eastman md315 finish repair

[guidomando]

I've had my 315 for a couple years now. Two small parts of my mandolin are getting some wear on the original finish and getting a shine to them. I'm assuming its because I have not been cleaning the instrument regularly or wiping it off after I play. It appears to be where my hand has made contact with the instrument. The eastman 315 is supposed to have a Satin lacquer finish.

I'm looking for some advice on if there is something I can do to restore the finish look, that is a do it yourself project. Any guidance appreciated. Also, I will try to wipe my instrument down after playing more regularly. Got to remember to put a clean rag in my case.

[Dick Hutchings]

I'll let one of the pro's answer that but I will say this. If you fix it, it's going to come back unless you use a pick guard and arm rest. If it's on the neck, nothing you can do to stop yourself from polishing the finish.

[multidon]

Your assumption is flawed. What is happening is that human skin is very slightly abrasive, so what has been happening is where you touch the instrument every time you play it, your skin had been slowly polishing those spots.

Since it has nothing to do with wiping it or cleaning it, there is really nothing you can do about it. The best thing to do is just leave it alone. It's normal wear and tear, honest play wear. If you are really fussy it would be possible to have the entire instrument buffed to a glossier finish that matches the level of gloss in those spots.

[guidomando]

I should note that its where the pick guard would be, but its not from my pick, its definitely from my skin.

[bigskygirl]

I have a 315 and it too has that glossy patch from my fingers, where my arm rests, and the neck. I kind of like play wear, it shows I'm putting time in and having fun.

Not sure you can rough it back up or that it would be worth it but maybe a few of the luthiers will chime in.

[multidon]

We call that "pinky shine" around here. And that's why some call pick guards "pinky rests".

The best way to prevent it is to learn to play without planting your pinky in the first place.

[Grommet]

Re satin finishes. It isn't only planting a pinkie that can shine that area up. Planting will cause a shine and could potentially wear right through a smallish spot. Even just slightly brushing the fingertips across the top whilst playing will shine a pickguard shaped area below the treble strings. I have heard (here) that buffing of the is instrument top/back by hand with a cotton pad and either Meguire's #7 or Novus #2 polish will bring a matching shine to the rest of the instrument. I will be trying this on my Pava Satin Model soon. I've also ordered a pickguard from Doug at Hill Country Stringworks. After removing the Pava's hardware, I'll try out the polishing action on an inconspicuous area like the neck heel adjacent to the area of the neck already polished by my hand. It had been recommended to do a small area at a time and not to let Meguire's dry up before buffing off. Anyone who has done this have any good tips? Thanks

Scott

[Mike Barber]

I have a 315. I don't plant my pinky, but like Grommet said even just lightly brushing will do it. I ended up buffing the entire instrument and I love it.

[renoyd]

Think of this as an opportunity rather than a problem. With lacquer, the finishes are either glossy or satin. Sometimes, glossy is too glossy, plasticky looking while some satin finishes nearly mute the beauty of the wood and are noisy, (ffft sound against you hand or shirt). The best comprise with lacquer is to start with satin and buff it out. I dug around in the archives and then did my Collings satin MT. Started with the back rubbing with 0000 steel wool with a light touch. You could almost tell by the sound, in addition to feel, when you had gone far enough. Don't worry - lightly with 0000, you are not going to remove the whole finish anytime soon. Then comes the Novus No. 2, mentioned already above. The whole process takes maybe 2 hours for the whole instrument and is worth it to be sure. Now, you can really see the beauty of the wood, no fffft sounds, yet does not have that overly reflective shine if a gloss instrument. Feels better to the hand as well. Collings had my instrument soon after for a re-setup and commented on how nice the finish was, said it looked very much like a varnish finish. Highly recommend doing this to anyone with a satin lacquer instrument. May sound scary to some but you have full control of this very gradual process and you will be proud of your work!

[Bill Snyder]

DON'T use the steel wool.

[guidomando]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Like Bigskygirl says above, I don't mind seeing some wear and tear on my instrument. It does show that I've been putting in some time with the instrument. It was just that I was caught off guard seeing this shine, expecting to start seeing bare wood instead. I guess the bare wood would come after the shine?

The reason I was concerned that I needed to clean the instrument is because instead of my pinky polishing the wood smooth, it has actually made the area rougher to the touch and I'm not sure if that is the wood itself that is getting rough or something is happening with the finish. I was wondering if oils from my hand were eating into the finish and wood. It almost seems like the grains of the wood are emerging out of the finish.

[multidon]

As stated before you are abrading away finish with your skin. The finish on Eastmans is very thin, that is why you can feel wood grain there. Maybe you should consider a pick guard. It will hide what has already happened and protect it from getting any worse.