Scratches on Nitrocellulose lacquers

[Positron]

Hey guys

I recently bought a brand new 58 VOS in Washed Cherry. A truly beautiful guitar.. I'm always very careful with not banging my guitars into stuff but today I just noticed I scratched the back of the body with my belt. I've never had this problem with my strat because the electronics cover is right at the center of the body and thus right at my belt lock, heh.

I was just wondering if it is indeed possible to remove such scratches? I read about the guitar scratch remover and some people have had luck with it apparently. Just want your experiences here

It's always painful to get the first scratches on a new beauty I guess but a fact of life..

[bryvincent]

just leave it. the finish will wear down eventually anyway if you play it regularly. the only thing that will make it pristine is by not playing it.

[diceman]

I'd stick with the "fact of life" philosophy. Nitro is soft, and you'll accumulate scratches no matter how careful you are.

Now that the first one is out of the way, the rest of them won't be a big deal.

[six-string]

hey what do you think you're doing?
trying to put Tom Murphy out of a job?
people pay good money for that sort of relicing.
it kinda devalues it if folks go around doing it for free...
sheesh!

[RobP]

[Choc]

yeah traces of life, that's how it goes
every scratch tells its story. anyway instruments are not as delicate as paper. a friend of mine received a green card lately and you should see how fussy he is about it. no cup of coffee allowed in a distance of 5 metres... ;-)

[JJ Blair]

If you fire your gun, it's gonna get dirty.

[nicolasrivera]

Positron, lacquer is a very nobel finish and it can be repaired fairly easy, but it need to be done by a luthier.

[Positron]

Hi Nicolasrivera. Okay, so in the later future it is actually possible to restore the finish of the guitar so that the scratches are gone completely? If that's possible then I'm a much happier man now because I must admit having scratched a VOS guitar making me $ 3800 poorer is not the best feeling in the world.

The only good thing is that the front of the guitar only has minor scratched (which it already had from the store), which is after all what you look at the most on the guitar usually.

[Positron]

Originally Posted by JJ Blair

If you fire your gun, it's gonna get dirty.

Honestly I never cared much about guns In Denmark it's very uncommon to own a gun.

[HOT-BRIT]

no one can play a guitar without getting some scratches on there guitar, its part of the game, scratches are always going to come, it adds character, if you take it and have the removed professionaly they will be gone, but they will come back again later as your playing.

[nicolasrivera]

Originally Posted by Positron

Hi Nicolasrivera. Okay, so in the later future it is actually possible to restore the finish of the guitar so that the scratches are gone completely? If that's possible then I'm a much happier man now because I must admit having scratched a VOS guitar making me $ 3800 poorer is not the best feeling in the world.

The only good thing is that the front of the guitar only has minor scratched (which it already had from the store), which is after all what you look at the most on the guitar usually.

Yes, please do a search in youtube about lacquer repair and touchups to see some of the procedures.

This is only at the level of clear coat, but is a scratch goes all the way in tho the wood touching the color layer, well is no good, the luthier would have to do an almost impossible job to fill in the color is he manages to get it right and the do the clear coat of lacquer on the problem area.

[will richardson]

Use Novus # 2. Michael Stevens who "started" the Fender Custom Shop and was offered head builder position at the Gibson Custom Shop the same week Fender offered him the Chief Design engineer position, recommended this to me. It will take scratches out of guitars and autos but is still gentle enough. It will suck the smoke out of the clearcoat of an old vintage guitar. My 62 345 shown like a new penny after six cleanigs over a few sessions of watching the tube and polishing.

Novus #1 is great for cleaning your guitar without having gunk on the clear coat. Remember your not polishing wood but a clearcoat.

Bonus:

I have a Music Machine TV white SG Standard Historic from 2003 and a Music Machine see though purple Flying V Custom with the Les Paul Custom appointments. The V is sonically the best custom Shop guitar I have ever heard regardless of the model. String through blows stopbar or stoptail away. Also Ebony is grossly misunderstood. If you could her Johnny Jones' old Les PAulCustom (three Pickup Model) you'd see what I mean. Of Course he had the hands, and probably did show Hendrix a few double stops (yes we know Hendrix got some of the double stops from others).

Hope this helps.

Will Richardson

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[ACELUEK]

Originally Posted by Positron

Honestly I never cared much about guns In Denmark it's very uncommon to own a gun.

Sorry to hear that..

[Marlboro13]

Nervermind the scars of rock.

[Mike Irvin]

Take it to a repair shop, have it fixed back to pristine, and then put it under the bed for the next 30 years and never play it again. Problem solved!

Just kidding.. Those things happen to guitars that are played. Years from now those scars will be fond memories.

Enjoy your new axe!

[Positron]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the inputs

For now I'll keep the scars on the back, since I rarely notice them there.. heh. but it's nice to have some alternatives if I get sick of the scars. Hope I can keep the top well cared
In any case, it's definitely always a special feeling to play with my band now, with a very nice Les Paul

[silverkw]

Hey it's relic'd now!

[River]

By all means take care of it, but if you play it hard it's going to get dinged up but good. Scratches? Hah! You're just getting started. And the back's the back. What are you doing looking at the back?

If you're not going to play it hard, sell it someone who will and go buy an old beater.



(They play better anyway.)

[Dave1968]

Use some rubbing compound, T-Cut and swirl remover and your guitar will lose its scratches unless its scored. It will shine unlike any VOS you've seen!!! Total cost £15.00 maximum in UK

[LesPauI+SG=Win]

Originally Posted by Mike Irvin

Take it to a repair shop, have it fixed back to pristine, and then put it under the bed for the next 30 years and never play it again. Problem solved!

Just kidding.. Those things happen to guitars that are played. Years from now those scars will be fond memories.

Enjoy your new axe!

Yea, in 30 years you can look back and think "Ahhhhhhhh, my first scratch. Posted a thread about it on the ol' MLP"

[nicolasrivera]

Originally Posted by River

By all means take care of it, but if you play it hard it's going to get dinged up but good. Scratches? Hah! You're just getting started. And the back's the back. What are you doing looking at the back?

If you're not going to play it hard, sell it someone who will and go buy an old beater.



(They play better anyway.)

Bringing the big guns!!!!

[River]

Originally Posted by nicolasrivera

Bringing the big guns!!!!

Btw, you need to coach me up on lighting for good checking photography. That thing's marvelously checked, but I can't get it to show up in photos.

[Olli]

If you want to remove it there are a few options. if its not deep you can try to polish it out. if its through to the wood or real worming then you can have it spot repaired.
However I think it will be a waste of time because there will be more scratches from your clothing later on - unless you decide to play in your birthday suit off course.

I´ve read on forums that people put protectice see-thru cellophane stickers on the back of their guitars that stick to the neck and bakc by static - ridiculous.

Where are the times when rock ´n roll meant to bang the cympal with your headstock to get the "whhooa" effect from the crowd!

[Positron]

Hey NicolasRivera, that is one mean guitar! It actually looks pretty cool, even though I can see it has been scratched a bit more than mine :d hehe

Olli, thanks for the information. You're right about the birthday clothes, who wants to leave out their belt every time you put on your les paul? :s

In any case, I'm extremely happy with this guitar. It always feels and sounds like a million dollar when I pick it up and play it and the top is one of the nicest I've seen on a paul. A pitty I don't have a very good camera to catch its colors and details..

[Olli]

Just when I wanted to shout: PICTURES !!!

This is a Les Paul forum so show it to us - no matter how bad the pictures - a 58 just cannot look ugly.

[LouieTM]

This is how the back of my 2001 R8 looks like. I really don't care, it's a player not a museum piece.





If you really want to, do as Nicolas said and send it to a luthier, nitro finishes are generally easy to fix.

[decoy205]

play the mutha f-er!!!

[Positron]

Olli, as requested here's a link to one of my previous threads about the guitar. You can find the pictures on page 2 as the second last post:

Questions about a 58 VOS Washed Cherry

I agree, it's meant to be played. I guess I'll just stick to the original plan: Play it like hell and improve my skills on the guitar as much as possible. I still make more mistakes on the Paul than on the Strat - but that was to be expected. It's my first les paul after all

and then years from now on I can reasses the scratches situation

[Mike Irvin]

Play it like you stole it! It'll sound much better!