Even though these guitars appear to be only stained or unfinished, they are actually finished with the same finish as regular guitars but with a slight chemical change so the result is flat with no shine. This saves the manufacturer time in manufacturing and saves you money.

This flat finish protects your guitar just as well as glossy.  A clean warm damp cloth then clean dry cloth will remove grimy residue as usual.  Taylor recommends not polishing their flat or satin finished guitars with brand name guitar polishes because they will hurt the guitar's finish.  They recommend using something called Ken Smith Pro Formula if you want to polish.

Martin recommends not polishing their flat or satin finish guitars with their polish but the finish will not be damaged if you do.

The problem I see with the flat finish is over time, constant rubbing will turn it glossy like on the back of the neck where your hand always rubs or on the body where it rubs in the guitar case.

Some guitarists prefer this flat finish because spotlights won't reflect off the face of the guitar on stage.

Gman ( o )==#