Painted Guitars vs. Stained Guitars

[donna plasky]

Hi, everyone. I was wondering if you could please help me understand something about guitars. What is the difference between "painted" and "stained"? And would you say that the overall sound of the guitar is affected by whether it's a painted or stained guitar? I realise that a lot of things affect the sound of a guitar, but is this one of them?

For example, in the catalogue photo below -- which is one of my two guitars -- is that a painted guitar or a stained guitar? I believe it's called Three Tone Sunburst. I do not have a photo of the back of the guitar, but the back of the body looks the same as the front (the sunburst colour) and the back of the neck looks the same as the headstock. It's got a smooth, shiny finish, but it is a natural wood colour neck.

I've seen a "Keith Richards Telecaster" which is what I thought was a stained guitar. But the other day somebody in a guitar store told me they thought sunburst guitars are considered stained, not painted. Now I'm confused.

I guess I am learning from my mistakes, as I explore different guitars. I have a second guitar, which is neither a Fender nor a Squier -- and one of the things I dislike about it is the fact that the back of the neck is painted. It makes my hand sweat. That's not really related to my question about stained guitars, though.

Thanks very much for your help and advice.

Kind regards,

Donna

[img]SunburstSquier.jpg[/img]

[dave robinson]

All of Fender's solid guitar are sprayed with lacquer, either the old method using nitro cellulose or the more modern 'two pack' stuff which is harder wearing. It's vary rare to find a guitar 'stained' in the sense of the word as applied to furniture.

[d jones]

Hi Donna

Do tell what is the second guitar!
Dave

[donna plasky]

Hi, Dave. If I may borrow our colleague Captain Haddock's tin hat as I answer that question...it's a dreaded Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I wanted a guitar that was similar to Terry Britten's and John Farrar's Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty, so on my budget, this is what I bought. I know, I know.

So, now I have a Squier (a fake Fender, so to speak) and an Epiphone (a fake Gibson). They are not bad guitars; I am a bad guitarist.

Cheers,
Donna

[img]EpiphoneLesPaul.jpg[/img]

[Uncle Fiesta]

Hi Donna - if you tried to 'stain' a guitar by rubbing the stain into the wood, you'd end up with a very odd-looking instrument! So the stain is suspended in the clear lacquer.
The more coats, the darker it gets.

[ecca]

If you can see the grain then I would consider it to be 'stained' or laquered.
If not then 'painted'.
Manufacturers can't get away with grotty wood if you can see the grain.
Beaver on Donna.

[alanbakewell]

[JimN]

Donna,

You're right about the relationship between Epiphone and Gibson:



JN

[geoff1711]

talking here of generality rather than guitar specific, you used to be able to buy wood stain, it was spirit (solvent) based and sunk into the wood, (it was also a real bugger to get of your skin) now you buy wood dye which is water based and really only colours the surface, maybe soaking in a few microns depending on the density of the wood.

And then there are wood finishes which are a water based clear laquer with a semi opaque colourant suspended in it, so the more coats you apply the denser the colour and les of the grain sows through.

So when you come to guitars, whereas some custom built guitars may have been stained and finished probably with French or Button polish and then waxed, mass produced guitars use(d) a variety of commercial laquers, some have clear colourants and some have opaque.

But to say that a solid electric guitar is stained and that makes it sound better is, in my mind, complete b*ll*cks and the salesman is either trying to move this one on or just doesn't know what he's talking about.

And of course if you've ever played an instrument with a French polish finish you'll find it gets quite sticky when your hands sweat, I was never quite sure what the old violin and other stringed intrument makers used to finish their instruments to stop this happening, maybe the wax over the top of it?

Geoff

[geoff1711]

re the sweaty hands on a guitar neck, gloss finishes do this to some people, satin necks don't, if your guitar isn't a collectors item but a players tool, a slight rubbing down with a very fine abrasive paper will improve it's feel considerably, it should still look glossy just not quite as new.

Oddly my personal taste is to polish up a satin neck with T Cut to a slight gloss (it will also allow the wood to show through more) or flat down a gloss neck as described.

But remember the word was a SLIGHT rubbing down with a VERY FINE abrasive, effectively putting a bit of wear on it.

Geoff