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Another proof of the crap rubber lacquer Gibson uses...

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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Like we needed another proof...

the following pictures are from my '11 R8. Purchased new in Jan/feb 2012.

I'm not the kind of player that babysits his guitars. I play them, sometimes hard, but I NEVER intentionally abuse them...

the wear at the edges is almost as much as on my 82 standard.

The big missing chunk of lacquer started with a ding on the edges, and the lacquer 'lifted' like a blister. If I had kept going, I probably could have removed all the lacquer with just my fingernails... :bigal

No heat or tools of any kind were used. the wear at the edges is honest playwear, I just feel like it happened a bit too soon and too much...

Enjoy the pics... :rolleyes:

60725BCA-4CDF-44E4-94B8-75255FC98CD8-10944-00000C6FD351EFB0.jpg


1EED41B2-DB7C-4BA8-B345-9D7240529B06-10944-00000C6FCDFBA620.jpg


8E800EFF-12AF-4E2A-A315-EF020FF70C87-10944-00000C6FC83F1B14.jpg


FD37EEC5-0438-492F-8377-895013299B32-10944-00000C6F95597C7F.jpg


0035A879-C9D1-4914-AA4D-D753702323C7-10944-00000C6FB145361F.jpg


5DC8F638-5A6B-4491-A9B7-BF5B2BDF06EE-10944-00000C6FBB08C788.jpg


0A0DCACF-4A88-4D42-98D5-F9990F9AB101-10944-00000C6FAA01B1D7.jpg


57CB0024-854A-4E68-B6BD-F6F0E2A655C0-10944-00000C6FA2788CA6.jpg
 
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wild.joz

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You can see on the picture just before the last, how the lacker is lifted at the center of the "chip" by it's lighter color. Those few millimeters are no longer making contact with the wood...

Surprisingly, the lacquer on the top seems much harder.
 
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cryptozoo

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Something similar happened to my '05 R8. I had a theory that it started with a small chip, and then moisture worked it's way into the wood, causing surrounding areas to lift. Didn't bother me much, because the guitar was already 'aged,' but it came off just like yours did. I could take a pick and chip at it, and it'd peel up or come off in large chunks. It became a bad habit in between playing, like biting nails or smoking. By the time the dust cleared, half the back coat was gone.

Upshot was, tone improved. Or at least that's what I told myself. So chip, chip away.
 

58Lover

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Oct 27, 2001
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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Uh, you have spell check, yes? You might want to see how "lacker" is spelled, lol!
 

wild.joz

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Uh, you have spell check, yes? You might want to see how "lacker" is spelled, lol!

Yeah, don't know what I was thinking... and it spells the same in French so no excuses :fc

Too bad I can't change the title other than on my posts...
 

wild.joz

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Something similar happened to my '05 R8. I had a theory that it started with a small chip, and then moisture worked it's way into the wood, causing surrounding areas to lift. Didn't bother me much, because the guitar was already 'aged,' but it came off just like yours did. I could take a pick and chip at it, and it'd peel up or come off in large chunks. It became a bad habit in between playing, like biting nails or smoking. By the time the dust cleared, half the back coat was gone.

Upshot was, tone improved. Or at least that's what I told myself. So chip, chip away.

That could be a reason, as the guitar is always outside the case, and we had a very hot and humid summer... It doesn't bother me much either, but it's just not how lacquer should age I think...
 

PHILBERT

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Uhhhh...that is not normal age. That is a defect. :wah

I had plenty of chips on my Vintage SG, and let me tell you I never observed anything like that. Never! The finish was thicker and much harder.

I noticed my 2010 R0 had a thin and peelable (is that a word?) finish just waiting fall off around the stud holes. I used an exacto knife to make a clean cut where the bushing ended so it wouldn't peel. Looking at the lacquer, it was very thin and plastic like, brittle and colored. "WTF is this?", I asked. NOTHING at all like old Gibson finish. Can this company do anything right? :fc
 

SheltonGuitar

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Just my opinion, but that doesn't look like a plasticizer issue. More like a curing issue.
 

wild.joz

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

Just my opinion, but that doesn't look like a plasticizer issue. More like a curing issue.

That's something I've been wondering too. It feels like the lacquer didn't adhere (sp?) to the wood/grain filler...

I'm not going to send the guitar back or anything, and with the amount of buckle worming it would be useless, but damn, that's really not acceptable.
 

PHILBERT

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Re: Another proof of the crap rubber lacker Gibson uses...

That's something I've been wondering too. It feels like the lacquer didn't adhere (sp?) to the wood/grain filler...

I'm not going to send the guitar back or anything, and with the amount of buckle worming it would be useless, but damn, that's really not acceptable.

Historic Makeover time! :lol
 

tonar8353

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Oct 16, 2007
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That looks way more like an adhesion problem than a plasticizer problem. When a finish lets go of a surface like that it indicates either the surface was too smooth for adhesion, or there was an incompatibility issue with the filler or sanding sealer, or some kind of contamination on the surface. If the back of the peeled chip is as glossy as the front of the chip then the surface was too smooth so it would be like painting glass, it can not stick to it. If there was contamination of some sort you may see some particles of some kind on the back of the chip. Incompatibility issues are more difficult to determine with out access to the original materials to do tests on another surface. And finally it could have just been a bad batch of lacquer.

Some people pay a lot of money to have that done on purpose.
 

solsurfr

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That doesn't look right to me at all. I would get Gibson on the horn for a real evaluation.
 

wild.joz

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Looks like you rest your guitar leaning on the ground a lot - moisture on the ground maybe? Grass fields?

you're right, the guitar is always leaning on the back edge, but on a stone surface, inside, like this:

E82A457F-6CF2-4173-9B8D-83AD6D972EE9-26675-00001BC650CACA74.jpg
 

marshall1987

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Leaning your Les Paul against the top of that Stratocaster might be responsible for some of the lacquer chipping. Contact with the Strat bridge saddles and grub screws couldn't be that good for the finish of your Les Paul.
 

wild.joz

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Leaning your Les Paul against the top of that Stratocaster might be responsible for some of the lacquer chipping. Contact with the Strat bridge saddles and grub screws couldn't be that good for the finish of your Les Paul.

The LP back, isn't actually touching the Strat. The Strat bridge would touch the LP back higher anyway.

The ding from where the big chunk of lacquer came appart, is right on the edge and the wood compressed a little. I was playing on my knees at a gig in a rock star moment, and I hit the bass player pedalboard... Dumb, I know :)
 

Greco

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Apr 23, 2006
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If anything, good nitro cellulose is MORE brittle than this and can be picked off with your nails if you really want to. It's not poly! Anyway, with stacking your guitars against the wall like that, I have seen your future:

IMG_6231.jpg
 
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