Thin-skin finish

A deliberately minimal film of lacquer, sprayed thinly enough that the wood still shows through it.

A thin-skin finish is a decision more than a material: the maker sprays fewer coats of nitrocellulose or a similar lacquer and stops while the film is still a few hundredths of a millimetre thick, so the grain texture remains visible and the coating adds as little damping as possible. It is used on instruments sold on resonance, and on age replicas whose finish is meant to shrink and check like an old one. It is commonly described as letting a body sound more open than a thick catalysed finish, and the difference is most obvious on lightly built instruments. It protects poorly: it dents, checks and wears through quickly.

Example: A thin-skin nitrocellulose body rings more freely under a light touch, and it also picks up its first ding within weeks of playing.

typical use: Bodies and necks on vintage-style and boutique instruments.

Thin-skin finish

See also