[thegreatgumbino]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

I tread lightly on this subject, but in my experience that is pretty typical. It's not guaranteed, but when removing one of these armrests, I have a greater expectation of seeing it than not seeing it. I've seen that exact same mild damage on many guitars over the years. I liken it to the same sort of footprint left after removing an over-finish pick guard, not the "tan line" but a rippled sort of surface on the finish. It might be described as an indentation or impression.

The severity of it will lessen over time, but to make it go away completely is more difficult. It can be drop filled, wet sanded, and buffed, but that has its own problems. That will eliminate the impression, but leave the finish very flat and smooth. The original finish has probably started to take on the slight ripple of the grain lines in the spruce top, so the flatter area will be more obvious.

All that said for the sake of discussion, but the only what to make it better is to have a GOOD builder or repairman look at it and assess it first hand. There are not very many people who are really good at finish repair, so the safest course of action might be to leave it alone for a month or two so you can see if it will diminish on its own, then sell or trade it as-is. This is the kind of thing that isn't too bad now, but it's very easy to make it worse.

You're correct that it's like an indentation. Thanks for the advice about letting it go for a bit, Todd. Probably a smart approach. Very disappointed, obviously. Hopefully my post will help others make an informed decision before installing one. I read mostly glowing reviews about them and that they didn't cause any issues when removed when researching it before installation.