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PLEASE HELP, IVE RUINED MY LES PAUL


RyanGT90

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So essentially a friend of mine whos an artist, said that she could draw on my Gibson les paul junior in the way that hendrix did. She had done this before to my Epiphone les paul and it turned out great. I got tired of the Art on it after a while and decided to use nail polish remover to get rid of the permanent marker that she had used to draw on it with and it went off with no problems. However she did this again to my Gibson les paul junior but when i got tired of it and used the nail polish remover, THE NITRO LAQUER CAME OFF WITH IT. What can i do? Please reply ASAP. thanks in advance. Ill try and post pictures later on

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Disassemble the guitar.

 

Use a wet sand method, with very fine sand paper.

Get all the lacquer off.

 

Let it dry for five days or more in a warm, dry environment.

 

Remove that chick from your email contacts, and from your phone contacts.

 

Give the body a light spray of clear lacquer, and let it dry a few days.

Do not answer your phone, just in case it is that chick calling you.

 

Give the body another clear-coat, and let it dry for at least three days.

Wax the body down real well with carnauba wax.

Re-assemble the guitar, and put extra light Super Slinky's on it.

 

Get new friends.

Play the guitar.

Rock and roll.

 

Move to another town, if you have to.

:(

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Disassemble the guitar.

 

Use a wet sand method, with very fine sand paper.

Get all the lacquer off.

 

Let it dry for five days or more in a warm, dry environment.

 

Remove that chick from your email contacts, and from your phone contacts.

 

Give the body a light spray of clear lacquer, and let it dry a few days.

Do not answer your phone, just in case it is that chick calling you.

 

Give the body another clear-coat, and let it dry for at least three days.

Wax the body down real well with carnauba wax.

Re-assemble the guitar, and put extra light Super Slinky's on it.

 

Get new friends.

Play the guitar.

Rock and roll.

 

Move to another town, if you have to.

:(

 

Well, SHE (the artist) didn't use the nail polish remover...HE did! [tongue][biggrin]

 

Most Nail Polish remover, is designed to remove nail "Lacquer!" You Epiphone has/had

a Poly finish, which it much more robust! Hence, no visible damage, removing the art.

However, Gibson's Nitro finish IS "Lacquer," and the NPR will remove it, as you quickly

found out, the hard way. (When all else fails, read the directions!) :rolleyes:

 

So, if I were in your situation, I'd have a Pro Luthier/restorer, do the refinishing.

 

Sorry, that you had to learn this lesson, the hard way! But, we've all had such lessons,

in some form or another. [crying]:rolleyes:[biggrin]

 

And, for future reference, gently use a bit of Naphtha (Lighter Fluid) to clean Nitro finishes.

 

Hope it all turns out well, in the long run!

 

CB

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If there were experts reading this and could tell you what you might do, they would want to see pics.

 

I am NOT making suggestions about how to fix something I can't see, but I have used on occasion lacquer thinner, or various solvents to "help" a messed up finish, depending on the finish and what's in it or on it.

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Thanks for the replies guys. How much would it cost to get it refinished? Because the guitar itself cost me £469. Is it worth it or should i be in the market for a new telecaster?

This will mainly depend on your desire for a Telecaster.

 

 

If there were experts reading this and could tell you what you might do, they would want to see pics.

 

...

Yep. Pics would be helpful, in particular for estimating how much work has to be done. In many cases damaged nitro finishes allow for a partial refinishing only without drawbacks.

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that will teach you not to draw on your guitar..

 

A Tele.. you're asking a Gibson Les Paul site if you should get a Tele and get rid of you LPj [confused]

 

Stewmac in the USA sells nitro lacquer for refinishing.. but they won't sell it out of the USA as far as I know.. maybe there is a source in the UK somewhere..

 

or you can be like some of the 'famous' players of the late 60's that stripped the finish off the top of their guitar and just played it naked (guitar not them ;) )

 

 

 

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Take it to a night club. Sell it to a drunk. Leave it on the subway. Tell your insurance company it was stolen.

Put it on Kijiji... Advertize as "Retro, Authentic, Rock and Roll Players Special Edition."

Come on. He ruined the finish only, not the guitar.

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I don't know any prices in UK for anything, but when I've priced a partial nitro fix it ranged in $150-$450. Partial where they fix the finish area damaged and burn (buff) it in to match. Someday in the future in "MAYBE" will not match perfect as a total refinish would. Also, if you have about $600-$700 US dollars, in the LP jr. then I'd make a run at fixing it as described prior. If the git were $4,500 US $$ then we're talking a different story. Practice with fine sanding and spraying some practice wood. Also, practice rubbing the sprayed finish with some compound. I think you'll NEED some sort of buffing pad on a motorized buffer to get that to burn in to the old finish IMHO.

 

Aster

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Well...

 

Nail polish is made of nitrocellulose, just like the finish on Your Gibson. No wonder, acetone damaged it badly.

 

If You are in UK, You have several options where to buy instrument-grade lacquer:

 

http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/nitrocellulose-paints-lacquers/

 

http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/guitar-paint-and-lacquer.html?p=3

 

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/nitrocellulose-lacquer/

 

Or contact The Guitar Repair Workshop Ltd. - they are an authorized Gibson repair center.

 

http://theguitarrepairworkshop.com/services/

 

Good luck... Bence

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Acetone melts nitro as you just found out.

 

Relax...you just relic'd your guitar! It's got more mojo now! Or you can sand it out and hand stain and treat with True Oil, tung oil,..etc...all by hand.

 

...and keep the chick with talent. msp_thumbup.gif

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