Why Nitro Lacquer?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had some questions about why I use nitro lacquer on my amp cabinets, and they’ve been very complimentary. The amp community is full of wonderful, kind people. But I’ve also had some people voice concerns. So, why nitro lacquer?

Just to get the obvious out of the way: These amps are exactly as durable as your nitro finished guitars. That’s why we include a custom padded cover with every amp, and we’re happy to help with ordering road cases. You wouldn’t take your guitar out of the house without a case, right?

So, why nitro lacquer? First, I think it looks pretty cool. When I first started building amps, I liked the idea of a natural finish, and my first few amps were a pretty simple oil finish with a poly top coat. But working at Luxxtone Guitars gave me a glimpse into the magic of nitro lacquer, and I decided to give it a try. Let’s just say, it’s a challenge, but if it doesn’t come out just right, you can always sand it all off and start from scratch. And you need to be prepared to do this. Because it will happen.

But why not just cover them with something and make my life easier? It started when I compared my amps to similar Fender Tweed amps. I’m a very big believer in the idea that the cabinet and speaker are just as important as the amp circuit. We talk a lot about capacitors, and resistors, and tubes, but the fact is: the speaker and the cabinet it’s in make a much bigger difference than any of that stuff.

So, I started experimenting with cabinets and speakers, and I found that altering the traditional dimensions of cabinets resulted in significant audible differences. But there was something else about the Tweed amps that seemed really different: they didn’t seem to resonate as much.

And why would they? The solid pine cabinet is completely wrapped in heavy fabric. It’s not a bad thing, just different. But go wrap some heavy fabric around an acoustic guitar and see how it changes.

An amplifier is the product of many different elements, and they all play a significant role in how the amp sounds. What the cabinet is made of. How thick the material is. How tall and deep and wide the cabinet is. All of these factors play a massive role in how the amp sounds, and what I found was that how an amp is finished also plays a role.

My main goal is to build amps that sound good in a room. For me, that’s the main pleasure of a tube amp. They record beautifully, and they sound good live, but a really sweet sounding tube amp in a room is the real experience. At least for me.

While it may not be the most practical/durable option for amp finishing, I sincerely believe that the resonance of the cabinet with a nitro finish adds to the experience of playing the amp. As though the amp itself has a more acoustic quality in the room. We love to talk about how nitro finishes allow guitars to resonate and “breathe,” so why not apply the same idea to amp?

And for those concerned about chips and scuffs, we’re going to be introducing some amps with relic’d nitro finishes that won’t mind an additional bonk.