Don Anthony Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 I’m looking at a couple used J45’s. Both less than a year old. I’ve been emailing the shops for info as I’ll have to have them transferred to my local shop. The one that looks the most promising I’m told “sweat has eaten or discolored the finish on both the top and back and side of the guitar”. They attached a couple photos showing this. If this was several years old I could see it having affected the finish but being less than a year do you think this has actually removed the gloss from the top coats? Hoping this could be polished relatively easily (maybe a bit more time than the shop was willing to put in?) Thanks
Buc McMaster Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 The back looks like someone with some strong body chem played it, seated, without a shirt on. Can't see much on the front.......maybe a little grayish area at the waist. All of that might polish out.........then again it might be more than surface deep and won't clean up. However, if the guitar is a good 'un that shouldn't matter much. Cosmetic issues are not critical to the playability and tone of a guitar. I understand this could be a deal breaker for some, though...........I'd use it as a bargaining chip in negotiating price. G'luck!
blindboygrunt Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 When I first got mine it went like that , I kinda polished it , not regularly . And let it go and be like that , it's not half as bad now just from playing the thing with shirts etc. Just polishing as you play . Bare skin on a newish guitar seems to cloud the finish as seen on the pictures As the guitar ages the laquer hardens and the problem disappears And as the man above me just said , it's only cosmetic , what annoyed me more was the 'sticky' feeing that goes with the laquer cloudiness
Joe M Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 My guess is that Virtuoso cleaner/polish and a little elbow grease would take care of those marks easily. Had the same marks on the top of my used J185 I recently bought. Couple of minutes with Virtuoso and the haze was gone. As Buc mentioned, use it as a bargaining tool to maybe get a lower price if you really like the guitar.
Hogeye Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 Any repair shop with a clean cotton buffing wheel can fix this in about two minutes. I doubt they would even charge you. No abrasive compounds are needed. The guitar will look like new. Have it done after you have negotiated a lower price because of the nasty looks.
blindboygrunt Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 Is there a timescale on this sticky / cloudy finish with nitro before if hardens off and doesn't annoy anyone ? It doesn't seem to be how new the guitar is but how often it's polished / played / left out of case / environment etc ?
slimt Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 I’m looking at a couple used J45’s. Both less than a year old. I’ve been emailing the shops for info as I’ll have to have them transferred to my local shop. The one that looks the most promising I’m told “sweat has eaten or discolored the finish on both the top and back and side of the guitar”. They attached a couple photos showing this. If this was several years old I could see it having affected the finish but being less than a year do you think this has actually removed the gloss from the top coats? Hoping this could be polished relatively easily (maybe a bit more time than the shop was willing to put in?) Thanks The one you are showing is a rental guitar from Long and Mc quade.. its going to have everyones sweat on it.( which everyones sweat is different) even hands on the back of a neck can create big issues... thats what you see as finish damage.. best thing Ive done is had L&M wet sand and polish the areas by there in house luthier.. theres not much of a deal buying from L&M on there rental to new guitars.. the margin is really slim.. beings the guitar is a new one in the rental department thats been used and never sold .. It should be a 1 year warranty on it ...
Lars68 Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 I'm with Buc. That kind of "damage" is a perfect bargaining chip. It will polish out using Virtuoso cleaner/polish faster than you can say discount. Lars
djw171 Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 Long and Mcquade suck as a company. They will not move on the sticker price most of the time at all. I went to a store in London Ontario. They had a nice J45 Northern. played nice but cosmetically it had some real hammering. I asked the sales guy "is this an ex-rental". "No, its brand new" with a embarrassed reply. He went on to say the company policy is let anyone play anything, so kids come in on a Saturday and grab the Gibsons etc..which they can never afford. I asked him what discount they would offer. After going to talk to the manager, he came back with $100 off. I laughed and handed him back the guitar. Long and Mcquade and Yorkville, the distributor for Gibson Canada, is one in the same company. Pretty sure they have a larger margin to offer flexibility.
jvi Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 seems like a bit much on the back BUT if you love the sound and feel with the current action, CURRENT action, ignore the blemmish and enjoy, AS to long and mcquade , they have the best rental policies any where, the best financing and will put pretty much any guitar in anyones hands, Im biassed cause for 30 years they have been great to me even with returns and exchanges,and the best selection in canada, if you shop in the same store for a while develope a relationship with staff if you can , also, for Years they were the only source for gibson guitars in Canada fwiw cheers
jdd707 Posted August 5, 2016 Posted August 5, 2016 I'm with Buc. That kind of "damage" is a perfect bargaining chip. It will polish out using Virtuoso cleaner/polish faster than you can say discount. Lars Yeah I have this problem on my bursts ...... Gibby and Martins. I use the Virtuoso CLEANER and it works with a little elbow grease. I've experimented and found that leaving the cleaner on for a while helps. I don't ever use the polish under the theory that the polish might seal in the haze ( the cleaner actually adds a little shine).
slimt Posted August 5, 2016 Posted August 5, 2016 seems like a bit much on the back BUT if you love the sound and feel with the current action, CURRENT action, ignore the blemmish and enjoy, AS to long and mcquade , they have the best rental policies any where, the best financing and will put pretty much any guitar in anyones hands, Im biassed cause for 30 years they have been great to me even with returns and exchanges,and the best selection in canada, if you shop in the same store for a while develope a relationship with staff if you can , also, for Years they were the only source for gibson guitars in Canada fwiw cheers ya ,, they with Yorkville have not been to bad... but over the past year, policies have changed do to tightening up from the economy.. I have no complaints either.. a few L&M stores have been good to me as well.. the employees are a straight time base.. not Commission.. and L&M have there policies that are equal to everyone..
Fullmental Alpinist Posted August 5, 2016 Posted August 5, 2016 Virtuoso should take this off without a problem. Don't worry about using the polish: if it were to cause a problem (it won't) the cleaner would fix it. The polish is very gentle.
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