High Gloss is a grit-less polish, whatever surface you start with is the surface you finish with.  It's a shiny polish.  Rough Buff is a compound polish with grit.  Going with Brunswick's standard finishes, 220-grit plus RB gives about roughly a 1000-grit finish with a light polish.  Their standard 400-grit plus HG is shinier.

With their standard finishes, a HG ball will have more length, less midlane, and more backend than a RB ball.  The RB ball will have more midlane and a strong arc on the backend.

Of course, it depends on the starting grit.  800-grit plus RB will give you a different finish than the standard 220-grit RB and 1500-grit plus HG will be different from 400-grit plus HG.

SH

Brunswick's put HG on several particle balls.  The Impulse Zone, the Ambush, and the Raging Inferno all had HG finishes.  Putting a coat of HG on a particle ball can help it get through spotty heads, while the particles help smooth out the backend reaction and give it more midlane and cut through carrydown on the back.  That polish won't turn a particle ball into a skid-snap beast.

On a ball designed for length and a skid-snap reaction like many pearl reactives, HG can enhance that.  But it's a double-edged sword, as it can mean the ball is extremely over-under and sensitive to oil.  In that case, RB can help smooth the reaction and turn over-under into additional midlane with still a strong backend.

To my knowledge, there are no particle balls with Rough Buff (out of the factory).  At least not under the Brunswick name.  Morich's Awesome Revs is a particle pearl with a compound finish.  It's made by Brunswick, and while Mo doesn't always go with Brunswick's few stock finishes, my guess is that it's RB (I believe the Shock & Awe was also RB).  Might be a different starting grit though.

SH

Edited on 4/25/2007 9:41 AM

RB is hard to compare to a polish. In fact, it is an abrasive compound that smoothes out the surface. What I found out is that it really needs a coarse base grit to work properly, e. g. a maroon pad (320 grit, methinks?). I tried a 600 grit base on a Shock & Awe, but this left the ball very shiny and with poor grip. The ball was dead! Therafter, I used a coarser base as suggested by Brunswick, and the ball is back, as good as OOB.

IMHO, RB is quite limited in use, but can be a ticket if you want to smooth out the breakpoint on a flippy ball. To me, the finish appears in strength similar to a 4.000 Abralon finish, but looks different, more dullish.
--------------------
DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
Doing legwork on bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section