White spots on nitro

[matthewm40]

My guitar has a few small white spots where it seems the finish is lifting. What should I do about this? Has this happened to other peoples guitars?

[John Arnold]

Adhesion is occasionally a problem with nitro. It usually is caused by poor surface preparation, or by defective or incompatible materials.
Thin super glue can be used to stick down loose finish, but the result may not be completely invisible. The better solution is to remelt the lacquer with retarder, and touch up as needed. That can be quite time-consuming, however.
If a large part of the surface is involved, the only practical solution may be to strip and refinish the whole guitar.

[matthewm40]

Retarder? more specific please. And it isn't large. Just a few spots on the heel of my acoustic

[LouieAtienza]

Lacquer retarder is used as a thinner, also it slows down the drying.

It is not clear whether this is a new build that you`re spraying, or this had happened to an already finished guitar... as John mentioned one cause is adhesion. This can happen where neck joins body if the neck was glued on first before finishing. Stress ormovement on the joint can cause finish to lift. It can.also happen from getting hit.

If this is new finish, it`s possible the lacquer is not compatible with whatever is below it, whether it is glue (used for sizing end grain), pore filler, or stain, or whatever was there was not fully dry beforehand. Even a brief touch with a body part before spraying can transfer oil which can affect adhesion. Usually I`ve found that lacquer stivks fine to most oil stains I`ve used. The heel is also prone to get a heavier coating than most other parts on a guitar, whivh can exacerbate any of the above problems.

[LouieAtienza]

Ishould add that if you`re spraying and you do have a thicker coat at the heel, it could potentially blush if it dried too fast, then as John mentioned applyimg retarder in that areaight help. Also if you`re using satin lacquer you may get white spots due to buildup or improperly mixed or strained finish.

[matthewm40]

It is a guitar I had purchased. I was doing a touchup where finish had lifted around the strap button hole. Some thinner ran further on the heel and that is what I think caused the white spots. But I don't wan't to use a lot of thinner on a spot that isn't covered like the place under the strap button

[LouieAtienza]

You might be able to rub it out with compound, though I`d be inclined to let it sit a bit begore doing so.

[John Arnold]

Some thinner ran further on the heel and that is what I think caused the white spots.

That sounds more like blushing, rather than lifted finish. Blushing is a surface effect. Let the finish harden, then sand and buff it out.

[matthewm40]

When I rub the finish by the white spots It doesn't seem to feel raised. Could it still be this "blushing"?

[matthewm40]

I also think maybe some of the thinner made its way under the finish from where I touched up around the strap button hole

[B. Howard]

I doubt its blushing. Blush is caused by the water content of the ambient air being sheared into the coating during atomization. It is also doubtful that a bit of thinner caused the finish to lift. Sounds more like maybe the thinner reacted with a silicone or wax that was on the surface of the finish and pulled it in. Before any type of finish repair the area all around should be thoroughly cleaned and de-waxed. If this is the case the area will need sanded down until the contaminant is removed and then buffed out or more lacquer added. Of course these are my thoughts based on what the OP has said, a picture would have helped a lot.

[matthewm40]

I'll get a picture tonight

[matthewm40]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps052190ba.jpg

Here's a link to the photo. Notice the hazy spots over the strap button

[matthewm40]

And sorry about the quality. I used my iphone camera

[B. Howard]

I would try just buffing that out first and if that didn't work I would give it a little sanding with some 1200 and then buff again.