How Would You Repair This Flaking Nitro Finish?

[Enis Moran]

Hi... New here but "know" some of you already ;)!  I may be buying a Martin SPD-16TR. Overall, it's a nice guitar, but it has a finish problem on the lower bout, top side.  The nitro (confirmed by Martin) is chipping and flaking away.  It's a pretty big section and I can see in the photo that there's more spider cracking and nitro separation along the binding.  That cracking/separation starts from the big section and continues for a while along the binding towards the end block (not that far but...).  You can also see, about even with the bridge, another spider crack starting.  I don't have this guitar in my hands yet, but I'm thinking of buying it and want to do this repair myself.

 

Here's a shot of the damage:

Would you almagamate the areas that are still cracking, then spray it, or do the repair by hand, leveling it out later.  What would be the best steps to take to fix this up???  Of course, I could always leave it alone but I'm sure this damage will continue to get bigger.

Thanks in advance!

[Howard Klepper]

There were a bunch of Martins with this issue, made about 2002 iirc; Frank would know the vintage and serial numbers.  But regardless of when the guitar was made, that kind of flaking should be a warranty repair to the original owner.  If the seller bought it new, he could get it done by Martin.

[Enis Moran]

Hi Howard!  Wow, that was quick ;)!  This is a 1996... I posted something about this over at the UMGF (ILuvMartins) and got some interesting replies.  The owner isn't the original owner, so warranty work is out of the question.  If I buy this, I'll have to either fix it or leave it alone.  I'm sure it looks worse in the photo than it does in real life, but still, it's there.  Joe McNamara confirmed that it's nitro, but said that the warranty issue you mentioned was later on when the lacquer supplier changed ingredients.  If I buy this, the problem is mine. The p[rice is very good though.  There's another available that's $250 more than this one, but with no issues and including shipping... There's still a chance he'll sell it for more than I offered today, but has told me that if he can't, it's mine.

[Frank Ford]

I think you can count on it getting much worse, and probably in other areas as well.  Looks to me like the lacquer is separating from  the vinyl sealer.  The poor adhesion is NOT limited to a narrow time period.  We've seen it on Martins from both of the last two decades, and on instruments made by other factories as well.  And,  yes, it is a warranty issue, although the older it is the less likely  it will be covered, because the finish "might" be flaking for some other reason.

 

Nitrocellulose lacquer must be sprayed within a few hours after application of vinyl sealer.

 

Full refinishing is the only "cure" I trust.

[Enis Moran]

Thanks Frank... Full refinishing is way too much for me to do or have done, but I suspect you're right.  This isn't the end to the problem, for sure.  I just got the shots from the other guy in the NorthEast, and the guitar is MUCH nicer, and while it's $250 more, it has no issues whatsoever, has no strap pin screwed into the bottom of the heel, and looks like it's been cared for a lot better.  That extra money also includes shipping.

Neither guitar is a first owner guitar...

After reading your post, I'm inclined to believe that the visible damage is just the tip of the iceberg on this guitar.

Much appreciated...

[Jim Bancroft]

I did a finish repair on a D-35 that looked similar, a large area of missing finish on the side and top where your arm lays on the guitar.The finish had kind of softened and you could peel it away. Using Lacquer, thinner, and retarder I did a touch up to the areas with missing finish. That was a couple years ago and I see the guitar occasionally and it's still holding up fine, so I'd say it may be possible to touch up and not refinish.

Before I did the touch up the guitar was examined at the Martin Co. and they recommended a refinish. Not that I know that much about finish repairs, but I figured I'd give it a try, and it worked fine. I built up new finish and blended it with the old and it was almost impossible to tell anything was done.

 

Jim