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Another new Masterbilt ...AJ-500RCE


GuitarLight

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Your right....and it also seems to have a nasty matte finish. Sometimes I think Epiphone must like making guitars that won't sell.

 

up until around 2008 or 2009 all Masterbilts had satin finishes and had no problem selling.

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up until around 2008 or 2009 all Masterbilts had satin finishes and had no problem selling.

 

Very good point!.....but that doesn't make them look any better and it certainly doesn't make them wear any better. Masterbilts used to have gloss tops. They were beautiful. They later downgraded to matte once the public was hooked, and then stayed there because they as you said,.. "had no problem selling" ...What you ask for...you usually get. By the time I bought both my Masterbilts...there were no options, they were both (AJ500M and AJ500R) satin gloss. I had to take it or leave it. I had never owned a satin matte guitar before and so In desperation I took them. Being new to satin matte, I was not aware that they wore poorly. The result? Both my Masterbilts play like heaven, but look like hell after just 3 years. The disappointment is tremendous. I hate to see others got through this.

 

I have said this before and I will restate it....Virtually 100% of every matte and satin finish sold will prematurely wear in any place the body or clothes make contact....polishing the satin to a shine in that position and place on the guitar...100%. Any one who says not is either lying or does not play their guitar regularly. They keep right on making them because that finish is cheap and saves them money. But remember that the Epiphone DR100 model for just $99 has a full poly gloss finish....why put something inferior, that is guaranteed to wear poorly, on a Masterbilt that costs 8 times more?

 

It should also be said that satin matte finishes do NOT add to better sounding guitars. It does not make guitars "breath better" as the guitar companies want you to believe......this phony hype is used to sell cheap finish guitars. It is a term manufactured by guitar companies to make you think that you are getting more...when the only one getting MORE is THEM! It adds to cheaper looking guitars, and more money in the pockets of guitar makers at the customers expense. Many will buy them because the guitar company deliberately provides no gloss option...because they know that 99% of customers, will take that gloss option if they offer it to the customer.

 

Yes Satin Matte saves. It saves the guitar company from completing the final gloss finish by telling you satin matte is better, and then continue to charge you the same price. It would be legitimate if they REDUCED the price by $100 for a Satin Matte finish because you pay less when you get less. But to pay the same or more for a Satin Matte finish, in my view is simply a scam.

 

There will be others outraged that I have made this view point, and I don't mean to offend those who like me, own satin matte finish guitars. But if it saves just one person from buying a guitar which they will likely later likely be disappointed with, then that is a good thing in my view.

 

Because NO ONE in the guitar manufacturing business will tell you this stuff, and neither will a guitar store looking to get a sale from you...it is something you need to know BEFORE you buy, and then make your decision.

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Very good point!.....but that doesn't make them look any better and it certainly doesn't make them wear any better. Masterbilts used to have gloss tops. They were beautiful. They later downgraded to matte once the public was hooked, and then stayed there because they as you said,.. "had no problem selling" ...

 

 

Yes Satin Matte saves. It saves the guitar company from completing the final gloss finish by telling you satin matte is better, and then continue to charge you the same price. It would be legitimate if they REDUCED the price by $100 for a Satin Matte finish because you pay less when you get less. But to pay the same or more for a Satin Matte finish, in my view is simply a scam.

 

 

 

Modern Masterbilts (Gibson-era--not the ones made in the '30s and '40s) were introduced FIRST with satin finishes. Several years later, Epiphone changed to gloss. This coincided with a general reduction of quality in materials (though that is unrelated to whether the finish is satin or gloss--just that the first generation of Masterbilts (satin and sold with a case) were noticeably better than those that followed).

 

In a poly finished guitar, a satin finish does not cost the manufacturer any less, and a gloss does not add to the costs. Poly finishes--whether satin or gloss--spray on with one coat, dry within hours, and are then ready to ship. Gloss is formulated to spray on and dry shiny. Satin is formulated to dry matte. There is no days-long curing time or laborious buffing between coats like there is on a nitrocellulose-finished guitar.

 

You are conflating (confusingly combining) the properties of a nitro finished guitar with a poly finished guitars. A satin nitro finish IS less expensive for the manufacturer. More time and labor is required to create a gloss nitro finish; several coats are required; each need several days drying time; each needs hand and machine buffing to even the finish and raise the shine.

 

When producing a satin nitro finish, the builder sprays( wait for it...) satin nitro--it is specifically formulated to produce a matte quality. The manufacturer chooses how many coats to spray, but one may do, which is a time and money saver. If they do spray more than coat, drying time between coats is needed (and time = money), but less labor is used overall to prepare and finalize the finish--since they are not taking the time to buff it out to a high gloss. With poly--whether gloss or satin--it's one and done.

 

Additionally, nitro finished guitars DO breath--nitro never actually solidifies, so over time, the finish sinks into the wood, leaving less coating the top, which allows for somewhat greater vibration. If that finish is satin, it's likely to be fewer coats than gloss, so there is a lighter, less restrictive coating to begin with, and this accelerates the time it takes for the finish to sink. Poly finishes are not thought to change at all over time.

 

Red 333

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Surprise! I've heard this will be a limited edition...Masterbilt AJ500RCE.. cut away electric...solid Rosewood/Sitka...in stock and ready to ship in both GC and MF at $799 ....Who knew?!

http://www.musicians...electric-guitar

 

From another thread here somewhere, it looks like these were first released in Japan. (Oh wait, was that one a cutaway?) Anyway, now they're here.

 

The description in that link is a bit schizo. At one point they say mahogany back and sides, but that must be en error since, as you say, it's rosewood. It also says this has a "standard" 24.75" scale length. Hard to say if that's an error or not...

 

As to the breathability of different finishes on solid-wood acoustics, I note the insides of a guitar are not finished at all. That's where most of your moisture is going to be seeping in, or out, of the wood.

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People can still buy the mighty IB64 Texan!

 

Cliff they certainly can - and a fine guitar it is, but it's not a masterbilt. I have posted elsewhere on this board that the AJ-45 ME is really opening up and I can now feel and hear a definite difference between it and the Texan - I have spent hours side by side playing each - and the difference is better.

 

You must try to play one asap after they are available in the US

 

AJ-500RCE specs - they have been on sale over here for a while - I've been looking at then for a few weeks now - they seem to vary in price and some of the specs are wrong on some dealers sites - I have pointed this out before.

Epiphone Masterbilt AJ-500RCE - Vintage Sunburst Specifications:

 

this is a dealer near where I live http://www.richtonem...CFWfItAod0QUA7w some nice pictures!!

 

Model Masterbilt AJ-500RCE Top Material Solid Sitka Spruce Back & Side Material Solid Rosewood Neck Material Mahogany Fingerboard Material Rosewood No. of Frets 20 Position Inlays Pearloid Dot Body Shape Dreadnought Colour Vintage Sunburst Pickups Shadow NanoFlex Under Saddle

Shadow Sonic Soundhole Guitar Size Full Number of Strings 6 Tuner Grover Sta-Tite 18:1 ratio Scale Length 25.5" Binding 5-ply Bridge Rosewood Nut & Saddle Bone

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