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Peeling Nitro Finish on Thunderbird


physics

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The nitro finish on the bottom of the neck between the headstock and 1st fret is peeling away, mainly around the area where the fretboard and neck join. This is a 2015 TBird that is only a few months old that hasn't been subjected to extreme changes of temperature or humidity, so I'm curious what might have caused it. I'm in the process of contacting Gibson to hopefully get it repaired under warranty. Does anybody know if this is a common problem or just a fluke. Thanks for the help.

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Hello and welcome.

 

Are you keeping it on a guitar stand which holds it by the neck??

 

If so then that is a big issue.. the rubber foam around the padded parts of a guitar stand eat nitro.. even though the effect is more of a chemical burn than a peeling..

 

If you could post a picture of it that would help us identify the issue...

 

(most of us use http://www.photobucket.com once you upload to there use the IMG link it gives you on here in your post)

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Hello and welcome.

 

Are you keeping it on a guitar stand which holds it by the neck??

 

No. The guitar stand that I use is a Hercules, which is supposedly safe for nitro finishes. I have wrapped cotton cloth around the foam rubber as an additional precaution and the point of contact of the guitar stand with the bass is on the headstock, above the damaged area.

 

I should also restate the nature of the defect as more of a delamination than a peeling. The entire coating of nitro has separated cleanly and completely from the side of the rosewood slab. In looking at the surface of the wood underneath I've noticed a sort of non uniform discoloration of the wood, if that's significant. From what I can see it seems as if the lacquer has not adhered well to the underlying surface. In my experience with painting it's like what I would see if I didn't sand and clean a wooden surface properly prior to painting.

 

There is also another nitro defect, although not as noticeable and really not a big deal for me. It's a nickel size nitro drip bubble on the bottom edge of the body, near the strap lock. It probably only needs to be scraped and sanded/polished to get it fixed. My main concern is this delamination of the nitro on the neck and my concern for the future of the finish on this bass.

 

Since I haven't received a reply yet to my email to Gibson about the warranty repair, I'm going to send a follow up with this picture as an attachment.

 

Thanks for the reply and your help. - Cheers, Jim

post-69428-001299600 1432782273_thumb.jpg

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There is also another nitro defect, although not as noticeable and really not a big deal for me. It's a nickel size nitro drip bubble on the bottom edge of the body, near the strap lock. It probably only needs to be scraped and sanded/polished to get it fixed. My main concern is this delamination of the nitro on the neck and my concern for the future of the finish on this bass.

 

Since I haven't received a reply yet to my email to Gibson about the warranty repair, I'm going to send a follow up with this picture as an attachment.

 

Thanks for the reply and your help. - Cheers, Jim

Well if this is a new bass then man, that is certainly not normal and id say really not acceptable... If you can, take it back to where you got it from..... I have four Gibsons one of which is 13 years old and ive never had what your picture shows on any of my guitars..

 

And yes as you say.. it sort of sounds like the glue from the fretboard wasn't cleaned properly in that area so the nitro never sank in to the wood and thus once dried just peeled off...

 

Not cool..

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Well if this is a new bass then man, that is certainly not normal and id say really not acceptable... If you can, take it back to where you got it from..... I have four Gibsons one of which is 13 years old and ive never had what your picture shows on any of my guitars..

 

And yes as you say.. it sort of sounds like the glue from the fretboard wasn't cleaned properly in that area so the nitro never sank in to the wood and thus once dried just peeled off...

 

Not cool..

 

Thanks Rabs for the help on this. I appreciate the experience and knowledge others here have and their willingness to share it with those of us newer to this. I have a friend with a 25 year old L.P. who said that he has not had any problems of this sort either. It looks to me like a real anomaly and that I can probably feel safe in sticking with Gibson once this gets fixed. I do love this bass and intend to keep it and grow with it.

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