drathbun Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Every year on our anniversary, my wife and I throw a big BBQ party for about 30 friends in our backyard. We've just moved into a new house and this year was our 25th anniversary, so the party was bigger and better than ever. As always, after the BBQ ribs, cake and a few beverages of a sociable nature, I pull out my guitar and we have a sing a long. Since it is hot and we're on the grass, there are always skeeters around, so we spray the yard and use those great little OFF lanterns. While I'm playing however, a friend decides to help me out while I'm playing by coming at me with a can off OFF spray. As soon as I saw him approaching me with it, I stopped playing, jumped up and ran with my Gibson Songwriter. He was shocked of course. I then had to explain the horror of bug spray and nitrocellulose finishes on guitars. It bears repeating here for those who do not know this important information. INSECT REPELLENT DISSOLVES NITRO FINISHES ON GUITARS!!!! Do NOT put insect repellent on your hands to rub on your body and then handle the guitar. Do NOT spray insect repellent on your legs or arms as it will contact the guitar either directly or indirectly via your hands. Do NOT let anyone else touch your guitar if there is insect repellent around. Do NOT let anyone spray someone who is even remotely close to you as the wind will carry it to your guitar. If you pull your guitar out of the case after an outside play session where there has been insect repellent, and your guitar finish seems tacky, soft or sticky, DO NOT try to rub it out or put cleaner or polish on it!!!! It will make it worse. The particles of cloth will embed themselves into the soft finish and become a permanent feature. Just don't touch the guitar for a couple weeks and let the solvent gas off and the finish harden again. If you've touched it, your fingerprints might be permanent. The best thing to do is take it immediately to a qualified luthier to see what can be salvaged. Actually this warning is for any type of solvent, especially those found in plastic, vinyl and leather straps as these will mar the finish, as will alcohol, citric acid, aftershave lotion, cologne, deodorant and a number of related substances. A word to the wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Doug, That's a scary picture! Is that really bug spray damage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Melts glasses and fly line too... been there. Nasty stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyReb Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Wow that AJ has been rode hard and hung up wet! Great info here. I will definitely be more attentive to such dangers in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Doug, That's a scary picture! Is that really bug spray damage? I grabbed the photo from a thread on bug spray damage to nitro finishes on the acoustic guitar forum. Seems a bit extreme that all that damage was from bug spray but it could happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdd707 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 In the words of the late Johnny Carson: "I did not know that". Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrummer Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Yikes!! I play outside by the pool a lot. Thanks for the tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringTom Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Suntan lotion is another offender. And the vinyl (or whatever it is) in some T-shirt appliques. Great reminder, Drathbun. It's always so sad when someone posts in a panic that their guitar finish is dissolving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Vinyl ANYTHING is BADDDD! If you have a vinyl guitar strap, throw it in the trash now! Why do they even MAKE vinyl guitar straps? I suppose for poly finished guitars... but leather never hurt anyone. Also, those guitar stands with the orange tubing covering the part where the guitar touches. Those are EVIL! It is vinyl tubing. Hercules are the best IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry K Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Good thread. Yeah vinyl is absolutely devastating to nitro. It not only melts it but somehow pollutes, defiles, and uglifies it! I had a strap with vinyl backing decades ago and it really forked up some nitro finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis57 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Yikes!!! Just another reason for me not wanting to play my HBird outside Thanks for the info dude!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmer Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I said this before: I am against nitro. It must be forbidden. You can not look at it or it peels off. If you spil a drop of whisky on it, it crumples. Just put it in a normal guitar standard and it's damaged. Even my sweat corrodes the nitro blin-bling. Awoooooo totaly against it! Hooray for airplain varnish. signed, Elmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 I said this before: I am against nitro. It must be forbidden. You can not look at it or it peels off. If you spil a drop of whisky on it, it crumples. Just put it in a normal guitar standard and it's damaged. Even my sweat corrodes the nitro blin-bling. Awoooooo totaly against it! Hooray for airplain varnish. signed, Elmer So buy one of these: Very pretty, has enough polyester finish on it to sink a battleship. Sounds like crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 So buy one of these: Very pretty, has enough polyester finish on it to sink a battleship. Sounds like crap. I'm not even sure it's very pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 from the Froggy Bottom website : What finish do you use on Froggy Bottom Guitars? Our guitars are finished with a catalyzed urethane finish. We switched to this material in 2007 after over thirty-five years of using nitrocellulose laquer. We find the modern finish superior in essentially all ways. should gibson do the same ? JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 from the Froggy Bottom website : What finish do you use on Froggy Bottom Guitars? Our guitars are finished with a catalyzed urethane finish. We switched to this material in 2007 after over thirty-five years of using nitrocellulose laquer. We find the modern finish superior in essentially all ways. should gibson do the same ? JC Apparently, Gibson doesn't "find the modern finish superior in essentially all ways", or they wold probably use it. Catalyzed urethane is certainly easier to work with. We pay a premium for Gibson to use traditional methods, and that includes such things as the hide-glued dovetail neck joint, a nitrocellulose lacquer finish, and in some cases, all hide-glue construction. To each his own here, but I'm pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to guitar construction. When and if Gibson starts using non-traditional methods, we might as well start buying Asian guitars for a lot less money. I'm sure you can do a great guitar with a catalyzed urethane finish, but I prefer nitro lacquer, both because of and in spite of all its quirks, like crazing over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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