Gloss vs Satin Neck Finish

[haasome]

I own guitars that have necks with a Gloss finish and others with a Satin finish. If you asked me which I prefer, I probably couldn’t tell you which I prefer. I have had builders and players tell me “The best guitars have gloss.” And I’ve heard the opposing view from other builders and players. My 2 favorite guitars are both Custom builds and one has Gloss Neck and the other a Satin Neck. I like the feel and playability of both. Any opinions or preferences from members of this forum regarding Gloss vs Satin?

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– Paul –

[Matt Hayden]

Even if it starts out satin, it’ll be glossy in spots from playing, and usually pretty soon. Satin is beautiful but it doesn’t last…..

[Richard Hoover]

Haasome,

Aside from personal preferences; the reason we default to ‘Satin’ finish on the neck is because it presents less resistance to your moving hand. On a magnified scale you would observe that the satin surface is irregular and has less contact surface to overcome, A gloss surface is smooth and presents more contact surface to slide over. Think of pushing a clean finger across a sandblasted glass surface vs. a squeaky clean window.

That’s the physics, regardless of opinion. The market challenge is that Crows and Humans are attracted to shiny things and find them more desirable; thus the bias towards Gloss necks and the reason we offer them as an option..

Best,

Richard

 

[haasome]

That makes sense. Thanks for the insight. Your comment reminds me of driving along the back roads of New England with my wife. On one occasion we passed a garage sale and my wife thought she’d be funny and yelled out – “STOP, I saw something shiny!”

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– Paul –

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