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I am interested in the Martin 000-15SM model guitar. This model is all mahogany with a satin finish. Does anyone here have any experience with this model, Martin 15’s, or satin finishes on a guitar body in general? I have no experience with an instrument satin finished. How does it hold up over time? Does it smooth out or get sticky? Is it inferior to a gloss finish in anything other than appearance?
I thank you for your help and time. Merry Christmas to all.
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12-22-2025 09:21 AM
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When I was working for a well known guitar manufacturer, I saw the introduction of satin finishes as a cost saving decision; they're easier to apply, less finicky and harder to detect underlying wood flaws through. They were also harder for a customer to touch up, couldn't be buffed out and personally, I found the kinesthetic feel to be less conducive and less inspiring to movement of my hands while playing. So I can't get over the association with production cheapness.
A good high quality lacquer finish is applied with care, must undergo more scrutiny and can show the care and maintanence of the the player. It tells a story of care, of use, of careless abuse, of love in playing. A satin finish feels like a soft interface applied to a piece of wood so it can be turned off the production line faster.
Satin finishes will also "semi gloss" in areas where they're buffed by use, creating uneven shiny patches that never, can never, achieve the clarity of a gloss finish (there's a different formula to a satin than a clear gloss finish). So it get's patchy. And no, you can't just buff a satin to gloss. It's never as clear.
But I know people love satin finishes. I just feel like a gloss finish shows off the wood as it was meant to be seen, ages an instrument in a way it was meant to be felt, as an evolving part of the instrument's life.
Ask me what I really think...
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My Martin CEO-7 has a gloss body and a satin finished neck. I think it works great especially in the more humid months in MN.
Thanks John
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I owned a Taylor Jumbo 415 with a satin finish and didn't care for it. The satin made the guitar slippery to hold and made a scratchy sound against my clothing. No problem on the neck as it felt good but the body, no. An aquired taste maybe?
In comparison, my gloss finished guitars have a little grab to them against the body and no noise to be heard on clothing.
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I own a few Martins - the 000-15SM is truly a gem. Satin finish is a big yay and they are not inferior to gloss (outside for appearance). Many high-end guitar has satin finish: for example the Martin 00-17A, now discontinued, which was the upgrade vs the model you are looking at and used to retail for 7k. You can ask or just search in acousticguitarforum.com and you'll find plenty of expert info
Originally Posted by Astral Wrangler
Ll.
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It truly is a great instrument.
Correction to my previous post: the 00-17A has satin finish on neck, not body. This is a high end guitar with a satin finish on body.
Ll.
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Better yet, go on over to The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum and find lots of talk about this subject. It's a well-moderated forum with a lot of very knowledgeable Martin guitar enthusiasts. Originally Posted by Llewlyn
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Nay for me. Every satin finished Martin that I have owned (about 5 of them) developed finish problems over time. YMMV
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I played one of those a few years back. I thought it sounded wonderful, which, I think, was due in part to the light finish that really allowed the wood to breathe.
i passed on it in the end because I’d just bought a Canadian made Simon & Patrick that was a similar size with a slotted headstock.
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I told my wife to get that one but she is a Dreadnought junkie and bought the D-15M. It has the same general hue and the satin finish. It will gloss up in the areas where your hand/arm/etc make contact but it's a nice finish and I say that as someone who generally polishes any satin into gloss. She loves the guitar and the finish has held up well. I will add that for whatever reason, the guitar has an incredibly nice smell to it out of the box. A pleasant, rich, musky odor unlike any new guitar I've ever laid hands on. Merry Christmas and best of fortunes on your acoustic hunt. Originally Posted by Astral Wrangler
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Love the 15 series. Mine is the 000-15M...only flat top I've ever liked playing jazz on.
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I've done a lot of *non-instrument* wood finishing, mostly furniture, household cabinetry, trim, doors, floors, etc. It's interesting to note that if you open a can of satin finish (or semi), the stuff that makes it satin is a goop that is settled at the bottom that has to be stirred up, to mix with the naturally clear gloss finish liquid above. If you don't stir the goop at the bottom into the liquid, you just have a gloss finish. In fact, you can pour off the gloss liquid into another can, and then add as much of the satin substance as you want to get, to get as much or as little gloss as you want.
So the point of this is, while I don't know much about guitar finishing, the satin furniture finishes I have used definitely have some kind of physical powder substance mixed in to "dull" the finish. Whether or not that would affect tone, I don't know. Here are 3 pics of my semi-satin mantle, done with roughly half-satin, dressed for the holidays.
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Nonono…if God intended guitars to have a satin finish…
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I would give a strong yay. At least for mine. Maybe some of the later/new Martin production models are less appealing but my 1992 D-16H93 is a wonderful guitar. These D-16's were known as the "NAMM" series. I believe late 80's through ~'93.
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I played a recent D-28 with a gloss finish but satin neck. I think this may be standard now. The satin neck somehow made the guitar feel cheap to me and I just didn’t care for the combo.
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When I buy a new guitar, I want it to have a complete gloss and shiny finish. I want it to look super polish and buffed out. Nothing to me looks cooler than a brand-new buffed Nitro Finish that just shines like glass with no marks or swirls. That is the guitar finish I want so I say no to the satin.
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I have owned a satin finished Martin guitar for 25 years now. In some places, the finish has evolved to a nice gloss– especially on the upper bout, where the arm touches the guitar –, in other places, it looks more like Trigger.
The neck used to have a satin finish, as I believe have all Martin Guitars. It has now been polished to shine by 25 years of continuous play.
Make of that what you will. All I can say is that the finish has never kept me from getting a guitar that I liked.
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The OP though is asking whether the satin finish affects instrument quality. It seems that most nays are simply to the fact that some users do not like the satin finish, which is totally OK, but also very personal.
Ll.
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Totally agree with your thoughts regarding mahogany top and joining at 12th (which is why I bolded the "S" in my first reply).
Ll.
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