Virna Splendore had a stick with a gloss finish on it. I remember it having an extra bright sound.

Brett

One of my old sticks (#1827) was clearcoated -- even the frets. Wasn't a fan of it. However, everything else on that stick was awesome.

As someone whose thumbs are constantly in motion on the edges and rear surface of the instrument, I say the smoother it is the better. I love the feel of the natural oil finish Emmett uses, it makes for much freer hands.

It wasn't an oil -- it was a thick clearcoat. your thumbs would squeak across it. I had considered sending it in to SE to see if they could sand it off. I ran into some fiscal difficulties and had to sell it beforehand, though.

Sorry, I wasn't clear in my meaning. I like the finish Emmett uses most of the time, which is a natural oil-based finish. It's very smooth and not at all "squeaky" like a clearcoat would be.

Ah, gotcha. I'll agree with you on that -- I actually used to sand clearcoats off of guitar necks I'd get and tung oil them -- felt so much better.

Two instruments from the current Reserve production run have just been added to the HotShots Gallery:

Rosewood 10-string dyed white:



Paduak 10-string dyed black:



more images of these two instruments and dozens of others in the Gallery:

http://www.stick.com/instruments/hotshots/

Happy GASsing!

A satine series has just been added, top row on the right:

http://www.stick.com/instruments/hotshots/

Not something you see every day:



more pics of this half-fretless SB8 with dual bass 5ths here:

http://www.stick.com/instruments/hotshots/

That is crazy.