I have an old 1980 Vantage VS600 which I love and still play quite frequently. It still plays and sounds fine but it's apperance has suffered. On the body there is a fairly large area where my arm has rubbed for many years, which has become clouded. It looks like the finish has "blushed" for those of you who know about finishing. This is purely a cosmetic problem and most people don't notice it but it kind of bothers me. I don't want to refinish so I'm wondering if anyone (muttley, light, someone who knows more than me) knows of a product which would help to clear the finish.
Finish has clouded with age
- Thread starter Dani Pace
- Start date
muttley600
Banned
It's unlikely to be blushing. As a rule Blushing occurs during the finishing process as a result of moisture being trapped between coats. Normally moisture escapes before the finish skins over. If the coat of finish cures to quickly the moisture is trapped under the finish. The cure is to add some retader to the coat to avoid it happening, it helps slow down the curing allowing time for the moisture to escape. If it is already there then a light spray with a compatible solvent will soften the finish to allow the moisture to escape.
Blushing on a cured finish is very rare unless it was there to begin with. Some finishes are very slightly porous and will allow moisture to penetrate or for some reason the top coat has softened and moisture has got in there and the top coat has hardened again. What do you clean the guitar with?
I doubt if it is blushing however. From memory those Japanese 80's guitars were finished either in polyester or nitro. Cant swear to it though without seeing it. Someone else may be more certain. The most common causes of a dull milky finish on a guitar that old would be minute surface abrasion, contamination with an oil or other contaminant or a reaction with something on your arm or cloths.
Can you see any obvious difference in the surface if you examine it closely under daylight at all angles? If so it's likely that you have a softish finish that is minutely scuffing. careful burnishing with a very fine rubbing compound will cure it. Test it on an area that is out of site first.
If it is a contamination problem I would suspect it would appear on other areas as well but it could be a combination of soft finish or finish softening under your arm and then oils and polishes dulling the surface. To cure this let the guitar stand untouched for a day or two in case the finish is reacting with something on you and try cleaning with a fine rag. If that doesn't work you need to investigate what solvent you can safely use without damaging the finish. That would help remove any surface contamination. To stop it wipe well after playing and avoid using oil's and household polishes in future.
In the worse case you have something in the finish as a result of sever contamination. We'd need to investigate that thoroughly to come up with an answer..Hopefully you'll be able to burnish the finish up that would be the most common cause on a guitar that old.
Blushing on a cured finish is very rare unless it was there to begin with. Some finishes are very slightly porous and will allow moisture to penetrate or for some reason the top coat has softened and moisture has got in there and the top coat has hardened again. What do you clean the guitar with?
I doubt if it is blushing however. From memory those Japanese 80's guitars were finished either in polyester or nitro. Cant swear to it though without seeing it. Someone else may be more certain. The most common causes of a dull milky finish on a guitar that old would be minute surface abrasion, contamination with an oil or other contaminant or a reaction with something on your arm or cloths.
Can you see any obvious difference in the surface if you examine it closely under daylight at all angles? If so it's likely that you have a softish finish that is minutely scuffing. careful burnishing with a very fine rubbing compound will cure it. Test it on an area that is out of site first.
If it is a contamination problem I would suspect it would appear on other areas as well but it could be a combination of soft finish or finish softening under your arm and then oils and polishes dulling the surface. To cure this let the guitar stand untouched for a day or two in case the finish is reacting with something on you and try cleaning with a fine rag. If that doesn't work you need to investigate what solvent you can safely use without damaging the finish. That would help remove any surface contamination. To stop it wipe well after playing and avoid using oil's and household polishes in future.
In the worse case you have something in the finish as a result of sever contamination. We'd need to investigate that thoroughly to come up with an answer..Hopefully you'll be able to burnish the finish up that would be the most common cause on a guitar that old.
Thanks Muttley, I'm sure it isn't a blushing problem, I just used that as a description of what it looks like. The surface of the finish looks fine, a few scratches but nothing that looks worn. The cloudy areas appear to be deeper in the finish. I wish I had a better camera so I could post pictures of it. I have pretty high acid levels in my sweat so I am wondering if that might have caused the problem, it is only in the area where my arm often rubs against the body. I'm not certain but I think it has a poly finish of some sort. I've shown it to a couple of local techs and so far no one has ever seen a guitar do this or has any idea of what to do about it. The only thing I use on the finish is a little Windex and a soft cloth to clean it, the finish was never a super high gloss, more like semi gloss, so have never felt the need to use polish on it. I first noticed the cloudy area about 6 or 7 years ago and it has gotten more milky looking but doesn't seem to have gotten any larger since then. Thanks again for trying to help me figure this one out.