It Must Be The Weather Or A Novice Wood Finisher

[shreddy bender]

I seem to recall Biddlin having a similar issue with his faded crescent moon special last year.
This just started showing up a couple of weeks ago and is getting worse. I wonder if the 2002 and 2003 fadeds are more prone to this? Maybe the faded finish was introduced to teach the new employees how to finish wood.
Oh well it is what it is. The house I'm in right now feels quite humid in the winter so that may be something as well.
Any one got any thoughts on this? It doesn't really bother me, I'm just curious

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Definite signs of moisture entering under the veneer's finish from the open ends of where the peg holes were drilled. Not a common occurrence, but again it will happen if the holes were drilled after the finish was applied or possibly reamed to better fit. Weather changes will accelerate this problem.

 

[Biddlin]

Yep, I'm learning to live with mine, for the time being.
Biddlin ;>)/

 

[donepearce]

What's it like in your house, climate-wise.? I find houses in cold places tend to be very hot inside and extremely dry (I generally wake up with a raspy throat if I stay in them).

 

[shreddy bender]

The house I'm in seems to be quite humid this is the first place I've lived that is like this. I have never been one to crank up the heat I just dress in layers and use blankets (I'm a cheap Canadian).
The guitar is now over 10 years old It's just wild to watch this happen almost before your eyes!
I can see Wade's point about the finish being broken at the edge of the tuner holes and allowing moisture in there. I don't know if Gibson drills these out before or after lacquering. I didn't do any reaming I just swapped out the Gibson deluxe tuners for the Grovers.
Originally the finish started to lift just above the Gibson logo and then about 2 weeks later showed up around the post holes.
As I said, it is what it is. The guitar still plays fine and that's really all that matters to me.
I'd really like to avoid this happening on any guitars that I build as I don't want any disappointed customers (if I get any customers that is!). The ones I have done were drilled before lacquering. It seemed to be the right thing to do in the grand order of things.

 

[Biddlin]

shreddy, mine actually is the result of Cali's summer heat. The college kid who owned it before me left it stored in a metal shed for a couple of years, and the headstock laminate shrunk. I think in your case, Wade may be right. BTW-Gibson, Nashville wants about a grand to fix mine, so I'm lovin' the relic look.
Biddlin ;>)/

 

[shreddy bender]

Holy Crap! That's more than the guitar cost new after taxes! The way I look at it if it gets much worse I'll just be able to peel off the lifted lacquer in one piece like sunburn and refinish it myself! I'd bet if I just hit it with compressed air it'd flake right off like leaves in the wind!

 

[dbb]

The college kid who owned it before me left it stored in a metal shed for a couple of years, and the headstock laminate shrunk.

Now that is a lesson in how NOT to store a guitar! It's in way better hands now.

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Had an acoustic that was brought in long ago that the owner had swapped out the tuners but had not properly opened the holes for the tuning machines. He had taken a hand drill and stabbed the holes with a larger size drill bit and naturally it chattered about and trashed the veneer headstock in the process. As our friends in OZ might say " That yank buggered it up but good! " Partial chipping around each peg hole and finish separation as well.

I had managed to save it for the most part by injecting diluted lacquer in the cracks a little at at time (as it softens the top layer until dried and re-hardened. Was then able to build up the cracked top portion a little at a time with brushed on layers of lacquer to just above the level of the original lacquer and polished in place to match.

In essence what I had done was inject the "watered down" lacquer into the cracks and crevices of the existing surface to seep into the area that had lifted. In such action the fresh diluted lacquer flowed easily under the lifted top layer and thus soften and bond the top layer to the material below it. When the operation was done several times over the course of a few days it all began to adhere properly and required polishing and leveling only at the locations where I was forced to "build up" the missing chips around the peg holes. A final polish of the entire headstock left a smooth and unblemished finish.

Shreddy, what you might do is go to one tuner that shows a small amount of this separation and try to repeat what I had done with the lifted finish. Go at it small. I mean do not use a lot of liquid and swamp it. A little at a time here is far better than an overflow. The idea is to regenerate the existing lacquer above to return to the surface below.... By trying it out in a more discrete location will give you an idea if this will work for you and not be obvious if it does not... Go slowly and do not overflow anything. Patience and more patience is the word!

Good luck, I'll be standing by if ya need me...(as long as I can.)

Wade

 

[shreddy bender]

Thanks for the idea Wade! Hey it can't hurt. I'm really not overly concerned but this could be a good experiment As I am a novice guitar builder, (I won't DARE say luthier) the more ammunition I have in my belt the better. That's the approach I take with most things- if I can learn a new skill or technique I'm all for it.
Hopefully I won't need your help but ummmm... well... just keep standing by. Just in case you know!:)
Thanks again Wade.

 

[Angry Tele]

that looks like its 50 years old