Lacquer Laws

Last issue we looked at how the finish of an electric guitar influences its tone. Luthier Patrick James Eggle concluded that the key quality a finish – be it nitrocellulose or poly – should have is to be as thin as possible while still protecting the guitar.

This principle is even more important when it comes to the world of the acoustic guitar. Achieving a thin finish that doesn’t affect the resonance of the guitar’s soundboard – which is effectively the ‘speaker cone’ of the guitar – is clearly desirable. But surely a spray-on finish couldn’t make that much of a difference,