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Headstock inlay and finish


jlg4398

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Hi I tried to wipe and clean the inset Gibson logo on my headstock. I used fingernail polish remover to try and brighten up the Gibson logo. It didn't work and now it has smudged the Black finish of the headstock. Any suggestions?

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Fingernail polish remover (active ingredient acetone) softens lacquer and in most cases will wash the finish right off. Acetone is wonderful stuff but not around guitar finishes. Hopefully al you did was soften the clearcoat on the headstock. I would wait a day or two before you do anything. The acetone softened the lacquer and even though it may feel dry to the touch, it's not. The acetone has actually made the lacquer swell a little and it needs to go back to normal before you do anything to fix it.

 

It's difficult to say without seeing it in person, what steps you can take to fix it. It could be as minor as just hand polishing with some rubbing compound and then following up with a finer grade of polish like Dupont's No. 7 (and Meguairs has a whole line of products for this purpose and I won't pretend to know what they offer). If it's bunged up worse, you might end up sanding it with 600 or 1000 grit paper first.

 

Or in the absolute worst case scenario, you might need to sand with 400/600, then spray some clear lacquer over it.

 

It's all fixable, it's just a matter of using the least intrusive method.

 

Acetone works wonders when it's the stuff we need, but it should never be used on anything with a finish unless you absolutely know it won't hurt it. I'm sitting on my couch looking at a little spot on the coffee table that my wife "cleaned" with acetone....

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About 15 years ago I bought a black Herb Ellis cheap because it had a smudge on the back of the neck where it sat in a wall hanger in the store. The store employee thought acetone would be great to clean up the smudges. So I basically owned a black ES-165 with a patch of bare wood right where the volute would be.

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