Dupont MD50 Guitar Finish Is MELTING!

Al Watsky

So its nitro then. You sprayed it with bug spray. Mystery solved or finish dissolved , as the case may be. :?

guit-box

Dude, I didn't "spray" it with bug spray, that would be idiotic. I sprayed myself with bug spray, as would anyone playing a gig on a farm in MN in the summer.

If nitro and bug spray are always incompatible, then that doesn't explain why my DellArte isn't this sensitive. It's also nitro and shows zero signs of wear. The Dupont starts to melt extremely fast and for no apparent reason--other than coming in contact with my hands or arms and possibly the bug spray that's on my hands and arms. It's still a mystery why this finish is melting and not the others. I may take a cue tip and some bug spray to the area already melted (and reset) and see if it will melt it again. I'll get back.

Matteo

I've seen similar things happen with different kind of plastics in contact with each other, for example a pair of binoculars in a plastic bag/case (the surface of the binoculars became soggy and sticky). But nothing guitar related, yet.

Maybe French guitarists eat so much garlic they never need insect repellant? :-)

Stringswinger

Hopefully you did not get one of the counterfeit Duponts that are floating around out there... I bet they have cheap finishes that would react in a manner similar to yours.

guit-box

He told me he bought it from Michael and he lives and plays in a band in Washington state. Are people really counterfeiting a medium priced guitar like a Dupont? Seems like a silly thing to do, it would make much more sense to copy something worth more money. Have you actually seen a counterfeit Dupont guitar?

Jazzaferri

It depends on what DuPont finishes their guitars with. In the EU there are a lot of Regulations covering what can and can't be used insofar as finishing goes.

Based on what I know of finishes, with water borne lacquers, once they harden, even soaking them in water will not soften the finish. I use ML Campbell's Agualente to finish cabinets and neither alcohol nor water will touch it and even acetone if cleaned up fairly quickly doesn't mar the finish.

My experience tells me, particularly if it is all over, that someone polished the guitar with A polish that the solvent reacted with the finish. I suspect that any case that has enough free solvent vapour to do In a guitar finish would take your breath away on opening.

MichaelHorowitz

If the original owner got it from me, then there's no way it's counterfeit. All the counterfeit ones have been sold in New Zealand and Australia.

Bohemian

As is obvious, Shellac FP also melts/dissolves, gums up with alcohol.

guit-box

Yes, of course, but it's not shellac on this guitar. FP is not buffed out on a wheel and it's very thin. This finish shows signs of swirl marks (when viewed with my magnifying visor) from being buffed out on a wheel. It's most likely the original finish.

guit-box

I soaked a Qtip with the Deep Woods Off I was wearing, and rubbed it on the Dupont finish. First in the area that was damaged and then an unaffected area. It didn't really do any damage, and after I wiped it off the finish is still shiny and smooth in that area. So, that doesn't appear to be the culprit.