Tiny pitting. Hmm. Have ET's been in my case?

[DonCarlos]

Today I opened my case and had the drapes opened as well, and noticed for the first time, tiny pit marks on J45 top, from about the bridge down.

 

Weird. I had never seen them before, so they could have always been there and I just never saw them until my guitar was illuminated by the bright sun at that angle.

 

Seems though I would have noticed them before when polishing the guitar, I have conducted multiple inspections of the finish since I got it two years ago. I know I am the only Gibson owner that does that

 

The best description is that it looks like my guitar has some small pimple holes. They are about the depth of what I believe the finish is. Very tiny though, about the size of a pin point, and completely circular. There must be several dozen of them, spaced here and there but only the lower half. There's no cracking or checking going on. And actually the guitar still looks nice.

 

I have always kept the guitar in the case and humidified at 40-45%. The top surface has the normal shape and elevation.

 

I thought "worms", they look like tiny tiny worm holes, but they are only on the surface finish, I inspected inside with my mirror and everything looks fine. I guess they could be NitroFinnish worms

 

Maybe it was a bad spray job from the factory, but again I would have thought I would have noticed that when I purchased the guitar.

 

Wondering what caused them if they weren't already there?

 

My wife says I over-think some things, but I know she is wrong. Hmmm this is a pretty long post over pitting I guess.

 

 

If anyone has a comment, or similiar experience, feel free to share.

[KL]

I think this is pretty common. You do get tiny pits in the finish, my J-45 has them on REALLY close inspection. It's because it's made of wood and so the finish follows the contours of the grain. Nothing to worry about.

 

You may have only just noticed them because they are so small and you need just the right light to see them.

[DonCarlos]

I think this is pretty common. You do get tiny pits in the finish, my J-45 has them on REALLY close inspection. It's because it's made of wood and so the finish follows the contours of the grain. Nothing to worry about.

 

You may have only just noticed them because they are so small and you need just the right light to see them.

 

 

Alright !

[albertjohn]

Gonna check mine tonight.

[DonCarlos]

Gonna check mine tonight.

 

No Albert, you have to use the sun for that. The Las Vegas sun here was at 5:10PM (PDT) and to the west, a fist height above Mt. Charleston.

[albertjohn]

No Albert, you have to use the sun for that. The Las Vegas sun here was at 5:10PM (PDT) and to the west, a fist height above Mt. Charleston.

 

No sign on mine, but it was dark mind you.

 

Will check again at the weekend.

 

DonCarlos. That's a lovely description and I can see the picture quite clearly in my mind's eye. Are there often fist fights on Mt Charleston?

[KL]

Looks like this question has come up again on another part of the forum:

 

My link

[DonCarlos]

KL wrote

I think a lot of times they are due to the nitro finish following the contour of the wood, and maybe sometimes due to airborne contamination during finish

 

"Airborne contamination" ? I agree that looks like the likely culprit to me. They are so tiny and reminiscent of when you do a spray job of clear coat (although done much better that when I work on stuff). Probably there all the time and I just didn't notice until the sun hit it just right.

 

Thanks for all the comments everyone.