Blushing

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Hello
I am working on a Guild acoustic and it has some blushing going on. It's a polyester finish and tried blush eraser but had no effect. Tried heat, no luck. Would my last resort be to try and sand it out, then wet sand and buff? Any ideas out their. Appreciate any help. Thank you so very much,
Michael

[Russell Vance]

If it is an old poly finish forget blush remover, and if a bit of heat ain't doing it I suggest you walk away - trying to sand it out is fraught with danger as its a poly finish and a sand through is terminal without a recoat. Stress in the poly can also cause something that looks a bit like blushing and I'm clueless on fixing that also. Anybody?
Rusty.

[Bob Webster]

"Stress in the poly can also cause something that looks a bit like blushing."

Have you ever seen a poly finish just start peeling off at a spot where it's been bumped or stressed, Rusty? Makes me wonder if the finish isn't just parting ways with the wood in the blush areas that he can't seem to tame.

UUGG.

Bob

[Russell Vance]

YEP, Bob, 70's Fenders made poly separation into an art form - thick scads of poly over finely sanded hard maple and ash acted like a capsule that simply fell away once a crack or a bump occurred - the first signs of problems was when the poly separated from the fingerboard dots - this gave that classic blush look around the dot - the real problems manifest themselves with a finish that appears cloudy or slightly milky (looks like blushing a little) - this is a dead giveaway for a separated finish

I made the mistake of taping up a maple board for a fret level and polish on a CBS 70's Strat back when I was starting - the whole fingerboard poly finish came away virtually intact when I went to remove the tape - scared me cold that did , but the refinish was easy as there was nothing to scrape off!
Rusty.

[Ron Frazier]

Just a guess but it could be wax build up or maybe smoke.

I had one that nothing would cut through it but Simple Green.

Worth a try any way.

Ron

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Hey
I would like to thank everybody for their comments. I contacted Guild and one of there tech's told me to us Denatured Alcohol. Didn't work. Please keep the ideas coming. Thanks again, Mike

[Christian Johnson]

Interesting that it's concentrated around the endblock purfling. Looks like moisture under the finish; lots of glue joints there, or stress from installation of the pickup jack.

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Christian
Do you think the guitar could have been dropped on the strap button and caused the finish to seperate from the wood? Thanks, Mike

[Russell Vance]

Yes, see my post back a bit - stress will do exactly that - a cloudy area with defined edges is a dead giveaway. Nothing much can be done about it short of a refinish (given that this is the problem). I have wicked thin superglue under spot damage of this nature but it's not a really good solution and can end in tears. Rusty.

[Tom Krebs]

I have also had limited good luck with CA on those 70's Fender finishes. It seems like Tacoma guitars have a real problem with clouds and separation as well. The tuners press bubbles into the headstock face. I have one in my shop now that has almost complete finish separation at the waist on both sides. Freaky.

[Bob Webster]

Yeah, I would second Rusty's earlier input and recommend that you walk away from this one. Nothing but grief and a full refinishing in its future and I'm betting that the client probably is not up for that expense.

Bob

[Michael P. Lemieux]

Again I'd like to thank everbody forr your input. It's been very helpful.
Mike

[Christian Johnson]

Rusty is right on. I own a Tacoma (love it) and it is starting to peel at the tuners. It's about 10 years old. This is a chinese Guild I assume? Americans are nitro.