Fingernail polish finish-filler?

Aaron Cheney

Aaron Cheney

Favorite Chord: C 6/9
I play pretty hard on my Taylor 514 acoustic. After about 10 years it's developed a spot on the edge of the soundhole right above the pickgaurd where the glossy finish has worn off and the wood is bare.
Is there something I can do to slow the spread? I've heard you can coat such wounds in clear fingernail polish. True?
I'm not too keen on eventually having a Willie Nelson treatment style guitar. What's to be done?

A
 
I've heard of players using clear fingernail polish to clean the rust off guitars. I tried it on a old Chravel on the tremlo and pickup and it worked.

I don't know if it would work on your Taylor, but it didn't leave any damage on my guitar.
 
i don't see why you wouldn't be able to do that. I doubt fingernail polish would have a bad reaction even if your guitar was nitrocellulose. I think the worst thing that could happen is that it might not stick very well and in that case, it'll wear off quickly and you can try something else or take it to a professional where they'll sand the polish that's left off and touch it up using something else.
 
I dunno... but I've found that superglue works in an emergency on fingertips when I've worn off the skin and need to play.
 
the edzell said:
I've heard of players using clear fingernail polish to clean the rust off guitars. I tried it on a old Chravel on the tremlo and pickup and it worked.
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What's the technique? You paint it on the affected area, let it harden and then peel it off?
 
Aaron-

How old is your 514? I think they say for the Taylor UV cured finish that you can touch it up with superglue actually, but not use fungernail polish. Clear fingernail polish is a good spot fill for nitro finished guitars, if memory serves me.

H2H
 
Not that members here can't give good advice, but in case you didn't know and if it might help further, you may want to post this question at the "Acoustic Guitar Forum" (formerly the Taylor Guitar Forum). Here's the link: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/. I have a Taylor 814c. I love it. You probably quite enjoy yours too.
 
hixmix said:
What's the technique? You paint it on the affected area, let it harden and then peel it off?
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What I did was put it on let it set for a day and then wiped off the left over residue with Polish remover.
 
Hard2Hear said:
Aaron-

How old is your 514? I think they say for the Taylor UV cured finish that you can touch it up with superglue actually, but not use fungernail polish. Clear fingernail polish is a good spot fill for nitro finished guitars, if memory serves me.

H2H
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It's a '95.

Superglue huh? I'll look into that.

A
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
Not that members here can't give good advice, but in case you didn't know and if it might help further, you may want to post this question at the "Acoustic Guitar Forum" (formerly the Taylor Guitar Forum). Here's the link: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/. I have a Taylor 814c. I love it. You probably quite enjoy yours too.
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Thanks! I'll definitely post my question there.

Yes, I do love mine too. I didn't at first though. It's always sounded nice, but the sound has definitely opened up over the last few years.

It's funny... the 514 is often referred to as a "fingerpickers" guitar, but I'm not much of a fingerpicker... I'm a hard strummer. I like the acoustic guitar best almost as a percussion instrument. I've been strumming it hard for about 8 years now, and the sound has definitely changed for the better.

Or I'm psycho.

A
 
Aaron Cheney said:
Thanks! I'll definitely post my question there.

Yes, I do love mine too. I didn't at first though. It's always sounded nice, but the sound has definitely opened up over the last few years.

It's funny... the 514 is often referred to as a "fingerpickers" guitar, but I'm not much of a fingerpicker... I'm a hard strummer. I like the acoustic guitar best almost as a percussion instrument. I've been strumming it hard for about 8 years now, and the sound has definitely changed for the better.

Or I'm psycho.

A
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Like you, I wasn't thrilled at first either, but perhaps not for the same reason. I'm a strummer/fingerpicker style (thumb/index fingerpicking only -- for now). From the get-go, mine is a beautiful guitar that plays like butter. I just found that it didn't have enough bass. My solution was a combination of the guitar 'opening-up' and string choice. I didn't like the Elixir Nanoweb lights that came on it. I tried many, many sets that I was not happy with. I now always use Elixir Polyweb Light/Mediums. The medium gauge of the E, A and D strings gave the extra bass I was looking for. I had to do a slight truss rod adjustment as a result. I now just love this guitar.
 
A few coats of super glue (applied with a small brush) will work a lot better than nail polish, it dries harder and is far more durable. For what it's worth, nail polish (you can match almost any color) is a good quick fix for those little dings we all get around the edges, I keep a bottle of black in the case of my Ibanez Rg170 just for such emergencies. Not that I bang it around, I'm just surrounded by a lot of clumsy people who don't care if they bump someone else's guitar.
 
Dani Pace said:
Not that I bang it around, I'm just surrounded by a lot of clumsy people who don't care if they bump someone else's guitar.
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I am SOOO in touch w/ that! I teach guitar, and there are a couple of my younger students that walk into the studio like a bull in a frikkin' china shop and start swinging their pointy headstocks withing inches of some of my gear. I just want to throttle 'em! :)

A
 
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