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Guitar stand affecting nitro finish?


AndyK

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*sigh* My SG neck has some sort of anomaly on the surface - coincidentally, it seems in the same place it rests on the guitar stand. I am very careful with it, so it definitely isn't through chucking it onto the stand. Could it be the rubbery bit of the stand reacting with the nitro finish? [confused]

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Yes.. definitely its a well known issue.... The foam rubber stuff reacts with the nitro.... You need to cover any foam bits that contact the guitar with cotton.. and make sure its old so all the dye has come out of it.. Like an old Tshirt or something that's been washed a few times etc.

 

I had the same issue with my 60s Tribute Goldtop... Luckily I had covered the bottom stand bits. I have no idea why I forgot the back rest #-o (im just glad this wasn't my 2008 Standard :unsure: )

 

DSC_0414_zps3029c739.jpg

DSC_0415_zps68b3bf93.jpg

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Yes.. definitely its a well known issue.... The foam rubber stuff reacts with the nitro.... You need to cover any foam bits that contact the guitar with cotton.. and make sure its old so all the dye has come out of it.. Like an old Tshirt or something that's been washed a few times etc.

 

I had the same issue with my 60s Tribute Goldtop... Luckily I had covered the bottom stand bits. I have no idea why I forgot the back rest #-o

 

DSC_0414_zps3029c739.jpg

DSC_0415_zps68b3bf93.jpg

 

My 60s tribute did the same thing. I don't store my nice guitars on a stand. They live in a case, only my players are on a stand.

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And this is why nitro sucks.

Yeah.. but it has its cool side too I think with the way it ages etc... And the fact that its not like poly which is almost like a layer of plastic around your guitar....

 

I may actually try and fix mine soon.. I got some nitro.. I just hope I don't have to sand the crap out of it to get rid of that mess (which would probably mean doing the whole back, arrgggg) but it will be an interesting project to see how well (or not) I can do it :)

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And this is why nitro sucks.

Not just nitro. I've got "burn marks" on the necks of my Carvin (tung oil) and my MIM Strat (finish ?? but definitely not nitro, some satin thing). I have every foam piece on each of my stands wrapped with a few layers of 2" cotton gauze. Not real pretty, but effective. More than a few years now and no other problems.

 

As stated before, regardless of mfgr claims, foam is not good for guitar finishes.

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Not just nitro. I've got "burn marks" on the necks of my Carvin (tung oil) and my MIM Strat (finish ?? but definitely not nitro, some satin thing). I have every foam piece on each of my stands wrapped with a few layers of 2" cotton gauze. Not real pretty, but effective. More than a few years now and no other problems.

 

As stated before, regardless of mfgr claims, foam is not good for guitar finishes.

MIM Fenders usually come with a polyester finish.

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Yeah, I could look it up but was lazy LOL, Polyester or polyurethane? In any event, it's a satin finish.

Polyurethane is a polyester, too, so it's a bit unclear, but Fender usually specifies polyester for MIM and polyurethane for most MIA guitars and basses. On certain contemporary US made Fenders one may even find nitrocellulose, but I think this applies to only a few Custom Shop instruments.

 

Satin finish surfaces can be created on all kinds of lacquer I believe.

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Hercules hangers (which have the foam) haven't harmed my '64 Melody Maker and it's been hanging there for years (obviously when I'm not playing it). And my room gets hot as hell. Perhaps it's the newer formulations of nitro with plasticizers and such that have this problem...

 

-Ryan

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On certain contemporary US made Fenders one may even find nitrocellulose, but I think this applies to only a few Custom Shop instruments.

 

And the American Vintage series (besides any 70's models). The '52 Reissue Tele, for example. And it's nowhere near a Custom Shop in terms of price...

 

-Ryan

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Hercules hangers (which have the foam) haven't harmed my '64 Melody Maker and it's been hanging there for years (obviously when I'm not playing it). And my room gets hot as hell. Perhaps it's the newer formulations of nitro with plasticizers and such that have this problem...

 

-Ryan

I fear inconsistencies in different foam batches are more likely. This could be the reason why Hercules and Gibson didn't see it coming as long as everything was fine. As usual, it could be about cheap raw materials and improperly fast processing. [thumbdn]

 

And the American Vintage series (besides any 70's models). The '52 Reissue Tele, for example. And it's nowhere near a Custom Shop in terms of price...

 

-Ryan

This is interesting, Ryan, thanks for posting it here. So they obviously still have skilled workers, technical equipment and appropriate production environment for making larger numbers of nitro finished items. B)

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Does this issue occur only if the guitar is left on the stand for extended times? Or can it happen in one night, like say at a gig?

 

I swear when I use a Shubb capo for a short while it leaves a temporary discoloration on the back of the neck. It goes away on its own, but I never have a capo on long.

 

My guitar stand with whatever black foam it has (Onstage Stands brand stand), and my String Swings don't have an effect (after hours of use). I've never dared rest it on latex (surgical tube) stands.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Hercules hangers (which have the foam) haven't harmed my '64 Melody Maker and it's been hanging there for years (obviously when I'm not playing it). And my room gets hot as hell. Perhaps it's the newer formulations of nitro with plasticizers and such that have this problem...

 

-Ryan

 

I've seen a nitro finish damaged by a "nitro safe" Hercules stand. Hercules have watered down their nitro safe claim a lot in recent years saying something along the lines of "safe for most guitar finishes".

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Polyurethane is a polyester, too, so it's a bit unclear, but Fender usually specifies polyester for MIM and polyurethane for most MIA guitars and basses. On certain contemporary US made Fenders one may even find nitrocellulose, but I think this applies to only a few Custom Shop instruments.

 

Satin finish surfaces can be created on all kinds of lacquer I believe.

 

 

Last time I checked (and that was a while ago) all Fender Niro finishes were sprayed over poly sealer coats.

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Sorry cap, but polyesters and polyurethanes are two different chemistries. However, once their reactive sites have been cross-linked, they behave similarly.

The term polyester applies to a large group of substances. Those based on phthalic acid or terephthalic acid are usually named polyesters, despite of e. g. polycarbonate and polyurethane being polyesters, too. Even cellulosenitrate, erroneously referred to as nitrocellulose, is a polyester as well but synthesized in a completely different process. It's a product of substitution, not of technical polymerisation or polycondensation. The latter already happens as a natural process using glucose in growing plants. There's no 'poly' in the name since cellulose is a polymeric substance itself.

 

Furthermore, there are many different variations of most polyesters.

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Of course you are correct, cap, but my point was that it is misleading to suggest that the chemistries used in polyesters and polyurethanes (and nitrocellulose for that matter) in industrial or guitar coatings are even remotely similar. That's like saying Bonnie Raitt and Robert Fripp are similar because they are both guitar players.

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