Varnish Finished Guitars

[William2]

Has anyone here played a guitar with a varnish finish? Is there a noticeable tonal difference to them as opposed to a nitro or poly finish? I like the look but wonder if this finish could be a PIA compared to other finishes. I was intrigued by this video of the new Eastman varnish finish dreadnoughts. These little things that come out interest me and while they now offer the E-15SS with the varnish finish and a 1 & 11/16" neck, they also offer the E-25SS with a varnish finish and a 1 & 3/4" neck. Sadly, they no longer make these instruments as lefty instruments. My dealer had a early varnish finished Eastman with the relic look and thought it sounded quite open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7DqXtF3Wno

[Silence Dogood]

My favorite finish is a varnish like you commonly see on old violins.  I'm sure it's very time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it's not a common way to finish an instrument. Sometimes I'll see a mandolin with a finish like this and they always look great. I had an Eastman mandolin years ago that had a gloss finish and I scuffed it up with scotchbrite in various thicknesses and it ended up looking a lot like a violin finish when all was done. I spent a lot of time getting it just right, but in the end it still sounded pretty much the same so I sold it.