Tone: Painted body vs. unpainted

[cosmic]

Are there major differences in tone on neck-thru Alembics when considering painted bodies vs. unpainted, natural finished bodies? Or is this purely an aesthetics issue?

[jetbass79]

There are no unpainted bodies...to clarify things.  You would see satin finished instruments with either polyester or oil and gloss finishes.  Some would say there is more resonance with a lighter finish like nitro cellulose lacquer or oil than a harder finish like polyester or urethane.  You can't have unfinished bodies because the wood would deteriorate over time from not being protected correctly.

[s_wood]

I have a couple of older Spector NS-5's.  Both have quilted maple bodies which I assume are made of wood of roughly equal density because the basses are within a couple of ounces of being idential in weight.  The only significant difference in the 2 basses is the finish: one has an oil finish, and one has a poly gloss. My ears hear a subtle but real difference in the tone of the 2 basses: the oil finished one is not quite a bright as the one with the gloss finish.  
 
Mike Tobias wrote this in a Bass Player article called The Quest for Tone: From Alembic to Zon:  
There are cases when a piece of wood sounds significantly better with a certain type of finish. I remember building a bass that had a body made of very light swamp ash that received an oil finish. The instrument's tone was okay but a bit  mushy and lacking crispness. For some reason, which I can't recall, we had to refinish the bass; the oil was cleaned off and the bass was shot with polyester. When we plugged it in, lo and behold--it had gained brightness and clarity.
 
The bottom line is that every construction detail of a bass will affect the tone, and that's why Alembic pays such attention to every little detail!  It's also why their basses sound so great.

[bassplayer2106]

I was recently lucky enough to play to Alembic Orions side by side.
Both were 4 string models and both had Walnut facings.One had a high gloss finish and the other a satin finish.
The difference in tone was quite dramatic - even my Dad noticed.The one with the satin finish had a deeper/warmer tone.

[bigideas]

that's really weird, unless alembic uses a different type of finish for satin finishes. or if it was actually an oil finish. gloss and satin polyester (or nitro cellulose for that matter) will be the same finish with a different finishing process.. satin doesn't get the buffing out that a gloss does. other than that they should be the same. oil on the other hand does tend to be less bright. the oil itself adds very little density and mostly acts to preserve the wood, where as a hard finish adds a solid shell.

[jetbass79]

I still contend the actual wood makes more of a difference in the sound of the instrument than the finish does especially considering that active instruments rely more on circuits than anything else for their sound.  You could have two instruments made from the same woods and finished identical to one another and still have violently different tones from each other.  The main problem I have with oil finishes is that it requires constant maintenance and it looks terrible when sweat and grime come from playing.

[bigideas]

i would completely agree that wood makes a much much greater difference in tone compared to finish. finish should be more about the feel and look of the bass, taking tone into secondary account.

[jacko]

Matthew.
I'm assuming the satin finish on the Orion Kevin tried out is the same as that on my epic, in which case, it's a different product to the gloss polyester - or if the same, applied in fewer coats as the grain feel is much more pronounced. The satin finish itself is also more susceptible to random damage being that much thinner.
Hope this makes sense
 
Graeme

[adriaan]

Have to agree with Jacko: the polyurethane finish on older Epic/Orion/Rogue models was a lot thinner than the finish on other models. I think that it is not an actual satin finish, just not as shiny as gloss.
 
AFAIK the current satin finish is the same thickness as gloss, just that the buffing of the final layer(s) is done differently. So it should not be more susceptible to damage - as the PU finish was, which was the reason why it was discontinued.

[jacko]

I'm going to have to write this one down in my diary, no-one ever agrees with me ;-)
 
Graeme

[adriaan]

I'm happy to disagree with anyone anytime - just let me know when you're in need of an unsollicited argument.
 
(Message edited by adriaan on July 29, 2005)

[dadabass2001]

Oh, but then you're in the wrong cubilce... This is \Abuse'
 
 
 
 
stupid git
                                            Graham Chapman

[adriaan]

No it isn't!

[lbpesq]

I'm a lumberjack and this parrot is just sleeping!
 
Bill, tgo

[adriaan]

Nudge nudge, wink wink.