My Les Paul finish is ruined!

[timbo]

Just discovered that my Warwick 7 slot stand has ruined the finish on my classic white Les Paul! The guitar has been on the stand I guess for a couple months. I play it regularly and wipe it down occassionally. The other day I just happened to give it a good once over and was shocked at what I found. Turns out the black rubber cushions on the stand have reacted in a negative way with the finish on the guitar and have made a couple of permanent yellow stains on the finish. One on the side of the neck where the guitar rests against the rear of the stand and two more stains on the bottom of the body of the guitar. I have tried everything from a light polish, to going as far as wet sanding with 3000g and buffing. Something in the rubber cushions from the stand has permanantly yellowed the guitar finish to the core.

I'm sure there is no recourse on this matter but I just wanted to put this out there to see if its happened to anyone else. I have 2 Strats, an MM Axis, Tele and Ibanez bass on the rack as well with no ill effects. Must be the LP's nitrocellulose finish. All my other guitars I'm sure are laquer and no reaction has occured.

Man, this just sucks. Oh well, you have to look hard to see the stains. And nobody would notice other than me. I'm sure I'll get over it. Now I have some microfiber towels placed where the LP resides on the stand.

Just wanted to post this so it doesn't happen to anyone else.

[Glowing Tubes]

Yup, nitro reacts to a lot of different stuff, rubber included. I think they make stands to compensate for that now but that's of little help to you at this stage.
It's happened to a lot of people before you.

Bummer. :messedup

RC

[screamtone]

I wonder why people still use that kind of stuff when making guitar stands when so many people know what it does.

[IIIBOOMERIII]

I hear nitro finishes do not like leather sofas either.

[Miles]

not that big of a deal. Belt buckles, straps, and picks will do much worse in time.

[Bussman]

I wonder why people still use that kind of stuff when making guitar stands when so many people know what it does.

I wonder why people still use that kind of stuff when making guitars when so many people know what it does.






Subtle but equally true. For the OP: Some people pay big bucks to have stains, scratches, dings or cracks put on the finish of their guitars. Consider yourself lucky, you got a freebee...

[HeyMrTeleMan]

The guitar stands I use have that black rubber(?) to cushion the guitar. Right on the label, they tell you NOT to leave your guitar on them for long periods of time, due to this very problem.

So, I happened to have white cotton gauze wrapping and wrapped the parts that touch the guitar with it. It works well. Now I believe there is an aftermarket product made especially for it. BTW-gauze comes in a hollow form (like a hose) which is intended to wrap wounds on fingers and toes. That works REALLY well, since you slip it right on. (You have to double it up to give it more separation from the guitar.)

[jcground]

I've seen the rubber from a capo leave stains in nitro neck finishes too. Definitely one of the downsides to nitro, but you'll find plenty of people who are still nitro fans.

Sorry about your guitar.

[ronin32]

A local guitar shop sold this nice old Fender Jag, guys told him about the nitro finish, the case had a little flyer in it explaining what the nitro will do if you use a reg. stand. The guy didn't listen, came back a couple of months asking what happend to his guitar. :NUTS

[ahab]

not that big of a deal. Belt buckles, straps, and picks will do much worse in time.

I couldn't agree more Miles, my 95 McCarty is far from "mint" but my god does that guitar sound good. After the first real dig I put on the top (head stock of fender P-Bass meets PRS top) I realized that the only way to keep a guitar truly mint is to never gig or play it. And if they are not being played I really have a hard time seeing the point of having one in the first place.

[daddyo]

The foam and surgical rubber covers are cheap and easy. The vast majority of guitars do not have nitro finishes. I have a telething with a nitro body and tung oil neck. I just wrapped the lower brace on the stand with masking tape.

[MarcJ]

I cover the rubber tubing on my stands with cotton atheletic socks.

[guitarfish]

Here's a novel idea...how about making guitar stands that don't JACK UP guitars? Unbelievable.

[Miles]

I couldn't agree more Miles, my 95 McCarty is far from "mint" but my god does that guitar sound good. After the first real dig I put on the top (head stock of fender P-Bass meets PRS top) I realized that the only way to keep a guitar truly mint is to never gig or play it. And if they are not being played I really have a hard time seeing the point of having one in the first place.

Yes, I used to aspire to own Matons and Gibson/Fender Customs. One day, I had a SG standard fall over. Needless to say, 1 repaired headstock later, I never aspired to own these $1400+ guitars anymore. I now own 3 guitars that are $1k or less. In the world of lugging, gigging, rehearsing in a basement full of wires and chords, the excitement of setting up, and KURPLOP!, I realized that you have to be practical and a guitar used, will more than likely end up a guitar abused...and loved. I don't see the purpose in owning 30 guitars that spend their lives in the closet.

To the original poster, I say not to sweat it. Keep and cherish your LP, play the hell out of it. The ONLY time that wear & tear is significant, is when there is structural damage (cracked neck, fracture in body). Dings, scratches, marks, stain, dents, and worn finish are all experience and bonding with your favorite slab of wood with 6 strings and magnets.

[ronin32]

Would sanding the finish with say micro mesh get rid of the marks?

[timbo]

Well I'm pretty much over it now. I wound up buying some terry towels and placing those over the rack. Doublechecked all my other guitars and no damage thank goodness. I agree that the case is the safest place, but it's so easy to grab the Strat off the rack for some Black Crowes, the Tele for some Stones, the Axis for some VH etc. Putting them in the case would probably keep my lazy ass from playing all of them when "the" song calls for it. When I practice, I practice like I'm going to play a show, the right guitar for the right song.

Oh well, ignorance has provided a lesson learned. Thanks for the sympathys and the "get over its". I needed that.

[Rhomco]

1960's when the ONLY guitar stand was a Hamilton. The surgical rubber would rot and flake off. We would wrap the bare metal with long leather shoe strings hippy style and it never damaged the nitro finishes. Still works today!
Rob

[Dave Orban]

Dude. Play the living shit out of that guitar. Some folks pay Tom Murphy THOU$ANDS to get that effect...!

[scottlr]

Hmmm, I have that same stand, and 7 guitars in it for the last 5-6 years. So, I had to go look and see if I had missed seeing that sort of thing. No problems on any of mine. Some of them are poly, but there's an SG and a LP both nitro.

I love my 7 guitar stand for the same reason. I want ALL of my guitars out ALL of the time, or I'd not play them all, being lazy as well.

[ByTor]

I took and old cheap leather jacket and cut out some pieces to cover the stand where the guitar rests the most. I did this because I started noticing more and more blemishes on the finish at the contact points.

[Curt]

If it's not too deep, you might be able to remove the stain with 1500, then 2000 wet /dry. I think 3000 is too fine.
Then use some fine polishing compound followed by some swirl remover. It's not difficult to spot re-shoot nitro if you go too deep.

[FastRedPonyCar]

Here's a novel idea...how about making guitar stands that don't JACK UP guitars? Unbelievable.

Or just start using poly and be done with everything.

[John Phillips]

A local guitar shop sold this nice old Fender Jag, guys told him about the nitro finish, the case had a little flyer in it explaining what the nitro will do if you use a reg. stand. The guy didn't listen, came back a couple of months asking what happend to his guitar. :NUTS
Worse, a guitar shop I know of ruined two new Custom Shop Gibsons - a Catalina Les Paul, and a Historic ES-295 - exactly like this. Left them both on stands in the shop window... and put three nasty brown stains in both guitars.

You'd think a shop would know better... :mad:

And no, there's nothing you can do to get it out. Don't try sanding. The stain will have soaked right into the finish, probably down to the wood. If you're lucky, it will be just a stain, not a permanently softened, rubbery-feeling patch.

If it's really bad the only thing you can do is a complete refinish of the affected area... the one silver lining is that this can be done, with a nitro finish - you can blend the new area in, exactly because the finish can be re-solved, which is the cause of the problem in the first place. With a permanently-curing finish like polyester, it's much harder to do repairs, although equally, less likely that you'll need to.

[84Bravo]

This has happened to me and no, you can't sand it out as others have mentioned. Either play it or trade it if it haunts your dreams. A white Les Paul will eventuall turn completely yellow with time, so perhaps it will all blend in. Straps left in cases will leave their mark as will sheet music. Doesn't matter if it's nitro or poly.

[Jon C]

I cover the rubber tubing on my stands with cotton atheletic socks.


yep, when a pair of socks or jeans wears out, I clean 'em and cut them into pieces I can fit around the stand so that only cotton comes into contact with the guitar...