Perspiration and satin finish

[Son of Thunder]

I am the proud and delighted owner of a Lowden O10c, and hope to supplement it soon with an Avalon equivalent. My guitar is a workhorse, played in multiple services nearly every Sunday, and often on Wednesdays, plus rehearsals and playing just for the joy of it. I've owned this guitar for about eight years now, I believe, and I've had to have the frets re-worked or replaced nearly annually.

Here's where a bit of confession comes in. I sweat profusely when leading worship. It's not a pretty picture, I know. The only reason I share this is because the finish has been worn away where my forearm rests on the face of the guitar, and the wood beneath is discolored, and beginning to crack. This in spite of my efforts to keep the top dried off after every service, frequent cleaning, and waxing. Obviously, the only real solution here is to have the top re-finished, but that will have to wait until I have my Avalon.

Has anyone else ever had this happen? Is there a way to prevent this, other than wearing long sleeves?

I suspect a glossy laquer finish would help. Can I get such a finish on my next guitar?

[JB]

I don't think our gloss finish would help as it's the same lacquer, just highly burnished.

Some cheaper guitars use a harder, varnish like finish that would resist your acid sweat a bit more but the big down side is the sound .... the heavier the finish the more it restricts the soundboard from moving, so deadening the overall sound.

Sounds like long sleeves could be the easiest option ..... go treat yourself to some good silk shirts, you'll hardly know your wearing them

[Mr. Pohl]

I know what you mean about this problem. I've considered making an arm "cuff". Some sort of soft material that is elastized at the top and bottom. Think along the lines of arm gaitors and you get the idea. There I've done it. Someone will take this idea and run with it and I'll be out several million $ and a multi national corp.

[Son of Thunder]

JB,

I seem to be on hiatus at the moment. I'm curious about getting my Lowden's top re-finished ( it's an o10C). I don't think it will ever look good as new again, because there has been some discoloration where the finish has worn away.

Who better to refinish it but the fine folks who built it? So, can you give me some sort of idea (what we Yanks would call a 'ballpark estimate') of what it might cost to have the work done by your crew?

I'm sure Miles could advise me about shipping details.

Feel free to contact me via e-mail or a P.M. if you think that would be a more appropriate venue for this discussion!

[JB]

mnnn ... i never advise refinishing a soundboard unless it's part of a more major/serious repair like a soundboard replacement for 3 reasons.

1. It's expensive, especially when you take into consideration the shipping costs alone from N.Ireland to USA, approx $280 door to door fully insured.

2. To do it properly, and the only way we do it is to remove the bridge, strip/sand off all the old lacquer and this means right down to the bare wood and rebuild again. This very process can possibly change the sound of your guitar slighty. Not everyone likes this idea.

3. And this is the most important bit ... why bother ! .... a guitar is meant to be played, a few scratches, dings and play marks are not damage .. they're character

But we are always happy to refinish a guitar if you like

[Son of Thunder]

All good info, JB. That kind of money would probably be better spent going toward a 2nd guitar!

Now then, how can I best protect the exposed wood where the finish has been worn away?