Just the very slightest nitpick here, but the Hand-Rubbed and Satin finishes are not the same. Satin is nitro that hasn't been buffed to a shine/gloss; hand-rubbed is actually a wax(?) finish that almost looks like no finish - you can actually see the pores in the wood.
I have both - a DV52 in HR finish and a JV52 in satin finish. Love both - and I find myself not liking gloss finish that much, at least not on an acoustic. Go figure.
THANKS JC!! I wasn't sure a if there was actually a difference or if they just changed the nomenclature, forgot to say that there but I have mentioned it elsewhere,
I KNOW for sure the "HR" is in fact nitrocellulose but it came in gel form and was applied by hand, that was from one of our former Westerly employees way back around the time I first joined.
But now I also know that "Satin" is NCL as well (Assuming you're correct about that, and I think you are).
Somebody recently insisted their "Satin" D4 was actually poly and I was
extremely doubtful although I'll still leave that 1% possibility open.
If any guitar was a subject for a finish experiment it was a late Westerly D4.