What's the thing about guitar stands staining finishes again?

minimoog

Think I saw something mentioned here about A-frame stands marking some types of finish, permanently. The rubber pads or something. What's the issue and might my TV yellow '14 Melody Maker be affected if I left it on one?

Corvus

Nitro/celly finishes, some of the rubber/foam can attack them. Although my Hofner has been OK on one for donkeys years, so it's not guaranteed. My Firebird came with a leaflet warning about it. A cotton wrap might stop it I guess.

minimoog

Ah ok. And damn. thanks.

thermionic

Is it silicone rubber that marks nitro finishes? Silicones are pretty inert, chemically speaking, so they're not likely to react with anything.

bazxkr

So how would you know what paint you have ? Is it a year think like the lead issue... anything after a certain date is ok or what ?

Philly_Q

It only affects nitro finishes, so that's nearly all Gibsons and most Custom Shop, AVRI and 50s/60s vintage Fenders.

Most other manufacturers use poly or some other kind of finish which won't be affected at all, as far as I know.

stuagu

Bit of gaffa and on it where it touches the guitar and your sorted just in case

MattFGBI

Never leave any guitar on a stand long term. Even poly can be stained if the stand starts to deteriorate.

Philly_Q

MattFGBI said:

Never leave any guitar on a stand long term. Even poly can be stained if the stand starts to deteriorate.

Good point, I guess if it reaches the point where the foam/rubber stuff on the stands is actually disintegrating then nasty things can start to happen.

Cabicular

I started using these
They are great so far
Really compact light but well made
https://m.thomann.de/gb/km_17515_guardian_transluzent.htm?ref=mpd_ra_2

ICBM

MattFGBI said:

Never leave any guitar on a stand long term. Even poly can be stained if the stand starts to deteriorate. 

I'd go even further. Never leave any finish in contact with any form of soft plastic or synthetic rubber in the long term - that includes some strap ends, and cables which some people keep in the case along with the guitar. I've seen a few - even things like 70s Fenders, which should be immune given they're polyester - marked like this.

Philly_Q

Anyone ever had a guitar react with the lining of a case?  

I have an old Hamer Special (I think they used nitro in those days) which basically started to... how can I describe it... bond with the lining of the case.  The finish didn't come off in chunks or anything dramatic like that, but it looks like it was left on a deep shagpile carpet before it had finished drying.

And I have some TV White Gibsons which, I fear, will eventually turn pink from contact with their case lining.  But that might be paranoia.

Corvus

Any finish could be stained if a dye isn't stabilised or becomes unstable over time. But the attack that nitro can suffer from foam/rubber is a different thing.

Nitro can be attacked, damaged; it's a fragile finish which dries by solvent evaporation. Actual poly (polyurethane) could be affected, which was used for a while and is also a single-component paint.

2-pack which is also called poly (wrongly, and only in the guitar world) is a different animal, it sets by catalytic reaction with an activator. This is very stable - it's on your cars, which remain in contact with all sorts of rubber, foam rubber etc, for years without being affected in the slightest. It can be stained by dye leeching but usually it would be poss to cut & buff that out. Although red dye on white for instance is hard work to get totally gone. White takes no prisoners.

Titch

My Hercules stands wore the finish off the neck of my 339 where it grips the neck.

 

Sassafras

Philly_Q said:

Anyone ever had a guitar react with the lining of a case?  

I have an old Hamer Special (I think they used nitro in those days) which basically started to... how can I describe it... bond with the lining of the case.  The finish didn't come off in chunks or anything dramatic like that, but it looks like it was left on a deep shagpile carpet before it had finished drying.

And I have some TV White Gibsons which, I fear, will eventually turn pink from contact with their case lining.  But that might be paranoia.

How many guitars have you got, if that's not a rude question?

Philly_Q

Sassafras said:

How many guitars have you got, if that's not a rude question?

It's not a rude question, and the answer is.... far too many.  Over 30, but I can't be much more exact than that because some are unplayable or in bits, and I also have lots of bits which have never been assembled into guitars.

Sassafras

Just given you a Wow!

cbilly22

One rule regarding stands and nitro finishes is not to leave your guitar in the care of any guitar shop in the Wingham area!! 

Just saying.

ICBM

A guitar shop I used to work for ruined a sky blue Catalina Les Paul and an ES-295 reissue in exactly the same way. Sadly I didn't spot them on the stands in time - I was only in once a week and it took just a few days.

cbilly22

ICBM said:

A guitar shop I used to work for ruined a sky blue Catalina Les Paul and an ES-295 reissue in exactly the same way. Sadly I didn't spot them on the stands in time - I was only in once a week and it took just a few days.

Luckily mine is a well played and relic'd Melody Maker so a bit of wear and tear doesn't hurt so much. Had it been something shinier and newer I made well have become mildly huffy.

Funnily enough, on the same day I removed this from the shop I tried a Tiny Terror in store but gave it up as a bad idea after one of the bods there unplugged the live head from the speaker twice! You try to give places close to you a fair crack of the wip but I've not been in since.

Neil

I think the finish on poly Fenders must be pretty much bombproof as I left my Strat on a stand for 17 years without moving it with no ill effect!