Question about the finish (nitro)?

[Lionheart]

Hi Folks,

 

Does anyone know if Heritage uses nitro-cellulose for their finishes? Here's why I ask: in the picture below, there's a wood "armguard" (I don't really know what it's called) that has been put there that I would like to remove. It's held in place by a small strip of thin foam 2 way tape. I know there are solvents that I can use to remove it, but I also know that a lot of solvents can eat through the finish. Anyone have any ideas?

Heritage Roy Clark

[Kuz]

Hi Folks,

 

Does anyone know if Heritage uses nitro-cellulose for their finishes? Here's why I ask: in the picture below, there's a wood "armguard" (I don't really know what it's called) that has been put there that I would like to remove. It's held in place by a small strip of thin foam 2 way tape. I know there are solvents that I can use to remove it, but I also know that a lot of solvents can eat through the finish. Anyone have any ideas?

Heritage Roy Clark

 

Heritage ONLY uses Nitro finishes on all their guitars.

[golferwave]

Hi Folks,

 

Does anyone know if Heritage uses nitro-cellulose for their finishes? Here's why I ask: in the picture below, there's a wood "armguard" (I don't really know what it's called) that has been put there that I would like to remove. It's held in place by a small strip of thin foam 2 way tape. I know there are solvents that I can use to remove it, but I also know that a lot of solvents can eat through the finish. Anyone have any ideas?

Heritage Roy Clark

 

 

You'll probably need help on this one. I would take it to a luthier. Nitro cellulose is very delicate and I'm not sure anything will take the adhesive strip off without damage to the finish. It may need a slight area oversprayed after removal. Check with a pro.

[iim7v7im7]

Hi,

 

First-off call the Heritage factory to get their advise. They will know what to do.

 

However, I do believe that V M & P Naphtha, a fast evaporating, clear, colorless aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent can be used with a soft cotton cloth to carefully remove the adhesive (see below). Many double-sided foam tapes use acrylic based adhesives but there are other types as well (hard to say what you have). It is usually wise to find a less promenant spot on the instrument to experiment before trying it on your top. What I would be more concerned about is one of two things:

 

(1) The arm rest has been on long enough to allow the nitrocellulose on the rest of the top to age and darken compared to the finish beneath the rest (look under your bridge sometimes to see what I mean)

(2) Any colorants in the rest, tape have leached through the adhesive system into the lacquer beneath it discoloring it.

 

Here is an example of the type of solvent (be careful there are different types of naphthas).

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supp...ha_Solvent.html

 

Good Luck,

 

Bob

 

 

Hi Folks,

 

Does anyone know if Heritage uses nitro-cellulose for their finishes? Here's why I ask: in the picture below, there's a wood "armguard" (I don't really know what it's called) that has been put there that I would like to remove. It's held in place by a small strip of thin foam 2 way tape. I know there are solvents that I can use to remove it, but I also know that a lot of solvents can eat through the finish. Anyone have any ideas?

Heritage Roy Clark

[big bob]

mineral spirits, you can also use lighter fluid... neither will effect the finish. When I wet sand the orange peel off after spraying I use mineral spirits because it wont effect the lacquer like lacquer thinner but also because if it gits into the wood it will not swell the grain like water. I would use an exacto to slice the foam in half in order to remove the guard. once removed I would use mineral spirits to clean the leftover foam and adhesive off. you can search over at the warmoth forum they have a section on finishes. http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/

[Steiner]

If you've been following the adventures of our resident "how to" guy, you'll know what Big Bob says is gospel, learned the hard way and tested via empirical study!

 

I'd go the mineral spirits route.

[golferwave]

bb is the local "pro" on finishes so it looks like you've got the answer you were asking for. Let us know how it works out.

[Lionheart]

I'd like to thank everyone that responded - I would up taking matters into my own hands, and probably got *really lucky*. I took an exacto knife and was able to cut through the adhesive tape without doing any damage. I slowly peeled off the armguard, used some soap and water and cleaned the area where the tape was, and put on a coat of zymol. Here it how it looks:

Heritage without armguard thingy.

[SouthpawGuy]

Please allow me ...

 

 

 

Very nice !

[big bob]

PLEASE, never use soap and water. If water hits unfinished wood, in a surface craze or lacquer check, in a post hole or pickup cavity; the wood will expand and could crack the finish..

 

Oh and by the way, good job, I love it when a DIY works out.

best

Lance

[Lionheart]

PLEASE, never use soap and water. If water hits unfinished wood, in a surface craze or lacquer check, in a post hole or pickup cavity; the wood will expand and could crack the finish..

 

 

Thanks for the tip, Lance! Can you suggest a good cleaner for a nitrocellulose finish?

[GuitArtMan]

Naptha (lighter fluid) will remove tape adhesive residue as will Goo Gone and both are safe for nitro finishes. I'd be more worried about the adhesive itslef interacting with the finish. I masked off a strat body with eh blue painters masking tape. The adheive interacted with the finish and melted it! I had to go down to 400 grit sand the marks out.

[smurph1]

Please allow me ...

 

 

 

Very nice !

Might I add..BEAUTY!!

[FredZepp]

That guitar is a sharp looker.. It looks really playable...

And I'm glad to hear the the armrest removal worked out..

I may be doing a similiar thing when I remove a Roland pickup from one guitar to move it to another.

[Lionheart]

Thanks for all your compliments and information folks - next up, I'm having the original worn tuners put back on. I was able to take it to Mouradian on Saturday, but he is booked until March. But he did do a quick trussrod adjustment and got rid of the fretbuzz that was happening. I'll probably do a recording with it, since it's a bit more "playable" now. I've tried playing it through a Boss RT-20 rotary sound processor and a Brian May practice amp (in fact, you can see it in the picture behind the guitar) and it sounds fantastic. It's probably the "brightest" sounding guitar I own. I also have some Mellotron software (M-Audio M-Tron Pro) that I have been working with, so I'll see if I can get these entities to play nice together and see what it spits out. Wish me luck.

 

Thanks again everyone.

[KissTone]

Hey, is that a Gorilla amp under the little Vox? (Ah, memories . . .)