thin finishes

[Homebake]

what's the deal with the 1mm thick finish on my 2008 2550z? how long have ibanez been making the finish this thin? i mean, the smallest taps and knocks against anything hard chip the paint off this guitar. if my squier had paint this thin, it would be a natural finish by now yet i've only chipped the paint off that guitar once.

i've got a 1999 rg570 and the finish on that is like bulletproof. it looks like it has paint then a good few millimeters of clearcoat yet my rg only has like 1mm of paint?

i heard fender put thinner coats on their strats to let the guitar "breathe" more. did ibanez do the same?

[IbanezFreak777]

As the old saying goes...

"They dont make em like they used to"

[prydogga]

Yeah I don't get it my 1527 has had a chip in it since the first week I had it, the paint doesn't look that thin but I'm so protective of it now.

[Homebake]

i don't actually care for the paint and chips, i actually reckon guitars look waaaaaay cooler with some dings and stuff, i was just wondering though.

[corey j grieve]

Thin finish = quality guitar! The thinner the better,paint dampens and strangles tone! Why buy a beautiful piece of tonewood and destroy it? This is a well known by luthiers and i thought common knowledge.
Rest assured,you have a high quality instrument!

[IbanezDaemon]

Originally Posted by corey j grieve

Thin finish = quality guitar! The thinner the better,paint dampens and strangles tone! Why buy a beautiful piece of tonewood and destroy it? This is a well known by luthiers and i thought common knowledge.
Rest assured,you have a high quality instrument!

x2. I used to have a Caparison Horus and I think all Caparisons have really thin finishes on them to produce better quality tone etc.

[dccomputersa]

If you think about it, anything with a swirl has to be pretty thin. You can only do one coat. I guess you have to make up for it with the ckear. I have sitting here a 1979 Fender Strat and the finish on the thing is SO THICK, even on the neck. You can SEE the wood a few millimeters under the coats of whatever they used. Also, I was stripping the paint off of a neck from and RG270 and its VERY thick, took me like an hour with 400 grit sandpaper. Just my 3 Cents!

[Homebake]

Originally Posted by dccomputersa

If you think about it, anything with a swirl has to be pretty thin. You can only do one coat. I guess you have to make up for it with the ckear. I have sitting here a 1979 Fender Strat and the finish on the thing is SO THICK, even on the neck. You can SEE the wood a few millimeters under the coats of whatever they used. Also, I was stripping the paint off of a neck from and RG270 and its VERY thick, took me like an hour with 400 grit sandpaper. Just my 3 Cents!

i'm keen to see what other guitars from ibanez have thin coats. i'm assuming most of the prestige line at least. what about jems and sig guitars? judging by the pics of evo on vai's site, the finish is pretty thick on it.

[LonePhantom]

The finish on the RG550 reissues is insanely thin. I have only one little wear mark through to primer on the back of my RFR one. It's maybe 1mm, and it wasn't from being bump, except maybe on my belt.

Paint is being applied extremely thin to new cars as well. Drives me nuts. Cost cutting as much as possible. Now that paint can be applied so accurately and smoothly by machines companies can save some money, only needing to apply a couple coats of colour and clear.

[OliverKlohzoff]

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

The finish on the RG550 reissues is insanely thin. I have only one little wear mark through to primer on the back of my RFR one. It's maybe 1mm, and it wasn't from being bump, except maybe on my belt.

Paint is being applied extremely thin to new cars as well. Drives me nuts. Cost cutting as much as possible. Now that paint can be applied so accurately and smoothly by machines companies can save some money, only needing to apply a couple coats of colour and clear.

Yeah, I'd agree with this. I don't buy the "we're painting it thin to produce more tone". Total BS, it's cost cutting and cheap.

[AxeHappy]

Indeed it is.

French Polishing makes sense on an acoustic but not an electric guitar. Load that **** up with paint and clear.

[Homebake]

well, my 1999 rg570 has:

original edge, which is blocked off
basswood body
wizard neck
smaller cavities and is slightly thicker and much heavier

my rg2550z has:

edge zero in ZPS mode
wizard prestige neck
basswood body
larger cavities and is much lighter and slightly thinner
same action as rg570

the 2550 has a clear difference in tone acoustically (and plugged in, but i'm comparing acoustically here). it's a fair bit louder and kind of...clearer? i don't know, kinda more defined and twangier almost.

[mike570]

That's interesting. I have an RG7620 and a RG570 from about 98-99 and their finishes come off easily. Maybe that has something to do with the sealant, though. Also, I see lots of NEW guitars at stores and on the net that have poor finishes and nasty chips
I agree that it's mostly a cost-cutting measure. It seems the late 80's/early 90's finishes were much better and nowhere near as thin.