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Standingovation
Posted 2024-06-22 7:42 AM (#560303 - in reply to #560302)
Subject: Re: Early finishes



Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197

Location: Phoenix AZ		I would expect that finish type and thickness would have some effect, but probably not as much as choice of bracing pattern, string type/gauge, pick type, and saddle. Just my opinion. The funny thing is that I probably could not tell you details of what I consider my "best sounding" guitars, I just pick them up and they sound great to my ears.
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Lefty665
Posted 2024-06-22 11:09 AM (#560305 - in reply to #560302)
Subject: Re: Early finishes



Joined:
December 2018
Posts: 38

Location: Richmond, VA		Agree, finish probably has less impact than several other things, but I'm not sure it's non existent. My guitars all stack up by what they sound like, and they' all sound different. It's interesting that no two are alike, although they generally share similarities within models. It is also interesting how their sound changes as they age. Guess that's part of what drives my GAS.

The old X braced, and newer A braced, Ovations sound dramatically different from the V braced ones I've heard. I'd like to know what sound Ovation was after with the V braces. The first Ovation Newsletter (Jan 1983) on the Ovation tribute sites says Vs were developed for shallower body steel string guitars, but the ones I have are on older deep bowl Legends. They are underwhelming on the bass end. Maybe Charlie's hearing was declining in the upper frequencies (mine sure is) and needed a lot more sound in the mids and trebles. I was amazed how much brighter all my guitars got when I got hearing aids,

My project to see if trimming heavy V braces would liven up the sound has stalled. The finger plane chastises me for not using it and the Legend is sitting without strings waiting for the trimming and a loose brace and top crack reglue. Sigh. On the plus side, I now know why many V braced guitars have the funny added brace at the bass end of the upper leg of the V. It is a stress area that without the added curiously stout brace can crack the top and pull the end of the brace loose.

Edited by Lefty665 2024-06-22 11:22 AM
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