The Formerly White Guitar...

[dboy66]

Is the gradual yellowing of an original white finish an inevitability on a vintage guitar? I've had a couple and it just drives me bonkers. Fortunately one of them was just released to the wild with no impact on market price, but I have a very favorite Graphic Special that's starting to look so cruddy, I can hardly look at it. Short of a refined I'm fairly certain there nothing I can do about this tragedy, but is there anything preventative that I should be doing?

TY!

dboy66

[crunchee]

There may be a lot of variables at work there, and this is probably a topic that HFC Resident Paint Wizard Stike can answer best (I'm definitely no expert), but this website article may help...the whole section is informative about paint on guitars in general (even though there's no info specifically on Hamer finishes), but scroll down a little from the top of the page, to "The Clear Choice" section (it talks about clear coats on vintage Fenders, and the occasional lack thereof), right next to a photo of a '65 Fender Jaguar in extremely yellowed Olympic White, and check it out.  Actually, the whole set of articles (not just the ones about Fenders) on these webpages seems pretty informative IMO, and makes for fun reading:

http://www.guitarhq.com/fenderc.html

There's an article on vintage Gibson colors/finishes also on this website:

http://www.guitarhq.com/gibsonc.html

[DaveH]

Embrace it. It's old and showing signs of it... I actually like honest aging and wear on a guitar, whether its nitro cracking or discoloration. We all have more wrinkles and changing center of gravities than we did when we were young and fresh, the only difference is that it's cool on guitars. 🙂

[tommy p]

Like the others have alluded to, I think it's the clearcoat rather than the white paint that is becoming discolored.  I love it when that happens to a white guitar, but everybody has their preferences.  I wonder if you could get just the clearcoat removed and redone?  Probably wouldn't stop it from happening again though, unfortunately.  I'm sure one of the paint wizards around here will chime in to help you out.

 

[murkat]

its the clear coat of Lacquer that ambers out.

[Dutchman]

Love it for what it is!!! I’d just keep on playin it! I like worn in guitars... not fake ones but the real deal... I see a guitar that’s got some miles on it I can pretty much be assured it’s a great sounding guitar. Because it got the shit played out of it!! Not alway’s, but most of the time!

[specialk]

No likey?

 

[hamerhead]

My LP never was white white, but it's yellowed a bit:

....but when gray yellows, ewwwww:

It looks smoked.

[tommy p]

I like both of yours @hamerhead.  I have a white LP Custom that is not as yellowed as yours.  The gray Hamer looks almost mint green.  I think it's cool.

 

[hamerhead]

Have I got a deal for you!

[velorush]

4 hours ago, hamerhead said:

....but when gray yellows, ewwwww:

It looks smoked.

ALWAYS loved the gray special.  And I don't know why.  It just seems so utilitarian.

[dboy66]

Thanks all for weighing -in. I definitely appreciate everyone's perspective. 

This is the one that I'm trying to come to terms with.....plays like a dream. Starting to look like it lived at the bottom of an ashtray.

 

[Biz Prof]

17 minutes ago, dboy66 said:

Thanks all for weighing -in. I definitely appreciate everyone's perspective. 

This is the one that I'm trying to come to terms with.....plays like a dream. Starting to look like it lived at the bottom of an ashtray.

 

One man's opinion, I know, but I love the way it looks.

[hamerhead]

28 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

One man's opinion, I know, but I love the way it looks.

Yep - love it.

[killerteddybear]

50 minutes ago, dboy66 said:

Thanks all for weighing -in. I definitely appreciate everyone's perspective. 

This is the one that I'm trying to come to terms with.....plays like a dream. Starting to look like it lived at the bottom of an ashtray.

 

If you must refinish back to white, maybe try this- on one area, use a very fine abrasive (rottenstone) to abrade some of the clear coat and see if there's a change towards white.
If the yellowing is a surface effect then you may be able knock that down and apply a new layer of clear to bulk up the protection.

[tbonesullivan]

Oof. It happens though. Many people today really have no idea what Gibson Cherry Sunburst and TV Yellow REALLY looked like.  Personally I like my colors to stay the way they are, but I do know that eventually the Nitro Finished guitars I have, should I keep them long enough, will start to yellow.

[Stike]

On 11/1/2020 at 10:25 AM, dboy66 said:

Is the gradual yellowing of an original white finish an inevitability on a vintage guitar? I've had a couple and it just drives me bonkers. Fortunately one of them was just released to the wild with no impact on market price, but I have a very favorite Graphic Special that's starting to look so cruddy, I can hardly look at it. Short of a refined I'm fairly certain there nothing I can do about this tragedy, but is there anything preventative that I should be doing?

TY!

dboy66

The base coat paint isn't yellowing, the clear topcoat is and there isn't anything you can do to prevent or reverse it. It happens with nitrocellulose lacquer and polyester clears. Most urethanes are water clear and usually stay that way. Hamer phased out nitrocellulose clear around 91/92.

[scottcald]

As far as the yellowing goes, if it's the whole thing, it's OK, but for me, if it's spotty, I don't care for it, but if I like the finish aside from the yellowing, I'd leave it alone.  That graphic is very cool.   Be a pain to recreate that, I'd imagine.  

[crunchee]

It coulda been worse...it coulda been stored in a case with a pink or red lining, where the lining color came off on the guitar finish.

[velorush]

There is absolutely no way I would ever touch the finish on that guitar. I’d easily sell it before doing something irreversible. That is a fantastic original graphic. My opinion, of course, but I can’t convey in words the mountainous regret that comes from staring at a shouldn’t-have-been stripped guitar. 

 

ETA: I speak from experience.  Deeply regretted experience.  😞

[Dutchman]

That guitar looks loved!! People pay a lot of money to get that look! But if you can’t stand the sight of of it I’ll be the 1st to offer $350.00

[Carl.B]

Wouldn't that look be a upcharge $$ for some guitar builders for a new guitar?

[HamerCustomEr]

Personally, I think this is exactly the same as tooth whitening.  Old teeth should look a little bit yellow, certainly not as bright white as a napkin or paper towel, which are both bleached anyway!   In my opinion, embrace the slight yellowing, don't fight it!

[hamerhead]

[tomteriffic]

On 11/2/2020 at 5:03 PM, dboy66 said:

Thanks all for weighing -in. I definitely appreciate everyone's perspective. 

This is the one that I'm trying to come to terms with.....plays like a dream. Starting to look like it lived at the bottom of an ashtray.

 

Looks like it's been there and proud of it.

[tomteriffic]

Mine was a bit more distressed.  But I wasn't.