I recently acquired a vintage late 1890's Joseph Bohmann parlor guitar. I found afterwards that the top finish is extremely weak for lack of a better word. Merely grazing the top with the backs of my fingernails causes finish to scrape off. You can see the issue in the pic below, just to the right of the sound hole. I'm looking for advice on how to best deal with it. The guitar has beautiful tone, a straight neck, fantastic action, but it's probably not a collectible since the original Bohmann tuners were replaced with Grovers. The old Bohmann tuners were mounted in a brass plate that was inset into the headstock, so the new tuners required that the headstock cavity be filled in with wood. Whoever did it did a fine job and the Grovers work well. So, any suggestions about the top? I've considered refinish, pickguard, leave it alone, and application of harder finish on top of the troubled spots, but I'm hoping to find a better solution.
12-09-2018, 01:12 PM
Finish on vintage Parlor Guitar
