Breedlove Finish

Sent an e-mail to Breedlove asking what they use for finish, with no response.

I have a recent Breedlove guitar that needs finish repair. I'm assuming it's lacquer, lacquer sticks and dries fine after application.

The problem I'm having is, when wet sanding I have a witness line between new and old finish. I've sprayed straight retarder before spraying lacquer/retarder/thinner mixture. After noticing the problem, during wet sanding, I sprayed a few more light coats of straight retarder.

Seem the old lacquer won't melt enough so the new lacquer can melt in. Or maybe it's the type of finish that Breedlove used or something else I'm doing wrong. Never had any problems with finish repairs on Martin's using the above method.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Glen H on April 4, 2014 at 10:39am

Their website doesn't say what they use (at least I couldn't find it). This makes me suspect it is not nitro lacquer. Your findings of no burn-in points to it not being lacquer also. Test a spot with acetone. If acetone can't melt it, it is not lacquer.

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Permalink Reply by jbbancroft on April 4, 2014 at 11:36am

Glen, thanks for the reply. I just talked to the head repairman at Elderly Instrument, he said Breedlove uses a UV finish. So it's not lacquer.

I guess I have 2 choices, buff out as is and have a witness line or spray the complete back. I talked to the owner and he is fine with the witness line. I'll see what it looks like once it's wet sanded and buffed.

Jim