Refinishing

[Mike Buesseler]

OK, I know and agree with the consensus about messing with the finish on old instruments. BUT, what if it's really a mess? My brother just bought an old Gibson (guitar, but same would apply to a mandolin), 1910, I think he said. He said it looks "like a blind person shellacked it with a really big paint brush."

Now, that seems like a good candidate for a refinish, to me. So, should he strip it, and do it all over again, or just sand or steel wool the worst of the brushstrokes off?

[Dale Ludewig]

You can't steel wool off brushstrokes. The steel wool will just ride over them and leave scuff marks. As for sanding, you'll have sanding scratches. Even with very fine (2000 grit) sandpaper, which would take forever to remove brush strokes, you'd still have to polish it back up.

Of course, I've not seen the instrument. Someone with more expertise than I will hopefully comment on refinishing if it's a real mess.

[peter.coombe]

Shellac finishes are easy to repair. A combination of light sanding and french polishing (use pumice) will soon get rid of those brush strokes. Anyone who knows how to french polish should be able to fix it.

[Mike Buesseler]

Thanks, guys. Trouble is, I don't know what the finish is. He said "shellac," meaning some kind of clear coat, I assume. This sounds pretty bad from his description. Maybe the guy he bought it from can tell him what the finish is (he's a violin builder). Then he can go from there. I knew enough to tell him not to just go at it, but not what TO do. This is a start.

[Mike Buesseler]

OK, my brother says he's pretty sure it's finished with lacquer. LOTS of lacquer.

Any ideas how to get it off, or at least thinner and nicer looking?

[8ch(pl)]

If the finish is soluable in alcohol it is shellac. Nitrate Cellulose Lacquer is not. In other words a shellac finish can be removed by rubbing it down with methyl hydrate or isopropol alcohol. If it is lacquer, it will disolve in lacquer thinners, remove the same way.

[Arlen]

While I have VERY limited experience in instrument repairs, I enjoy finding old well used / bruised / broken instruments and bringing 'em back to playable condition for practice.

I have used StewMac's "lacquer melt" to float the existing lacquer over scratched / bunged up spots several times. In fact, I did just this to a friend's garage-sale bowl back last night on the back of the headstock to cleanup marks from several previous tuner replacements before I put new cheap tuners on it. Just a very small amount on a soft cloth, lightly wiped over the area I'm working with, and then buff or steel wool depending on the rest of the finish.

It does exactly what it says it does, melt (or reactivate) the lacquer. I think it's intended to blend old lacquer with new on repair jobs.

[sunburst]

Without seeing the guitar, I can only offer suggestions for various situations.

If the brushed lacquer is applied over an original finish, the best thing to do to preserve originality in the instrument, would be to remove the new finish down to the old finish, leave that, and re-buff. That would take someone with enough experience to be able to see when the old finish emerges while sanding off the new.
For an attractive guitar and "to h---" with originality, the options are to smooth and buff what's there, or strip it and re-fin.
Keep in mind that stripped and refinished celluloid bindings usually disintegrate later, so it's usually best to put on new bindings too. You can either make it look like a new guitar, or artificially age it.

[Dale Ludewig]

What I meant when I mentioned others offering their opinions (all of which have been valuable) was meant that I don't know what refinishing does to the value of an instrument, particularly one that may not be that valuable even its original condition. I agree with all the opinions stated. If it is a shellac finish, french polishing should be able to fix it. Just clean it first. If it's brushed lacquer, that would explain brush marks. From my experience, even lacquer formulated to be "brushing lacquer" still dries too fast to leave satisfactory results, especially on an instrument. I've not tried the StewMac stuff, but I've tried other reamagulators, I believe they're called. Except on small flaws, I personally have not had good luck with them. But you never know. The first thing you need to do is figure out what the finish is.