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#1
02-04-2019, 03:06 PM
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Seagull sound hole wear
Greetings all! I'm new to these forums.
I recently picked up a used Seagull Entourage Rustic CW QIT acoustic guitar. As you can see from the pics below (hope I linked them correctly), there's quite a bit of wear at the bottom of the sound hole. Normally I'd just leave something like this alone, but what concerns me is circled. It's a little hard to see (at little easier from the side shot), but it appears that one spot is wearing down the "curve" into the guitar's top at the edge of the hole. Anyway, I'm afraid that area will continue to wear until there's serious damage. Do you guys think this is something to be worried about? If so, any ideas for a DIY fix to maybe reinforce the rim of the hole, is it time for a trip to a Luthier, or am I just going to have to live with it and hope for the best? I'd rather not install an oversized pick guard if at all possible, since it would partially cover the feather pattern around the hole, but I have a feeling that may be my only choice. I also have no idea how to get the existing pick guard off this guitar, as it appears to be glued on. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kw6...ew?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bOp...ew?usp=sharing Thanks in advance for any advice! 
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#2
02-04-2019, 03:56 PM
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That's wear from the previous owner. Do your other guitars have that type of wear from your playing? I'd put a couple of coats of shellac on it and call it good enough.
__________________
Rodger Knox, PE 1917 Martin 0-28 1956 Gibson J-50 et al
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#3
02-04-2019, 04:56 PM
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I’d leave it as is. I personally like the wore look on guitars. As long as the wear is from the previous owner and not you it should be fine and not get any worst. I honestly don’t see how it could get much worst with the pick guard there. If the finish being removed bothers you you could figure out what finish was used and dap a bit on the exposed wood but to that would be purely for your preference. I believe anything more serious would require the pick guard to be removed
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#4
02-05-2019, 08:46 AM
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@Rodger Knox/Jcamp: The wear sure is from the previous owner, although I'm not sure it wouldn't have happened to me if I bought it new. After a bit of additional research it seems to be a common problem with these guitars, because of the finish and absolutely no sound hole protection. The pick guard doesn't provide any protection around the sound hole anyway.
I own two other guitars without pick guards that have some light scratching in this area, but nothing remotely like this Seagull. I think that's only natural from simply playing, unless you're so careful with your strumming that you never, ever hit the body with a pick (impossible IMHO). I should also mention that I use .60mm picks for strumming, which are obviously a light gauge and very flexible. One is an Ovation Custom Balladeer, but that has very wide sound hole trim (about 1") and also what I believe is a lacquer finish. The other without a pick guard is a Gibson Les Paul Studio, which has a nitrocellulose finish. In both cases, those features provide a lot of protection for the guitar tops. Here's the Ovation, which by the way I've been playing on a regular basis for over 25 years: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gix...ew?usp=sharing On the other hand, the Seagull has no sound hole trim and a top made of cedar, which is soft wood to begin with. In addition to that, the entire guitar has a natural, polished finish. I had thought about using shellac or poly and was hesitant because of this, but since it's such a small area it seems like that would be the easiest route. After all, my aim is to prevent additional wear, not to enter it in a beauty contest.  Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it!
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#5
02-06-2019, 09:11 AM
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My impulse is to take a small (like quarter-inch) flat artist's brush and coat the area missing some finish with shellac. There's the natural break at the soundhole trim that would obscure the intersection of original and repaired finish.
I can't see the problem getting worse unless OP beats up the guitar on his own.
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#6
02-06-2019, 09:34 AM
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Yep, that's basically what I'm planning to do. I haven't been able to get to the store yet, but I'll try and remember to post an "after" pic here once the repair is complete.
As you can see from the pic of my Ovation above that's over 25 years old, I'm very careful about the handling of my guitars. These things are obviously way too expensive to mistreat, so I'm totally anal about their proper care. 
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#7
02-06-2019, 09:50 AM
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Maybe I'm misinterpreting the photo but it looks to me that the rosette - what you call the feather pattern, is a decal that's been scratched off rather than being inlaid wood. It also doesn't appear to me that the finish has been entirely scratched through where the decal is missing. If that's the case. I'd suggest you leave it alone.
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#8
02-07-2019, 09:45 AM
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Yes, I think it's some sort of decal too, and it -is- wearing into the wood there, but just a tiny bit. That's not what concerns me though.
Here's some extreme close-ups. Just a side note, but I just got a new Google Pixel 3 and the camera on this thing amazes me. You can even see dust hairs on the edge of the pick guard in the 1st photo! "Normal" sound hole wood curve: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vdZ...ew?usp=sharing The spot with the wear at the edge of the curve, going into the sound hole: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YBK...ew?usp=sharing The 2nd photo is the concern. It's kind of hard to describe but, as they say, hope these photos are worth a thousand words. After basically putting it under a microscope, I can see that the wear is not as bad as I originally thought, but I'm still a bit afraid it will continue to get worse. I may just leave it alone for a while to see if that happens via my Google microscope It may not, since I don't play like a animal as it seems the previous owner did, which probably caused the issue in the first place. If it does, I'll worry about somehow sealing it then. As I was saying in a previous post, the top is made of unfinished cedar. That's pretty soft wood, and as a result this seems to be a common problem with these guitars. After some additional research, I've seen it reported in other places as well, including here. See post #13 of this thread, and in that case the wear is just from the author resting his fingers in the same general area! https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=491407 Last edited by Craig G.; 02-07-2019 at 09:51 AM.
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#9
02-07-2019, 11:14 AM
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Your guitar is in no danger structurally just the way it is. (Google Willie Nelson's guitar to see how bad things can get and yet still be playable.)
You could put a little finish on areas where the original finish has been worn through but if you don't know what you're doing you'll make it look worse. I'd either take it to someone or leave it alone and put your microscope away.
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#11
02-07-2019, 11:51 AM
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Thanks again guys... I'm not as concerned as I originally was anymore.
I don't know why I didn't think of it in the first place, but I sent some photos to Seagull customer support just for the hell of it, out of curiosity to see what they have to say. Will post that here, if they respond. @JonWint: "Unfinished top" was a bad choice of words, it's generally decribed as a natural, polished finish. Regardless, what I was trying to get at is there's no lacquer, nitrocellulose, etc. finish you commonly see on guitars, which would obviously provide much more protection for the top. But that's the Seagull design, and I wouldn't have purchased it if I had a problem with that.
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#12
02-07-2019, 12:03 PM
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Quote:
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#13
02-07-2019, 12:34 PM
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Yep, as I just remarked, bad choice of words on my part in that post.
Unfortunately I've been unable to pin it down exactly, since every review I've read describes it as a natural "custom polished finish". Whatever materials they use to achieve that, I've no idea.
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#14
02-09-2019, 08:29 AM
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The official word, from Godin customer service ([email protected]):
Quote:
 What a "thin finish" consists of, your guess is as good as mine. But, I certainly don't want to cause a chemical reaction that it might blow my face off and knock the Earth off its axis!  Once again, thanks a bunch for all the replies and suggestions, I really appreciate your time!
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