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Does poly finish ever wear away?


Honky-Tonk

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No. It doesn't wear through at all. It's a big coat of plastic. However, it will dull with playing. And it can be chipped off, but it comes off in chunks and flakes, like a candy shell off of a M&M.

 

Nor does it yellow much (especially modern polyesters).

 

My "worn" '79.

 

IMG_0292_sml.jpg

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Well all I can say is that if you want the " I wore it out myself" look, then poly aint the way to go. They lay it on thick these days (back then too!), and although it could be done...I doubt your average dude could.

 

 

 

YMMV...........blah I have to say that these days for blood pressure reasons.

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Poly is a ROUGH finish to remove. I re-did a Natural 70's MIM Strat. Must have taken me 5hrs of solid work to remove it completely and RIGHT. Bu i used a combination of electric sanders, and Zip Strip, and a Heat gun.

 

Its tough work. That should someone else do it for you? I would imagine they would want decent dollars.

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I was just curious how my 2003 strat will age. So will it just dull slightly, or do you think it will ever get any worn spots and/or a stained neck.

 

The rosewood fretboard is starting to change shades. I keep it conditioned but something about the strings rubbing on the wood is creating new grain patterns. I swear the neck grain along the neck is slightly darker than it used to be, and the wood is definitely smoother than the wood on the headstock. Otherwise, it looks exactly the way it did when I took it out of the case for the first time four years ago; came straight from the Fender factory.

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Just out of curiosity, by staining agents, do you mean a wood stain (minwax), or any given external chemical that is capable of staining sealed maple?

 

 

I dunno, I just meant it was going to take something strong to stain poly.

 

There are people who have tried shoe polish to darken a neck.

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ive tried using brown shoe polish to tint a neck, on a squier strat. it looked great, but it only lasted for a week, and seemed to go back to normal.

 

i got a highway 1 strat, with the nitro finish so ill be getting some wear and checking in the finish.

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Just out of curiosity, by staining agents, do you mean a wood stain (minwax), or any given external chemical that is capable of staining sealed maple?

 

 

 

 

Unlike rosewood, maple is one of those non-porous woods that don't except stain that well.

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Yes, poly will wear.

 

The good news is it is much more durable than nitro so your guitar will stay looking new for a longer amount of time.

 

The bad news is it will eventually wear off.

 

Here is my old Tele that I have had for 20+ years. You'll notice it has checking and a lot of wear on it - look at the forarm on the front and on the back right on top near the front. If you were to see the neck it looks all worn out just like you see on older Fenders.

 

The thing is you have to play a poly guitar more to get the marks. Unfortunatly you get them though.

 

Unfortunatly they have not designed a finish that will not wear out yet. I think with all the innovations we see in plastics this is not too far off!!!

 

HPIM0825.jpg

 

HPIM0824.jpg

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dude that's a beautiful guitar. To me guitars are kind of like shoes. I think they look a bit silly all bright and new. A little age makes them look awsome. I don't want my guitar to look brand new. Hence why I bought this.

 

 

I like my guitars slightly worn. Like 90% new, and just broken in, like an innocent girl after a year in college.

 

I hate guitars that're really, really worn or just too damn old. I want a guitar that looks well-cared for, if slightly dented, and played - not a guitar that's gone through the Bosnian War being used as a trench club.

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need more details about your guitar to determine what kind of finish is actually on there, but if it's MIM and has a polyESTER finish, that {censored} will NEVER wear or age in the slightest.

EVER

 

unless you chip off big chunks and expose the wood underneath, but it won't scuff or scratch like polyurethane or nitro finishes.

 

I am currently trying to strip the finish off of my MIM natural tele and it is nearly impossible. I tried a finish stripper on it a while ago that is supposed to work on just about any type of finish, left it on for 24 hours, and it didn't even dull the finish. I tried sanding with a palm sander and it barely scuffs it. it is going to take some serious work to get down to the wood.

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need more details about your guitar to determine what kind of finish is actually on there, but if it's MIM and has a polyESTER finish, that {censored} will NEVER wear or age in the slightest.

EVER


unless you chip off big chunks and expose the wood underneath, but it won't scuff or scratch like polyurethane or nitro finishes.

 

 

Nice to see a man who differentiates between urethanes and esters:thu:

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