NCL for all Oxnard acoustics?

[marius]

I just noticed today on the Guild website that the M-20 specs have been updated and now show satin NCL finish. I checked the M-40, D-20 and D-40 and they’re also showing NCL finish.
As of last November the wayback machine shows these were all poly finish as I remembered.
I don’t know when the change was made but I like it.

 

[Gabby84]

I think my 2018 M20 has the satin ncl, as I recall. It’s gorgeous and has been wearing in well!

 

[Coop47]

I think my 2018 M20 has the satin ncl, as I recall. It’s gorgeous and has been wearing in well!

I really want to try one of those, as well as an M25 and an M40. I have a 2019 F55 that is becoming my favorite guitar. The Oxnard folks are doing a great job.

 

[SFIV1967]

Yes, the early M-20, D-20, M-40, D-40, F-40 used a catalyzed varnish finish which Ren said would save Guild quite some money in the finishing process.

This is from 2016:

Maybe now they are up and running with many more models and in higher volumes they decided to ditch the catalyzed varnish and run everything through the NCL spray booth. Now idea either about the date of the change. Unless the CMG marketing person wrote new specs on the webpage and copied and pasted the wrong info in them and they are still using the catalyzed varnish...

Ralf

 

[marius]

Maybe now they are up and running with many more models and in higher volumes they decided to ditch the catalyzed varnish and run everything through the NCL spray booth.

Ralf

That was my thought as well. It seems like the change may have coincided, at least in part, with the Winter NAMM announcement of the M-25 which was introduced with NCL.

Looks like the MSRP has gone up slightly in the same period which could reflect some of the production cost increase. It was $1626 in November and is $1750 now; I'm not sure what the MAP was then.

 

[blakeb2193]

I heard it was called the satin gel finish

 

[SFIV1967]

I heard it was called the satin gel finish

Ren Fergusson called it "catalyzed varnish finish" which is a conversion varnish.
I wrote that before in another thread: "Ren Ferguson explained that it is not the first time he worked with such "catalyzed varnish finish", he said he didn't use it since the days of the Flatiron Mandolins in Bozeman/MT 30 years ago! So it's an old type finish indeed!"
My guess was it could be the same two-part catalyzed coating named "Fullerplast" (Fuller for Fuller O'Brien, the products creator) which Fender used since 1963. Flatiron Mandolins used it as well in the 80ies I read, that is how I came to that idea and Ren mentions Flatiron 30 years ago... A Fullerplast datasheet from 2007 can be seen here: http://portal.gemini-coatings.com/assets/pdf_pds/353-00,353-02,353-50.pdf"

Ralf

 

[Aarfy]

The D40 Traditional made out of Oxnard has a gloss finish, the ‘standard’ D40/D40e has a satin finish.

Aarf.

 

[blakeb2193]

I had one of the oxnard standard D40swith the satin gel/varnish. It was the first time I saw weather checking on a satin top.

 

[marius]

The D40 Traditional made out of Oxnard has a gloss finish, the ‘standard’ D40/D40e has a satin finish.

Aarf.

The D40 Tradition from Oxnard has been NCL since introduction but the ‘standard’ D40 was originally a satin poly finish.

 

[marius]

I had one of the oxnard standard D40swith the satin gel/varnish. It was the first time I saw weather checking on a satin top.

Interesting, do you recall the build year? Checking would not suggest poly finish to me regardless if gloss or satin.

The only Guild “gel” finish I’ve heard of was the Hand Rubbed (HR) finish. Makes me wonder how their current satin NCL is applied.

Ralf’s suggestion that the catalyzed finish could be Fullerplast would suggest a sprayed finish.

 

[blakeb2193]

My Oxnard D40 was 2016 i think.