Finish on 70's Alembic

[Spose (spose)]

What type of finish is on my 76 Series I bass?
When did Alembic go to poly?
 
sorry if this was covered before, but I can't search the old site..
 
thanks!

[Chris R. Gedney (76ac070)]

The old finish on my '76 was POLANE.  I don't know when they went to Poly.  I'll let you know how I like the Poly refinish on 76AC070 when she comes home next month!

[mica]

Polane is a brand of polyurethane paint by Sherwin Williams. We used it until the late 70's and early 80's when the formula was changed without announcement. A few premature crackle glazes forced us to evaluate new coatings. We've been using the same polyester ever since.
 
Polane is still marketed today, but it doesn't resemble what we used to buy. My dad tells me it's great for water tanks, farm machinery, earth moving equipment - any great big metal pieces.  
 
The Polane ages to a really neat dark amber color. We tint the polyester this color on some restorations and on custom request.

[doug winborne (ole6string)]

When I got my 74, I was told that it was the first finshed guitar. Don't know if that was true,she was sure pretty, but to me looked like she was made of plastic, and not the hand rubbed wood as my first one. Took her home, stripped her bare of hardware, and started sanding. Md. paper to fine , to course steel wool to fine, to primo leather backed sheep skin for untold hours. Next the finest oils, over and over for the next almost 30 years. A finish that near impossible to put a scratch in.All of the grain depth is there, but hard to photo. I think Alembic stopped hand rubbing and started shooting about the time they hooked up with L.D.Heatar to try to mass produce.Anyone feel that i did an injustice by returning my guitar to its nat state? I did spend close to 200 hours of careful work, and have been quenching her oil thirst several times a year for about the last 25. Did I increase or decrease her 'value'?  
Thoughts. doug

[Michael Delacerda (dela217)]

Doug, I think that guitar of yours is quite beautiful in it's natural finish.  I also am a fan of the oil finishes and do not think that it decreased her value any.  Just curious, what type of oil did you use?  I have used Watco Danish finish and then follow up with boiled linseed oil every once in a while.  I find it keeps the instrument quite lustrous.  The linseed oil does wonders for a dry oil finish.  I purchased an Alembic a few years back that got a liberal rubbing of linseed oil regularly.  It has such a beautiful gloss to it after all these years.  To me nothing comes close to that type of finish. Michael