Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a friend who has a 1995 Martin D28. The binding is starting to separate at the waist and the finish is flaking off. Does anybody know what type of finish Martin used on these guitars in 1995? It has a definite yellow hue to it although I don't think it's nearly old enough to have the typical yellowing you normally see in vintage instruments with lacquer. The binding is an easy fix, but what to you all recommend for touching up the finish?

Thanks!

John

I think it is nitro John.

Call 'em. I'd guess nitro as well on Standard issue Martin.

Frank Ford had a way to test for finish. Don't know what it is but it's somewhere on frets.com

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Put a lit match to the finish. If it all goes up really fast, it's nitro....

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

LtCol.
Sir it is nitro.
Mgysgt. Thomison

Don, that would be my test on a '95 Martin, especially a Dreadnaught!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

What's up with Dreadnoughts? Seems like everyone is down on them......why?

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Arrogance!!

Not arrogance - boredom. Tired, shapeless, overplayed "Free Bird" of the body styles.

It's nitro. Martin has been nitro since they switched from shellac, currently a formula from Sherwin Williams I believe. Unless the finish is drastically chipped though, I can usually get these back together with minimal to no touchup.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Careful Freebird is my second favorite tune after Smoke on the Water.......

The next generation will be excited to see a dreadnought. The anti-dreadnoughtness has so pervaded the handmade market that they're going to become the new OM! (Pink is the new black which was the new blue which was the new pink...)

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

No, not arrogance, whoever you are. This is a long term "in-joke" here on the OLF from many years ago, but no I don't 'do' dreadnaughts, in the UK anyone setting up to sell dreadnaughts would end up very poor, they have never been popular here. I guess it's because we also don't do 'country' and we don't do flatpicking, it's a case of musical styles I suppose. My local guitar shop has only got one on the wall, and it's been there a long time now. So no it's not arrogance, just don't like them, not for my preferred music.

We have moved on though, at least we spell dreadnaught in full now!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I had left Martin in the early 90s and was still in pretty regular contact with the finish guys through 96 or so. They were using
different finishes then and that is more than likely not a nitrocellulose lacquer finish on a D28 from 95. They still like to say nitro
as a default answer to what kind of finish is on a guitar anytime the question comes up, but it's not the case many times.

Even if you call Martin, it's unlikely that you'll get an answer that is accurate. You'd understand that if you were able to spend
any amount of time in or around their finish department. They're a busy bunch and the guys who were running that area back then
were trying everything under the sun to shorten the time necessary for a guitar to sit in the plant before shipment.

Martin loyalists like to think that everything still has that traditional nitro finish on it, but they've moved on. I was just there this week and had a lengthy discussion with a finish guy and R&D guy who are friends of mine about their current finish efforts. They've even given the UV cured poly finish that I use a try since Taylor has had such great results with it. Mum's the word on what goes on specifically there so you'd have to call and talk to them.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Thanks for the info fellas, I guess I need to contact Martin. I didn't think it was nitro because of the the way it looked where it chipped off--it didn't react like the nitro I've used in the past. It seemed very thick and "plasticy" (if that's a word). I was able to bend and flex a chip of it without it breaking. In the area where it's chipping away, it seems to be about as thick as a piece of acetate. Is there somebody specific I should contact in the shop?

Thanks!

John