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I believe finish does have an impact on the tone of an electric guitar. In fact, I think it is pretty unreasonable to suggest that it may not, especially if you take great pains to choose all the other components (woods, hardware, pups, and etc...) that will ultimately shape the sound of your instrument. Correct me if I'm wrong, but pups are "picking up" the tone produced by the vibrating string, and the "qualities" of that vibration are determined by, among other things, the wood to which the string is attached. Anything done to change that wood, will change the quality of the vibrations of the string. The real question is, "Is the change perceptible to the human ear?" Continuing, I would further assert that the human ear is capable of discerning extraordinarily minute changes in tonal quality; however, it is possible the listener/player may not be conscious of the change. This idea is borne out by the notion of the guitar that "I always reach for." It may be that in playing five or six guitars you would be entirely incapable of discerning any tonal difference between them or deciding which was "best" or which you liked the most; however, over time, your subconscious will register the subtleties and direct your choice.

I believe you should build your custom guitar to be the one that may not blow you away at first, but will be the one you "reach for" once your subconscious has had time to evaluate it.

Yes, build to the subconscious, and don't believe for a moment that you can fool it.

Oldraftery

Earle starts out by saying that the idea that finish affects tone is "pure bullsh..," then seems to contradict himself by writing:


That leaves only resonance to consider. Resonance (and the resulting tone) of an electric guitar is the sum of the vibrational interactions between all of its components. Paint is only one factor (a small one) among many, in the overall design of an electric guitar to sound as good as possible.

(my italics).

Hasn't he just said that paint affects tone? Wouldn't paint affect the vibration of the wood?

So instead of convincing me that finish is irrelevant to tone, he has done the complete opposite. He is conflicted. His ego, which is driving him to sell guitars and prove that his guitars are the best, is trying to blind his subconscious to what his subconscious knows to be true. His subconscious has revealed what he really believes!!!!

Again, build to the subconscious, and don't believe for a moment that you can fool it!

Here endeth the psychobabble.


Thanks,

Oldraftery