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What's with the new Epi LP finishes?


flyingfrets

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Just left Guitar Center (looking for a Thinline Tele for my nephew) and noticed the new Epi Les Pauls.

 

Ultra glossy top, but satin back, sides & neck...just looks wrong.

 

I'd heard Gibson did away with most of the satin/faded finishes for '15. Now I know where they sent 'em.

 

Noticed they were no less expensive than the '14s either, but the satin/faded is definitely a cheaper finish. Wasn't there long enough to notice if it was straight across the LP line or just select models. I'm sure they play fine, but not a good look (IMO).

 

I can handle satin/faded finishes, though I prefer gloss on an LP, but both on the same guitar? Like mixing plaid & polka dots. Not for me thanks...

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Just left Guitar Center (looking for a Thinline Tele for my nephew) and noticed the new Epi Les Pauls.

 

Ultra glossy top, but satin back, sides & neck...just looks wrong.

 

I'd heard Gibson did away with most of the satin/faded finishes for '15. Now I know where they sent 'em.

 

Noticed they were no less expensive than the '14s either, but the satin/faded is definitely a cheaper finish. Wasn't there long enough to notice if it was straight across the LP line or just select models. I'm sure they play fine, but not a good look (IMO).

 

I can handle satin/faded finishes, though I prefer gloss on an LP, but both on the same guitar? Like mixing plaid & polka dots. Not for me thanks...

Wow...................................................................................................................................................

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Just left Guitar Center (looking for a Thinline Tele for my nephew) and noticed the new Epi Les Pauls.

 

Ultra glossy top, but satin back, sides & neck...just looks wrong.

 

I'd heard Gibson did away with most of the satin/faded finishes for '15. Now I know where they sent 'em.

 

Noticed they were no less expensive than the '14s either, but the satin/faded is definitely a cheaper finish. Wasn't there long enough to notice if it was straight across the LP line or just select models. I'm sure they play fine, but not a good look (IMO).

 

I can handle satin/faded finishes, though I prefer gloss on an LP, but both on the same guitar? Like mixing plaid & polka dots. Not for me thanks...

 

 

I think you saw the Epiphone Traditional Pro......GC only and MF, 123. Have been out for some time but the price seems to have gone up.

 

 

Yes Gibson for 2015 is done with the Satins. Good time to buy a Gibson........waiting to see how far the 2014 Satins get marked down.

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Just left Guitar Center (looking for a Thinline Tele for my nephew) and noticed the new Epi Les Pauls.

 

 

 

Noticed they were no less expensive than the '14s either, but the satin/faded is definitely a cheaper finish.

 

That's true on a nitro finished guitar, as the gloss is created in part by repeated rounds of spraying coats of nitro and buffing it to a gloss. Less work buffing the surface goes into producing a satin-finish nitro guitar, so it can be sold less expensively.

 

A poly finished guitar is sprayed with either a gloss or satin finish, and then it's done. In this case, gloss or satin is an inherent characteristic of the poly (like a gloss or satin paint), not an effect of leaving the surface alone or buffing it, like it is with nitro. Spraying either a gloss or poly coat is no more or less work, so the cost should not change much.

 

As a matter of fact, if these new Les Pauls have both a gloss and matte finish, more work has to go into producing them. Instead of spraying the whole guitar once with a gloss, one surface must be masked and then allowed to dry before the other type of finish can be applied to the other surfaces, so arguably, it could cost more to produce.

 

Red 333

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IDK about that...I've finished/refinished quite a few guitars in whole or in part & the nc-lacquers I've used come in satin & gloss too.No, I do NOT use poly, so there's no mistaking or misunderstanding what I'm using. There are additives in the satin that cause it to refract light differently because the surface doesn't cure smoothly (unlike the gloss variant). Yes, you can polish a satin finish to a high gloss, but that kind of defeats the point of using the satin lacquer in the first place.

 

Ah well, to each, their own. The mix of finishes just looks odd to me.

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