capmaster Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hello, having recently purchased a nice Gibson L6S including a Gibson leather strap, I am wondering if there might appear trouble for the finished guitar surface due to enduring contact. All of my guitars have their dedicated leather strap, set to according length, and with unworn holes so they are hold safely by the instrument's strap button. They actually stay on the guitars permanently except for the few hours a year I spend on cleaning and maintenance. Luckily, I didn't have any problems with them up to now, but I have to concede that my 1978 S-G has suffered most of its stains and wear during its first three years at the previous owner. I had to peel off stickers from half of the guitar top - you still can see clearly where they had been after nearly 30 years! However, it seems that the finished outside of the strap, its sued inside, and the yellowish colour have done nothing obviously bad to the S-G's lacquer. How can I be sure that my new L6S will stay glossy and shining in the areas the strap is in contact with next to all the time? Any personal experience, and theoretical reasoning about nitrocellulose lacquer and leather tanning chemistry are welcome. Thank you very much, capmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StijnV Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Hi Capmaster, It might be good to add some extra padding. It is always the best to remove the straps in any case when you don't play the guitar. The leather can "eat away" the nitrocellulose lacquer like some guitars stands also do (only hercules stands don't- http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/guitarstands.html). From our FAQ section: "Stand damage occurs when the chemicals in the rubber used on guitar stands react with the nitrocellulose lacquer used to finish our instruments. It can range from a slight discoloration to the finish to actually "eating away" the lacquer topcoat. Unfortunately, this situation is not covered under your warranty. The safest way to prevent this from happening is to cover the rubber parts of your stand with a soft cotton cloth (use guitar polishing cloths). Guitar stands should only be used to 'temporarily' store your instrument, such as on a gig. The safest place to store your instrument is in its case. " Kind regards, Stijn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I've never had a problem with my Gibsons under similar situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Like Stijn says, its best to take the straps off. Just like the guitar stands that use rubber or foam, leather may be colored with a dye or stain that will eat the nitro finish. Even pure leather or natural rubber may have enough impurities to damage the finish after time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I've always taken straps off of EB/SG Basses, and stored in cases with no problems of the Nitro finishes. I use Gibson Pump Polish on my SG Std. Bass also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaadDaawg Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I keep my guitars in hard cases unless I'm jamming or home recording. If I have more than one out at a time at home, I use Hercules hangers since they're supposed to be the safest on the finish (and I like the little locking arms too :P ) I also use Strap Locks on all my guitars so the straps ALWAYS come off when I'm not playing, by mounting studs to the side of my bookcase, I hang the straps by clipping them onto the locks while not in use... works out nicely. Always a good idea to clean the guitar and fretboard after every use to get your sweat and dead skin cells off the finish before storing into the cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmer Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 To be honest...I hate nitro. I it is too shiny and it can't take a rubber stand, a leather strap, if your hands are sweaty the nitro looses its blin blin...crap. use something that can take a beating, what is this for crap, only things I hear is ooo watch out the nitro. is tere something good about it? does make the sound better? Next guitar I buy is without nitro... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarBuilder Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 To be honest...I hate nitro. I it is too shiny and it can't take a rubber stand, a leather strap, if your hands are sweaty the nitro looses its blin blin...crap. use something that can take a beating, what is this for crap, only things I hear is ooo watch out the nitro. is tere something good about it? does make the sound better? Next guitar I buy is without nitro... Elmer, meet Poly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarBuilder Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Hello, having recently purchased a nice Gibson L6S including a Gibson leather strap, I am wondering if there might appear trouble for the finished guitar surface due to enduring contact. All of my guitars have their dedicated leather strap, set to according length, and with unworn holes so they are hold safely by the instrument's strap button. They actually stay on the guitars permanently except for the few hours a year I spend on cleaning and maintenance. Luckily, I didn't have any problems with them up to now, but I have to concede that my 1978 S-G has suffered most of its stains and wear during its first three years at the previous owner. I had to peel off stickers from half of the guitar top - you still can see clearly where they had been after nearly 30 years! However, it seems that the finished outside of the strap, its sued inside, and the yellowish colour have done nothing obviously bad to the S-G's lacquer. How can I be sure that my new L6S will stay glossy and shining in the areas the strap is in contact with next to all the time? Any personal experience, and theoretical reasoning about nitrocellulose lacquer and leather tanning chemistry are welcome. Thank you very much, capmaster As mentioned before, your only guarantee is to take the straps off....you take your chances otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselGenny Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Hi Capmaster, It might be good to add some extra padding. It is always the best to remove the straps in any case when you don't play the guitar. The leather can "eat away" the nitrocellulose lacquer like some guitars stands also do (only hercules stands don't- http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/guitarstands.html). From our FAQ section: "Stand damage occurs when the chemicals in the rubber used on guitar stands react with the nitrocellulose lacquer used to finish our instruments. It can range from a slight discoloration to the finish to actually "eating away" the lacquer topcoat. Unfortunately, this situation is not covered under your warranty. The safest way to prevent this from happening is to cover the rubber parts of your stand with a soft cotton cloth (use guitar polishing cloths). Guitar stands should only be used to 'temporarily' store your instrument, such as on a gig. The safest place to store your instrument is in its case. " Kind regards, Stijn On the Hercules stands comment, I have my Les Paul, SG and another (acoustic) on Hercules hangars. Whilst I never noticed a problem with the neoprene (or whatever it is) on the hanger damaging the Nitro per-say, I did notice that it left a rough impression under the headstock on the Les Paul where it hangs, after a few weeks. So I covered the Neoprene with micro-cloth (guitar cleaning cloth), which I've stitched to the neoprene, and never had a problem since of any description - in fact, the weight, along with the micro-cloth, seems to have flattened the rough bits back down over time, so happy. Never had a problem with the SG, and the "other" is I think an acrylic finish anyway. Wonder whether this was the Nitrocellulose being soft, and the weight of the Les Paul? Anyone else noticed anything like this (can't be too common, as a lot of shops seem to use the Hercules hangars and guitars hang there for months)? Odd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory Pete Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I just returned a 2009 PRS Starla because it is not Nitro, I thought it was when I bought it, there were a lot of dings in the finish I figured I could fix with Nitro drop fills. It had acrylic finish. I have a technique where I will do a drop fill with Nitro and immediatley swipe it with an old credit card. It takes many applications but when finished it is a completely flat and level repair that requires only minor buffing. I have been doing this to my fleet of 6 Gibsons for years. A guitar without Nitro is doomed to a lifetime of visible dings, sure you can do drop fills but they wont melt in like nitro and will always leave a witness line. I have only had one problem with nitro reacting with my couch. I left a guitar on my couch when it was hot and humid and it left a pattern in the finish. It was only my Fender Jazzbass, which is a workhorse anyway so I left it there as a reminder of the vulnerabilty of Nitro. I have never seen any reaction with my Levy's leather straps, I leave them on all the time. To me there is no substitute for Nitro. VP http://www.victoryguitar.com/victoryguitar/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otaypanky Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Hi Capmaster, It might be good to add some extra padding. It is always the best to remove the straps in any case when you don't play the guitar. The leather can "eat away" the nitrocellulose lacquer like some guitars stands also do (only hercules stands don't- http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/guitarstands.html). From our FAQ section: "Stand damage occurs when the chemicals in the rubber used on guitar stands react with the nitrocellulose lacquer used to finish our instruments. It can range from a slight discoloration to the finish to actually "eating away" the lacquer topcoat. Unfortunately, this situation is not covered under your warranty. The safest way to prevent this from happening is to cover the rubber parts of your stand with a soft cotton cloth (use guitar polishing cloths). Guitar stands should only be used to 'temporarily' store your instrument, such as on a gig. The safest place to store your instrument is in its case. " Kind regards, Stijn My experience has been different and a Hercules stand did affect the finish on my R8. I make straps for a living and as you might expect I have one for each of my guitars. They stay on the guitar when it's in a stand and I leave it on when I put the guitar in it's case. I leave the strap attached at the lower bout and ,unfasten the upper button, then lay it across the body and along the neck. I've never had a strap affect a guitar's finish. But I wouldn't be surprised if some straps could ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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