ElrytNamrogo
My name be scrambled
After having a few weeks with the new 35th Anniversary Custom 24, I'm convinced there is something special about this new finish, and wanted to see if it's just in my head or if anybody else is able to chime in with their own personal experience.
From what I'm able to gather, the new finish is nitro sprayed over a very thin poly base coat. This would be my first experience with nitro-anything, so this is all new to me.
First thing I noticed is that (at least in my opinion) there's quite a bit of visual difference. A lot of it is nearly impossible to photograph, so I'll do my best to put it into words. To me, reflections are sharper and cleaner. The nitro top coat seems a bit smoother and glass-like to me when it comes to how it reflects light and mirrored objects. I have four other core models to compare it to....a 2008 Custom 22, a 2012 Custom 24, a 2015 HBII, and a 2018 WL 24-08. When almost-obsessively comparing my "older" guitars under different lighting settings, it's almost as if the different layers of poly are kinda visible, or create a certain look to them that's different than this new finish. Of course, it's nothing negative on either side, just something I noticed. Also, I noticed some of the inherent visual qualities of nitro with the new one too. Specifically, little microscopic points where it looks like the nitro settled into small pockets of the poly base coat. Again, absolutely nothing negative about this....it wouldn't be at all noticeable if you didn't nerd out like I do and closely examine the guitar, specifically looking for differences. I've noticed that nitro does this on guitars that are fully finished in it, so it came as no surprise to me.
Next thing I noticed was weight. Man, is this thing light....lighter than any of my solid bodies. Now, the only one that I really have to fairly compare it to would be my 2012 Custom 24, being it's the closest in build - my Custom 22 and 24-08 both have rosewood necks - but the CU24 is at PTC right now getting some work done, so I cannot directly compare it yet. That being said, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that it's absolutely the lightest of the three solid-bodied guitars. It also has a smoother, less tacky feel to the surface, as well....incredibly smooth up and down the neck, more so than my 2012 Custom 24 (my only other guitar with a finished neck.)
Another thing is the resonance. I cannot express enough how much differently this one resonates from my other guitars, hollowbody included. There is a definitive open-airiness to it that I just hadn't experienced before. Is this something common with nitro? I feel like it must be, none of my other guitars resonate acoustically like this one. Notes are incredibly clear and almost breath-like. Needless to say, an absolute joy to play and hear. There's almost more woodiness to them than even my HBII, like the notes ring in the body of the guitar longer and more freely. I know I probably sound ridiculous, but this is what my ears hear. I also feel like I get more vibration in the body than the HBII....it's kinda crazy, because I never would have thought this to be the case. Now, I'm absolutely not trying to take anything away from the HBII, just trying to do my best to compare the two....the HBII DEFINITELY has it's own thing going on and has a multitude of different qualities to it's acoustic voice, as well.
Anyways, this is my awkwardly-worded attempt at trying to share my thoughts on this new finish and what inherent qualities I have found with it.
Anybody else have one of the new ones? Have any of you experienced noticeable differences you can share?
From what I'm able to gather, the new finish is nitro sprayed over a very thin poly base coat. This would be my first experience with nitro-anything, so this is all new to me.
First thing I noticed is that (at least in my opinion) there's quite a bit of visual difference. A lot of it is nearly impossible to photograph, so I'll do my best to put it into words. To me, reflections are sharper and cleaner. The nitro top coat seems a bit smoother and glass-like to me when it comes to how it reflects light and mirrored objects. I have four other core models to compare it to....a 2008 Custom 22, a 2012 Custom 24, a 2015 HBII, and a 2018 WL 24-08. When almost-obsessively comparing my "older" guitars under different lighting settings, it's almost as if the different layers of poly are kinda visible, or create a certain look to them that's different than this new finish. Of course, it's nothing negative on either side, just something I noticed. Also, I noticed some of the inherent visual qualities of nitro with the new one too. Specifically, little microscopic points where it looks like the nitro settled into small pockets of the poly base coat. Again, absolutely nothing negative about this....it wouldn't be at all noticeable if you didn't nerd out like I do and closely examine the guitar, specifically looking for differences. I've noticed that nitro does this on guitars that are fully finished in it, so it came as no surprise to me.
Next thing I noticed was weight. Man, is this thing light....lighter than any of my solid bodies. Now, the only one that I really have to fairly compare it to would be my 2012 Custom 24, being it's the closest in build - my Custom 22 and 24-08 both have rosewood necks - but the CU24 is at PTC right now getting some work done, so I cannot directly compare it yet. That being said, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that it's absolutely the lightest of the three solid-bodied guitars. It also has a smoother, less tacky feel to the surface, as well....incredibly smooth up and down the neck, more so than my 2012 Custom 24 (my only other guitar with a finished neck.)
Another thing is the resonance. I cannot express enough how much differently this one resonates from my other guitars, hollowbody included. There is a definitive open-airiness to it that I just hadn't experienced before. Is this something common with nitro? I feel like it must be, none of my other guitars resonate acoustically like this one. Notes are incredibly clear and almost breath-like. Needless to say, an absolute joy to play and hear. There's almost more woodiness to them than even my HBII, like the notes ring in the body of the guitar longer and more freely. I know I probably sound ridiculous, but this is what my ears hear. I also feel like I get more vibration in the body than the HBII....it's kinda crazy, because I never would have thought this to be the case. Now, I'm absolutely not trying to take anything away from the HBII, just trying to do my best to compare the two....the HBII DEFINITELY has it's own thing going on and has a multitude of different qualities to it's acoustic voice, as well.
Anyways, this is my awkwardly-worded attempt at trying to share my thoughts on this new finish and what inherent qualities I have found with it.
Anybody else have one of the new ones? Have any of you experienced noticeable differences you can share?
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). Doing this allows me to hear the vibrations in the bridge and neck, as well. Again, the newer guitar sounded more airy, allowing a more free resonance - if that makes any sense. Before I got this one, my WL 24-08 seemed to take the cake on this test....although the HBII was a strong contender. But, those are quite different models to be comparing considering build, woods, hardware, ect.
