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Dimples in SG finishes.


Victory Pete

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I have noticed in the tops and backs of SG's the finish is very uneven. It gets more noticeable as you move further away from it and look at the reflections in certain light. I have never noticed this on my LP's nor my 335's. They are like round ripples. It is far from what should be a level sanded finish.

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I think what you may be noticing is simply the way different woods, in this case mahogany verses maple, reflect or absorb light.

 

Mahogany and maple are VERY different woods in grain structure.

 

No, it is the lacquer that is uneven, but it may be caused by the wood being uneven perhaps.

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.

Gibson goes for a thin finish. Open mahogany grain is tough to get a smooth THIN finish on. A thick finish looks nice and smooth, but its . . . THICK. .<Insert any of a number of thick finish tone killing arguments>. If you don't like the look of the thin finish, have your luthier/shop put a few more finish coats on - it'll be nice, smooth and thick.

 

 

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Actually, that varies guitar to guitar! I was lucky enough to have the option, of "cherry picking"

all my SG's, as my dealer always had several of the same model, in stock. Some of them had very

obvious finish dimpling, other's were far less so, even to be unnoticeable. I picked the "best"

of each version I purchased. That's one thing you can't do, "on line!" Even with good photos, like

Sweetwater and some other on-line dealers provide.

 

CB

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Actually, that varies guitar to guitar! I was lucky enough to have the option, of "cherry picking"

all my SG's, as my dealer always had several of the same model, in stock. Some of them had very

obvious finish dimpling, other's were far less so, even to be unnoticeable. I picked the "best"

of each version I purchased. That's one thing you can't do, "on line!" Even with good photos, like

Sweetwater and some other on-line dealers provide.

 

CB

 

Good point. I have bought some of my Gibsons online, I have had to return some for various reasons. I just bought an SG at my local Guitar Center last night, it was top shelf so it had very little wear to it. The strings were dead and it had some swirl marks on the back which is inevitable no matter who plays it. What is most important is it has a niece book matched body with very little lacquer dimpling. I was watching a girl cleaning the guitars that are at floor level, every one got 2 smacks to it, one up and one to the side. What I like about online is the factory sealing boxes, no matter what you win some you lose some.

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I've also found that it can take some time for the dimples to show up. My old SG Classic didn't appear to have any when I first bought the guitar but after a year or two they were very apparent which horrified me at the time. What the hell is this???

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I've also found that it can take some time for the dimples to show up. My old SG Classic didn't appear to have any when I first bought the guitar but after a year or two they were very apparent which horrified me at the time. What the hell is this???

 

The lacquer could be shrinking as it dries, also the mahogany may be aging also. I don't see this effect on any other guitars, just SGs. If I look at the mahogany backs of my LP's I don't see its effect so much either.

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I think there are a lot of elements in play as the guitar ages when you have a solid laquer over wood that naturally shifts and changes with the temperature and humidity. One of the most noticeable things I've seen as a guitar's finish settles is when you often can see different pieces of wood edge-glued together. This happens on almost any brand or finish type after a relatively short amount of time in my experience.

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