pentatonicwanke Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) Anyone ever seen wear like I'm experiencing on my 2019 Gibson Firebird? It appears like the finish is bleeding or transferring from the guitar body onto the pickguard. It was perplexing at first as I've only had the guitar for little over a year. That said, I play it a ton, and finish transfer (if that's even the right word for it) seems to mirror where my fingers brush against the center section of the Firebird's body while playing . I'm not sure if this bothers me or not yet, but I'm just curious if anyone has experienced anything like this on a Gibson (or other guitar) and what they did to fix it. Edited to add: I use black Dunlop Jazz III picks, for whatever that's worth. Edited July 14, 2020 by pentatonicwanke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Can't say I've seen that before on a Firebird or any other guitar, but it would appear that your fingers or hand are picking up some of the pigment from the red body and depositing it on the pickguard? Might be able to remove it with some cleaner if you wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentatonicwanke Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 13 minutes ago, Twang Gang said: Can't say I've seen that before on a Firebird or any other guitar, but it would appear that your fingers or hand are picking up some of the pigment from the red body and depositing it on the pickguard? Might be able to remove it with some cleaner if you wanted. Yeah It appears my middle, ring, and possibly pinky brush against the pickguard at that spot. It's just really odd to me that the pigment from the finish is so sensitive to allow it to be transferred by my fingers to the pickguard without actually sticking to my fingers. In my 15-ish years of playing guitar I've never had an issue like this. Any ideas on what type of cleaner would be pickguard safe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 News to me. Maybe a small bit of naptha (lighter fluid) in a cloth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 That's not supposed to happen. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentatonicwanke Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 9 minutes ago, rct said: That's not supposed to happen. rct Yeah, I didn't think it was. I MIGHT sort of expect it on a Faded model, but this certainly isn't one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 It's a shame really. They don't warrant the finish for anything, even when it isn't supposed to happen. For your sake I hope it stops, but I doubt it. Guitar paint on wrong is guitar paint on wrong, and something is definitely not right with this one. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentatonicwanke Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Kinda bullshit if you think about it. I really like GIbson and my Firebird, but not even offering a single year warranty on the finish of your product is a bit nuts. I'll probably contact customer service today and see what they say, but I'm not holding my breath. I wonder what's causing this to happen to the finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Does any manufacture warranty finish though? Really, serious question.. I never recalled reading "Finish Defects" in any warranty cards of non-Gibson brands I've owned. Problem with nitro though, it has so many things that can go wrong as it reacts adversely to just about anything making contact. Especially for the first 3 or 4 years. The stuff takes eons to cure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentatonicwanke Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 56 minutes ago, kidblast said: Does any manufacture warranty finish though? Really, serious question.. I never recalled reading "Finish Defects" in any warranty cards of non-Gibson brands I've owned. Problem with nitro though, it has so many things that can go wrong as it reacts adversely to just about anything making contact. Especially for the first 3 or 4 years. The stuff takes eons to cure. Fair question, and it doesn't appear that Gibson is alone here. I just took a quick look at the warranties for Fender, PRS, ESP, and Ibanez, and none of them cover anything related to the guitar finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 1 hour ago, pentatonicwanke said: Fair question, and it doesn't appear that Gibson is alone here. I just took a quick look at the warranties for Fender, PRS, ESP, and Ibanez, and none of them cover anything related to the guitar finish. yea, I have never known of any one to support that w/Warranty. the problem for our Gibson's, when we buy a new one, (like out of the factory in the last 12 months) the finish is still not 100% cured. Just nitro doing what it do.. But, they'll never not use Nitro though until some FED regulation tells them they just can't any more. Keep us posted, if something like Naptha gets that off. Just throwing this out there, try one of those Magic Erasers - the ones with no soaps or chems. I was pretty impressed with how these worked when I had smoke damage to a bunch of gear, nothing else touched the soot that was layered on the surfaces. I was at wits end, but I tried these things , and they just took it right off. where with what you have is a dye/stain, dunno, may not touch it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentatonicwanke Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Thanks! I'll update this thread once I try to wipe it off. A Magic Eraser seems like a safe place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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