Return to The Show Page



Jeff Simpson writes:

Rick: See the before and after photos of my last
guitar repair. It had been originally finished in
polyester lacquer. I removed the polyester
mechanically by scraping and sanding. But I didn't get
the color quite right. But the guys at the music store
thought it was a very good save. Normally they just
scrap them when they're like this. The primer coat
they use for the poly finish goes into the wood very
deeply and is impossible to get out using the normal
stripping processes. MSDS's for polyester lacquer
state the main component is styrene plastic. The
solvent used is apparently a very nasty one. I think
the instrument makers are using that finish because of
its high solids content and durability. It saves them
many steps in the finishing process. Drum
manufacturers are also using it, as are the piano
makers. But it's plastic, so I think it would tend to
deaden the sound. The high end instruments from
Fender and Gibson are still being finished in
nitrocellulose lacquer. I've wondered why. And I'd
much rather work on those as compared to the
plastic ones.

Jeff Simpson
Ontario, Canada





Return to The Show Page