New to Nitro...Things to Know?

[blacklove]

Well, I put a deposit down on one of the new crop of this year's Thin Skins! I missed the boat last year and got in early this time.

I realize I've NEVER owned a nitro finish guitar! I've heard a few things about the "care and feeding" of a nitro finish, but thought I'd open it up to the experts for the official story.

Areas of interest: polishes, stands, sweat, beer spills, dings and dents, is the case lining finish-safe? Will the finish be softer at first and harden over the years? Etc. etc. etc.

[boris bubbanov]

First thing to bear in mind is that your nitro finish is not and will never be set or "cured" as true lacquer remains vulnerable to acetone and to a lesser extent to alcohols and other solvents. Forever. Read the ingredients on the label of a can of Deft gloss nitro in a rattle can to learn which solvents to be wary of, and avoid those substances in any polish you use, and in any hand cleanser or moisturisers, these sorts of things.

Any object your guitar finishes touch can possibly harm it, so study up and find which objects are most likely to hurt your finish. You will have to avoid heat but especially cold and rapid changes in temperature can easily harm the finish.

A good case is pretty essential for a nitro guitar unless you crave that relic look.

There's much more, but I'll hand off to someone else.

[VWAmTele]

Don't take any chances with holders/stands regardless of what they say. I have a nitro Gibson Dobro that was in a well known brand hanger, was in and out for years - no problem - then one day the finish melted into the hanger. I actually recovered damages from the hanger company - which was a nice thing for them to do (they offered BTW) - but I'd rather have my unmarred Dobro back. So use a cotton cloth to line anything you stand/hang it in.

[jwells393]

I also wouldn't trust any guitar stand. I've covered all the contact points on my stands with felt.

[Wayne Alexander]

Don't play the guitar wearing bug repellent with DEET in it. It will dissolve the finish. If the neck seems sticky, either put talcum powder on it or a string/body lube like Dr Ducks Axwax or Finger Ease - make sure no silicon and no petroleum products like WD40 get anywhere near it. Eventually the neck finish will harden up enough that you won't need to lube it very often.

[Stubee]

+1 on the advice here (though I use guitar stands with no problems). Don't leave a leather strap laying on it for months on end (some can bleed a bit into the nitro), don't put it away in a case with a plastic strap on top of it, etc.

But also don't fret or obsess about it too much. I've had nitro-finished acoustic guitars from the '40s, '50s, '60s that all somehow survived the various things they'd encountered. Some had weird marks or bubbles from who knows what, most had significant play wear. They sounded (and sound) fine.

I consider my nitro Tele & Strat to be far more "tool like" in character than flattops and frankly don't worry much about the finish. Play it, love it, it'll get dings & some other stuff, that's OK. It's a guitar.

[blacklove]

Great replies. One of the reasons I'm getting a thin skin is that the finish will wear in with use over the years. No white glove treatment with this one. It will get played.

Guitar stand marks and WD-40 overspray is NOT my idea of a good worn-in look! Honestly, it's the things like WD-40 or contact cleaner overspray that would have been my mistake.

Any more advice?

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by blacklove

Great replies. One of the reasons I'm getting a thin skin is that the finish will wear in with use over the years. No white glove treatment with this one. It will get played.

Guitar stand marks and WD-40 overspray is NOT my idea of a good worn-in look! Honestly, it's the things like WD-40 or contact cleaner overspray that would have been my mistake.

Any more advice?

Don't worry about it...I had a nitro guitar for 2 years before I knew it was nitro. The only thing I'd worry about is the stand, strap, and polish. Use common sense and don't put any stickers on it.

[Gary in Boston]

I have had and have nitro finished guitars from the 50's 60's and a recent re fin. With reasonable care the finish will be just fine. Bug spray, deet, guitar stands, cheap cases, direct sunlight, trunks of cars, will all pre maturely "relic" your guitar.

Gary

[jelly tele]

man...this is good reading material. i had no idea nitro was so touchy.
can anyone suggest a less 'high maintainance' finish?

[Gary in Boston]

Nitro is not too touchy....... It was in fact the only finish for many, many years
The point is, it's a fine finish and will be just fine with reasonable care.

Worrying about it is a waste of time.

Gary

[Brick]

Never spray nitro without a respirator.

[Gary in Boston]

No open flames or even sparks from compressors running spray equipment

Nitro is about as bad for you as cigarettes.

Gary

[scooteraz]

From wikipedia:
Nitrocellulose lacquers



"Ming Dynasty Chinese lacquerware container, dated 16th century.
Quick-drying solvent-based lacquers that contain nitrocellulose, a resin obtained from the nitration of cotton and other cellulostic materials, were developed in the early 1920s, and extensively used in the automobile industry for 30 years. Prior to their introduction, mass produced automotive finishes were limited in colour, with Japan Black being the fastest drying and thus most popular. General Motors Oakland automobile brand automobile was the first (1923) to introduce one of the new fast drying nitrocelluous lacquers, a bright blue, produced by DuPont under their Duco tradename.
These lacquers are also used on wooden products, furniture primarily, and on musical instruments and other objects. The nitrocellulose and other resins and plasticizers are dissolved in the solvent, and each coat of lacquer dissolves some of the previous coat. These lacquers were a huge improvement over earlier automobile and furniture finishes, both in ease of application, and in colour retention. The preferred method of applying quick-drying lacquers is by spraying, and the development of nitrocellulose lacquers led to the first extensive use of spray guns. Nitrocellulose lacquers produce a very hard yet flexible, durable finish that can be polished to a high sheen. Drawbacks of these lacquers include the hazardous nature of the solvent, which is flammable, volatile and toxic; and the handling hazards of nitrocellulose in the lacquer manufacturing process. Lacquer grade of soluble nitrocellulose is closely related to the more highly nitrated form which is used to make explosives."

So, basically, highly nitrated cellulose is dissolved into a solvent. The combination is applied to the surface, the solvent evaporates and leaves behind the nitrated cellulose. Think old billiard balls (which were made of the essentially the same material). As the extract from the article noted, the nitrated cellulose used originally was pretty closely related to gun cotton.

More modern finishes are catalyzed, like epoxy or the "poly" finishes. They are more durable because they cure rather than dry. The reason it takes so long for nitro finishes to dry is that it takes a really long time for the last of the solvent to evaporate from the finish. Essentially, the solvent has a half life, it takes X time for half to evaporate, then the same x time for half of what is left, then again and again.

Part of the stickiness that you can get with nitro can be handled by, of all things, wiping down a rag wetted (not soaked in) with naphtha. I am guessing it dissolves just a bit of the finish then evaporates really fast leaving a smoother finish.

[boris bubbanov]

And change the filters often, using only those designated for toxic paint finish products.

If you can smell the nitro while you're spraying, you need to replace the filter now.

Great post, scooteraz.

I think the naphtha acts as a lubricant and permits any loose finish to be lifted off the surface and carried away. Remember, paper bags and cotton cloths will smooth and burnish a nitro finish. The polishes are more likely to contain solvents of nitro.