Lousy photo time: the Gibson lives!

[uwe]

What is the law (snap-crack ...)?!!! What is the law?!!!!

Finish does not influence sound!!!

[Highlander]

Better burn that fungus then... (heading for the shelter...)

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I can't tell if you guys are being sarcastic or not, but I have to weigh on the side of finish having an audible effect with electric basses, though nowhere near as profound as some believe. They're still stringed instruments and the properties of the body are going to affect the way the strings vibrate, changing the sound. Body resonance also goes a long way into changing the way an instrument feels and responds, which changes the way a player plays on it. I love the beauty and durability of polyester finishes, but I love the sound and feel of laquer more. Still, most of my instruments have polyester finish.

..although every time something of this nature comes up, I'm reminded of an old exchange on TB where an "expert" kept insisting that it was impossible for a set or bolt-neck instrument to output a pure fundamental tone and only neck-through designs could do so. When I pointed out that the pickups measure the movement of the strings regardless of what they span across and it was their tuning, not physical vibrational coupling of the body to a magnetic pickup mounted in a wooden body, he got really huffy.

[Dave W]

Uwe wasn't being sarcastic, he was being an instigator (shocking, I know  ). He misses the heated discussions from the early Pit days.

Acoustic instruments produce sound though a vibrating top. The thickness of the finish film definitely affects the vibration. Maybe the type of film does too. And it has been shown that oil finishes (real oil finishes, not varnishes marketed as oil finishes) damp vibrations.

Solid body instruments produce sound through the electronics. Every little thing affects sound in some way, but the question is, is there an audible difference from different finish types or thicknesses? When I see the results of double-blind ABX tests showing that people can tell a difference, then I'll believe it. Until then, I won't.

[TBird1958]

War is peace.

Freedom is slavery.

Finish does not influence sound.

Mmmmmm...............Doubleplusgood! 

[uwe]

It's a running gag in this forum that you are not allowed to believe that finish influences solidbody sound. I don't know whether I can hear an amped difference between poly and nitro if all other things are identical, but I believe I can hear a difference between a finished and an unfinished/oiled body. Maybe something to do with the responsiveness of the wood reacting to the vibration of the string and that creeping into the sound. If you knock with your finger against nitro and a thick poly on a piece of wood, you certainly hear a difference or I believe I do, the latter sounds "deader"/more dense.

But believing is not knowing much less being able to prove it! If Dave is a "finish infuences sound"-atheist, then I'm more on the agnostic side, but I'm sure we have some reborn Christians on the issue in our midst as well! 

Uwe   

[Dave W]

Not saying that there's absolutely no effect, I'm just highly skeptical that anyone can hear the difference, that's all.

[Highlander]

The black V demands to be played loud... the goats have moved out of the road... if I do a Hendrix flower-fin will she play the blues...?

The Thunderbird has mellowed since being detoxed... def-FIN-itive proof of a change in sound...?

The new fin on the RD is going to be a supachiller, if it all goes well... gonna produce some cool sounds...

Nurse...? I'll have my meds now please...

[exiledarchangel]

Sometimes, in the midst of the night, I swear I can hear the tonewoods breathing, free from the slavery of their dreaded poly finishes...

[lowend1]

Typically speaking, black finished instruments tend to sound darker than those with natural finishes, which tend to sound more organic and woody. The old Dan Armstrong guitars and basses had a very transparent sound. Sunburst instruments sound very bright at first, but as the note decays, the tone becomes much darker. Hope this helps...

[Pilgrim]

I'm really with Dave - I wouldn't say that finish has absolutely Zero effect on sound output, I just think there are so many other factors which have much more impact on sound that it's essentially moot. 

I suspect that acoustic instruments would be slightly different in this respect than solid bodies, but absent an A/B test of two identical acoustic instruments of the same model, built the same day, with strings of the same type and age, I wouldn't bet on being able to hear it.

Am I sure?  To those who would assert differently, I respond as H.L. Mencken did (also attributed to Mark Twain, and oft-used by Edward R. Murrow) when receiving a critical letter:

"Dear Sir or Madam, You may be right. 
Sincerely...."

[Highlander]

The old Dan Armstrong guitars and basses had a very transparent sound.

Suddenly, it all becomes clear...

[pamlicojack]

Suddenly, it all becomes clear...