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Help! Did I just ruin my brand new LP Junior’s finish??


LeoVannucci

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Hello,

Here’s what happened… I bought a can of compressed air, as I’ve used it many times before to clean dust off stuff. After restringing my Gibson LP Junior, I decided to spray off the dust and debris around the bridge. Unfortunately a blob of the liquid inside the can came out while spraying and fell on the guitar’s finish - picture a splatter of sorts. I thought it would come right off… it seems to be a permanent stain or mark, not to mention that the finish has seemed to “check” itself. I tried polishing with the Gibson Pump polish for a very long time, nothing changed except that it seems that this “splatter” stain has seemed to become a bit less notable or a bit more transparent yet very much still there.

 

How can I fix this? I need help please. No, I’m not interested in “relic’ing” the rest of the guitar or anything like that. I want this to go away and go back to where it was, I hope there’s a way. Thanks!

F2BC0D0E-2F39-4678-B3E3-F8A13C28F1DF.jpeg

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Sorry but I left my Time Machine in my other suit.

Next best thing would be to take your guitar to a knowledgeable Luthier for an assessment whether it can be made to "go away and go back to where it was" or not, and if so, how to do it, or an estimate for him/her to do it.

RBSinTo

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The checking is probably due to the fact that the liquid that came out of the can was colder than 'ice cold'.  I doubt it will go away with any type of polishing.   The stain ...   I'm guessing the same thing, cold plus whatever the liquid contained chemically.  Lots of chemicals can mess up nitro - melt it, stain it or craze it.    Let us know if the Virtuoso works,  or if anything else does.  So we can add it to our forum's  accumulated knowledge of  'how to fix things that go wrong'.   G'Luck ! 

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18 minutes ago, LeoVannucci said:

According to some research I’ve done online, the Virtuoso stuff will hopefully be able to help… I just ordered the cleaner and polish so I hope that works!

Virtuoso should do the trick, or at least get it to the point wear the blemish is more acceptable. 

Let us know how it works out!

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Apparently, from what I’ve learned through research, the splatter stain I’ve got is similar to what happens when you try and clean nitro finished guitars with alcohol or acetone. It causes a white haze on nitro which “should” be able to be removed with naphtha and the Virtuoso stuff. 

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What struck me odd was I've used compressed air to blow dust and stuff from other things and never noticed anything liquid come out of the can.  

But I'd be careful of what I'd use to correct your situation ,  so pay attention to what others here found what worked in similar circumstances,  or to what a skilled Luthier suggests.  

Whitefang

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Thanks Whitefang.

I mean, there’s not much that I can actually do (or be willing to do) in case the Virtuoso stuff doesn’t work. I won’t refinish the guitar or take it to a luthier in all honsesty.

This is my live guitar, which will get dinged and damaged for sure in the coming years… thank good it’s not my Les Paul Standard Goldtop which I only use at home hehe. If the polishing idea doesn’t work (Virtuoso), I may consider sticking a pick holder in the stained area, or maybe even get the courage and to the whole relic thing on the rest of the guitar lol, who knows!

I’ll keep you guys posted once I receive the products and test them out.

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what a drag..

nitro, especially new nitro, is on the soft side,  so that stuff may have just got into the top layer and there may be no way to re-winding the mishap.

it sure does suck,  I'd be bummed too   here's to hoping a good polish or scratch remover can help..

 

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1 hour ago, Whitefang said:

What struck me odd was I've used compressed air to blow dust and stuff from other things and never noticed anything liquid come out of the can.  

But I'd be careful of what I'd use to correct your situation ,  so pay attention to what others here found what worked in similar circumstances,  or to what a skilled Luthier suggests.  

'Whitefang

Seems to me, the propellant in those air cans is Nitrogen....so if you hold the can upright, you should get air....if you hold it upside-down, you'll get Nitrogen, (and as FortyYears pointed out...it'll be colder than heck!).

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Sorry that happened to your Guitar.. Hope something will remedy it.. 

I recently used some Compressed Air in a Can to clean a scratchy 3 way Switch. Luckily with no issues.

I’ve learned something today… I won’t use Compressed Air in a Can on my Guitars anymore…

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12 minutes ago, LeoVannucci said:

I believe what left a splatter shaped haze in the finish might be the chemical components from the can (some sort of ether). Hopefully the cleaner from Virtuoso will help, I’ll find out soon…

The small checking happened in fact, due to the cold temp of said liquid.

If I was a betting man, I would say you're on the right track. I have had a few heart attack moments like yours and that stuff bailed me out. I used both the Virtuoso cleaner and the polish, it took care of some stuff it looked worse than yours. 

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1 hour ago, Big Bill said:

If I was a betting man, I would say you're on the right track. I have had a few heart attack moments like yours and that stuff bailed me out. I used both the Virtuoso cleaner and the polish, it took care of some stuff it looked worse than yours. 

Thanks man, this gives me great hope!

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2 hours ago, LeoVannucci said:

Thanks Whitefang.

I mean, there’s not much that I can actually do (or be willing to do) in case the Virtuoso stuff doesn’t work. I won’t refinish the guitar or take it to a luthier in all honsesty.

This is my live guitar, which will get dinged and damaged for sure in the coming years… thank good it’s not my Les Paul Standard Goldtop which I only use at home hehe. If the polishing idea doesn’t work (Virtuoso), I may consider sticking a pick holder in the stained area, or maybe even get the courage and to the whole relic thing on the rest of the guitar lol, who knows!

I’ll keep you guys posted once I receive the products and test them out.

What????????????

You've got a very faint blemish that you can't live with, but are not inclined or willing to have a professional possibly eliminate. 

But....... if a simple polishing doesn't restore the original finish, you may consider what amounts to blemishing the entire guitar to match?

To say I'm completely baffled by your logic is an understaement.

RBSinTo

 

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15 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

What????????????

You've got a very faint blemish that you can't live with, but are not inclined or willing to have a professional possibly eliminate. 

But....... if a simple polishing doesn't restore the original finish, you may consider what amounts to blemishing the entire guitar to match?

To say I'm completely baffled by your logic is an understaement.

RBSinTo

 

Logic sometimes works in mysterious ways my friend! Trust me, being dangerously OCD about guitars for over 25 years of owning them - and, knowing myself and how crazy I used to get on stuff like this, my new logic is the least expensive (both money and mentally wise) for me.

On a side note, I live in Peru; I’ve had bad experiences with luthiers, most of them like to take parts of your expensive guitar. That’s why I’ve learned to work on them myself years ago. Never had to deal with this air compressed thing… I guess I just learned that too the hard way.

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15 minutes ago, LeoVannucci said:

Logic sometimes works in mysterious ways my friend! Trust me, being dangerously OCD about guitars for over 25 years of owning them - and, knowing myself and how crazy I used to get on stuff like this, my new logic is the least expensive (both money and mentally wise) for me.

On a side note, I live in Peru; I’ve had bad experiences with luthiers, most of them like to take parts of your expensive guitar. That’s why I’ve learned to work on them myself years ago. Never had to deal with this air compressed thing… I guess I just learned that too the hard way.

I hate that first ding, or two, but after that, you kind of just move on unless it's something horrific...  

Edited by kidblast
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Sorry about the discoloration on your finish, but a new nitro finish can be very volatile for a while, it can take a few years to get good and hard, so take care with it.

Also, that's an unusual JR with the cream P90 cover, the gold speed knobs, 5 layer Tortoise shell pickguard and that unusual compensated wraparound bridge.

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3 hours ago, LeoVannucci said:

Thanks Whitefang.

I mean, there’s not much that I can actually do (or be willing to do) in case the Virtuoso stuff doesn’t work. I won’t refinish the guitar or take it to a luthier in all honsesty.

This is my live guitar, which will get dinged and damaged for sure in the coming years… thank good it’s not my Les Paul Standard Goldtop which I only use at home hehe. If the polishing idea doesn’t work (Virtuoso), I may consider sticking a pick holder in the stained area, or maybe even get the courage and to the whole relic thing on the rest of the guitar lol, who knows!

 

Yeah, the old cover the stain on the wall with a picture trick. 

Some pay top dollar to have their guitars look like that, but you got the Aged Murphy treatment for next to nothing. If Murp aged that it would cost you an extra 2k at least, and you did it for the price of a can of spray air. 

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11 minutes ago, mihcmac said:

Sorry about the discoloration on your finish, but a new nitro finish can be very volatile for a while, it can take a few years to get good and hard, so take care with it.

Also, that's an unusual JR with the cream P90 cover, the gold speed knobs, 5 layer Tortoise shell pickguard and that unusual compensated wraparound bridge.

Hehe, those are all mods done myself. Here’s the spec list:

2021 Gibson Les Paul Junior (Vintage Tobacco Burst)

Upgrades:

Kluson Locking Tuners and metal buttons
Schaller S-Locks
WD Custom Pickguards Custom pickguard
Graph Tech Guitar Labs Sonic 1 Bridge
String Butler V3
Gibson Accesories: Gold Speed knob & Top Hat knob (mismatched) and Historic knob pointers
GRUV GEAR Fretwrap black
Wedgie pick holder
Elixir Strings Optiweb 10-46 — en Perú.

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7 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

The checking is probably due to the fact that the liquid that came out of the can was colder than 'ice cold'.  I doubt it will go away with any type of polishing.   The stain ...   I'm guessing the same thing, cold plus whatever the liquid contained chemically.  Lots of chemicals can mess up nitro - melt it, stain it or craze it.    Let us know if the Virtuoso works,  or if anything else does.  So we can add it to our forum's  accumulated knowledge of  'how to fix things that go wrong'.   G'Luck ! 

Aahh.....

Good tip.

Best wishes Leo, hope something works....I'd love to hear a little about the music scene where you are in Peru.

[cool]

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