Nitrocellulose Lacquer

[Steve Burch]

Hello Everyone,

Q. Does anyone know what Brand of Nitrocellulose Martin Guitar use?

I want to do some touch up on the top of an OMCPA 1 Plus and want to use a lacquer that will not react with whatever brand Martin use.

I did contact Martin Guitars but they will not give me the brand.

I have some Behlen Stringed Instrument Lacquer but don't know what will happen.

This is a lovely guitar so don't want to ruin it!

Q. Are Nitro's basically the same / similar and is it possible to get some sort incompatibility problem.

Any help and advice would be very much appreciated.

Steve Burch

Melbourne-Australia

[Steve Burch]

Thank you very much 'Guitar Fixer' Q. Are you in Australia?

I wasn't sure how Martin attached the bridge. I imagined that they would finish and buff the whole top and then glue the bridge on.

Initially when the spruce raised I tried to push it down with a soft cloth and of course once the bridge dried out and the spruce went back to normal I had caused some tiny little depressions.

I have since drop filled these, let them shrink,sanded slightly and then air brushed.

It all looks very good at this stage but will wait a few weeks to see how it really looks before final sanding and buffing. Should have just left it alone and saved a lot of hassle!

I have mucked around with fixing dings in guitars for years but every one of them poses a different challenge. this one being between the pick guard and bridge and I don't want to take off the guard.

The thing I find the hardest is try to match colors. Until recently I had trouble just removing very fine scratches despite using Microfibre cloth, swirl remover etc. For small areas I have found the Dremel felt pads or Foam pads very good but only on very slow speed.

One of the first jobs I did was to strip and re-finish a Gibson Custom head stock face. Thanks to Dan's book I was able to a good job scraping the black off the pearl inlays etc.

I mostly just do re-frets, leveling, new nuts and saddles etc. Mostly straightforward if you buy the right tools (I hate to think of how much I have spent but you need this stuff). Finishing is a whole other ballgame!

Thanks again for you reply and I hope you enjoy your day.

Steve Burch

Melbourne-Australia

[Howard Klepper]

Martin's lacquer is made by a company that only sells to industrial users.  I had the name but I no longer can find it.  Incompatibility with Behlens is extremely unlikely if your guitar's finish is nitro lacquer.

[Steve Burch]

Dear Howard,

Thank you very much.

Steve Burch