about satin finishes ...

[TonyF]

Interested in an S2 Vela. Like the look of the satin finish versions and it doesn't hurt that they are considerably cheaper than models with a nitro coating (IIRC PRS is now using nitrocellulose ... whatever).

Anyway, tried to do some research never having owned an electric without a high polish finish. Learned from a google search that included a few old threads from this forum that there is actually a coating on satin finished guitars but that they just haven't been buffed and polished. And that wear spots on satin guitars will develop glossy spots on high wear areas (back of the neck, front of body from forearm of picking hand, etc.).

Do I have that right or are these current satin finish Velas devoid of any coating whatsoever?

Thanks.

 

[Turkeyhead]

I don’t have experience with PRS satin finishes but they do tend to get shiny in the high wear spots because they are essentially getting polished. Personally I don’t like that look.

 

[Acnestes]

Interested in an S2 Vela. Like the look of the satin finish versions and it doesn't hurt that they are considerably cheaper than models with a nitro coating (IIRC PRS is now using nitrocellulose ... whatever).

Anyway, tried to do some research never having owned an electric without a high polish finish. Learned from a google search that included a few old threads from this forum that there is actually a coating on satin finished guitars but that they just haven't been buffed and polished. And that wear spots on satin guitars will develop glossy spots on high wear areas (back of the neck, front of body from forearm of picking hand, etc.).

Do I have that right or are these current satin finish Velas devoid of any coating whatsoever?

Thanks.

You achieve a satin / semi-gloss / flat finish by adding a "flattening" or dulling agent to whatever kind of varnish you're using. Flattening agents tend to make the resulting finish somewhat softer than a gloss finish would be, so over time it gets buffed out.

 

[andy474x]

The finish on Satin S2’s is a flat/matte, very thin, nitrocellulose. It’s different altogether from a gloss finish of any kind, in the sense that the gloss finishes are thick enough to be buffed to a shine, whereas the S2 satin finish is minimal thickness, basically just enough to seal the wood and add the desired color to the guitar, it isn’t a finish that’s really designed for any kind of purposeful polishing. It will naturally “polish” in higher wear areas, and then with continued use it’ll wear right through, basically true relic effect.

Now, there are other types of thicker satin finishes too, as used on core models occasionally, and there are a few S2’s floating around with a “diamond satin” finish that I think is thicker and more resilient, more like what you mentioned with a base coat and a satin top layer (I assume anyways).

 

[John Beef]

Well, take this absolute steal at Dave's which is hard to resist. There isn't any grain filler, and you can see all the pores of the wood. You'd have to fill the grain, then seal the grain filler and then finish on top of that in order to get a gloss.