Zitat aus meiner privaten Konversation mit Les:
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As you know, PRS uses hand-applied stains to impart color to the wood. I’ve personally visited the factory and have seen how it’s done.
There are two kinds of stains, those that use organic pigments, and those that use inorganic pigments. But inorganic stains have a big problem: they’re not translucent.
Inorganic stains have mineral-based dyes. You can’t see the maple grain very well through them. However, they are less prone to fading because there aren’t photosensitive pigments resulting from organic materials in them.
If you want to see the grain there is NO CHOICE other than to use organic pigments in the stain.
Translucent stains, with very few exceptions, are organic dyes. Organic dyes tend to be photosensitive; like many organic materials, light photons cause a chemical reaction in the dye, even after it’s applied. This happens to a greater or lesser degree with every organic pigment because the chemicals are plant and animal based.
Certain colors are more photosensitive than others, but the nature of the dyes that make up blue organic stains are the most photosensitive of all the dyes.
In order to have a guitar that uses translucent blue organic dyes, there is literally zero option other than to accept the fact of photosensitivity if you want to see the wood grain. That’s just a fact.
This all was explained to me by my brother who is a respected painter; you’ve seen his work. He is the director of the fine arts department of the Center for Creative Studies, teaches painting at the university level, and often mixes his own colors. I’ve followed up myself with reading about this, and it’s true.
I’d say my brother knows something about pigments and the application of color. This is one of his oil paintings:
http://www.robertschefman.com/i-keep-my-secrets.html
After the stain has dried, PRS uses a clear lacquer. I have four Private Stock PRSes with their clear nitro lacquer finish. It’s absolutely the finest nitro finish I’ve ever encountered; it doesn’t get sticky, even when the weather is humid; it looks great; it feels great; it resists checking and flaking, and the guitars I have with it are the best sounding I own.
I also have two 594s made in 2017 with their most recent poly finish. They stopped using V12 several years ago, though I had four guitars with it, and the V12 finish held up great. My 2017s have whatever they’re using now. It’s certainly the equal of any clear lacquer finish I’ve had in terms of wear and tear, and yet they can apply it thinner so the guitar isn’t muffled sounding.
Thing is, finishes are a trade off. A thicker finish holds up well but doesn’t sound as good. A thinner finish can be dinged more easily, but the guitars sound better.
PRS has learned that a thinner finish than their earlier finishes creates a better sounding guitar, at least as far as Paul Smith sees it, and I have to agree."
Halten wir also fest: Es gibt organische und anorganische Lacke. Soll die Maserung sichtbar sein, geht kein Weg vorbei an organischen Lacken. Die Lichtempfindlichkeit/-reagibiltät bei organischen Lacken ist stärker als bei anorganischen. Und der Ton Blau ist der empfindlichste von allen.
Im PRS-Forum selbst wurde das Ausfaden von Northern Lights bereits thematisiert. Als ich, nach ich mit Les meine Unterhaltung wieder aufnahm, im US Forum das Stichwort "Northern Lights" suchen ließ, fand ich einen Thread, in dem sich auch Les beteiligte.
Am 9. November 2019 (9. November sind ereignisreiche Tage der Geschichte) schrieb er dort:
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Here’s the deal, guys/gals:
Stains that allow the wood to show through are usually organic, and organic dyes are photosensitive. That is, light causes a chemical reaction in the dye. The degree of photosensitivity varies from color to color. Blue organic dyes are prone to significant photosensitivity.
Inorganic dyes are less photosensitive, but you can’t see the wood grain details through most of them.
Remember, they’re stains, not paint.
Either you want to see the wood grain detail, and you use a photosensitive dye, or you paint the damn thing and don’t see the grain.
With photosensitive dyes, the solution is to keep it out of the light if you want to prevent fading. I have one of the Northern Lights guitars from the same run as the OP, and because I’m in the habit of keeping my guitars cased when I’m not playing them, if there’s any fading, I can’t even see it.
A photosensitive color doesn’t need to be in direct light to fade; it can be in indirect light. That’s because, photons being what they are, any light causes the chemical reaction to occur. Direct light will fade it faster, but indirect light will do the same, just more slowly.
You don’t want fading? Case the damn guitar when you’re not playing it. Simple as that."
Um das farbliche Aussehen der Gitarre bestmöglich zu konservieren, bleibt nur die Kofferlagerung!
Da der Threadopener seine Gitarre beim PTC neu lackieren lassen wollte, wiederholte Les seine beinahe alternativlose Empfehlung am gleichen Tag:
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You are the man! But do case it after you get it back. Too pretty to allow to fade."
Am 7. Februar 2019 führte er aus, was er mir kürzlich in der privaten Unterhaltung schrieb:
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On translucent finishes where you can see the grain, there’s a stain that carries the color, and a clear-coat on top. The pigments are made from organic dyes. Organic dyes are often photosensitive; they react to light. The organic dyes in blue and a few other colors are especially photosensitive.
So blue stains fade more rapidly if exposed to light for a certain time.
Solid colors are like car paints, and they’re mostly inorganic pigments. There are inorganic stains, but they don’t let the wood grain show through; they aren’t translucent.
If you like the look of a translucent finish that lets you see the wood figure, like the ones PRS offers, keep it cased when not being played if fading bothers you. The solid colors, being mostly inorganic pigments, won’t fade.
Since translucent inorganic stains haven’t yet been invented for most colors, good luck finding the PRS look from another company with similar finishes!"
Das erklärt plausibel die Ausbleichungen blauer Lacke bei Gitarren, die nicht deckend lackiert sind. Das ist kein Produktionsfehler, sondern ein normaler Prozess durch die verwendeten Materialien und wenn man nicht materialschonend lagert.
Bei Mr.Blue gab es aber Lackprobleme, die sich auch auf die Haltbarkeit auswirkten. Das ist damit nicht erklärt.
Les schrieb allerdings auch, dass PRS vom V12 Lack wegegangen sei und nun eine andere Mixtur verwendet.
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