T-100D questions!

[SnoopDoug]

Hey all. I just picked up my dream guitar... a '67 T-100D. It's nicely set up and plays beautifully, but I have a few initial questions about how care for a 50-year-old guitar. I'd really appreciate any of your opinions!

First, a pic:

1) There are very fine, hairline cracks in the finish in places which I'm fine with and have no desire to do anything about. However it would be nice to give it a light polish, especially in some areas where the finish has become matte. What would be the safest way to clean the surface and then perhaps add some kind of light polish/wax to protect the finish and make it shine?

2) This guitar has spent much of its life in Montreal where it gets really dry in the winter, and I'm sure it hasn't been humidified in any real way. I'm tempted to add a guitar humidifier to the case (like an Oasis OH-6), just to protect a bit against further drying/cracking/brittleness. Is there a chance that adding humidity in this way might negatively affect the wood and cause it to shift/warp in some way? The neck is super straight right now and it plays so nicely... I'd hate to have things shift around because of the wood absorbing too much moisture.

3) Has anyone here had success refurbishing a Guild pickguard from this era? The one that came with the guitar was in quite bad shape, so I removed it for the time being. It's the kind that's clear plastic with paint on the back. Here it is:

The black is quite splotchy and worn away in many places. There's not much I can do about the physical damage to the plastic, but I wonder if it would be feasible to remove all of the black paint with a solvent (maybe preserving just the area with the painted logo) and re-paint it. I'm just curious if anyone here has tried something like that.


Thanks very much!
Doug

 

[Default]

The logo is silkscreened on the back, then sprayed black. Hold it up to the light and see if it is worn. Maybe some spraypaint on the back to restore the opacity? The divots on the front might be able to be filled with repeated drops of superglue, and then polished with some micromesh?

 

[walrus]

That looks to be on great shape - a beauty!

You may find a pickguard on eBay or reverb if you watch closely. could be a few bucks, though. I may be in the minority, but I would keep the pickguard off - I always removed them from archtops I've had, included a T-100. They get in the way of my fingers (a personal issue!), but why cover up that nice finish?

walrus

 

[kakerlak]

Looks like somebody was using a rock as a pick. Amazing the top of the guitar isn't similarly chewed up!

 

[Neal]

I actually like that pick guard a lot, just as it is!

 

[Guildadelphia]

First of all, congrats on an amazing new old guitar. With regards to a replacement guard, if you can't find a perfect match online, etc there are folks out there who do excellent work making replacement guards from scratch. There is a gentleman who posts on the "Gretsch Discussion Pages" who goes by the name "Setzer" who does excellent work and I'm sure if you check the GDP you can find contact info for him. Also, many luthiers will cut new pickguards and do a great job.

 

[Quantum Strummer]

That pickguard looks like it's been gouged with a skull ring. Like Neal I think it's kinda cool, but I'd probably try the superglue repair on one or two of the deeper gouges. Then proceed or not depending on how it turns out.

Finish checking is a sign of maturity!

-Dave-

 

[chazmo]

Welcome aboard, Doug! Beautiful axe you got there.

Cigarette burns, maybe? That sure is bizarre, and it's totally awesome that the axe itself is perfect. Like the others said, I wouldn't touch that finish at all. edit: So, I wouldn't polish that finish other than, probably, to put some wax on it.

 

[geoguy]

Congrats . . . I'd probably clean the finish with a little naptha (cigarette-lighter fluid) & leave it at that.

If you're really inspired, maybe a light treatment of Virtuoso polish (a silicone-free product).

I'd probably refrain from adding any waxes, and avoid any products that contain silicone. Whatever you add will surely find its way through finish cracks to the wood below.

 

[SnoopDoug]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I agree that the guitar looks great without the pick guard, but I'm still going to try to repair it (but maybe I won't end up putting it back). I noticed that the areas where the black paint is degraded corresponds to where there's masking tape of some other stuff (two small felt pads) stuck on the back. I'm guessing that if I remove the tape, the black paint will mostly come off with it so I'll try doing that carefully and then spray paint it black.

As for the wood finish, whatever glossy finish is there is really sensitive... I noticed that even a light rubbing with a just damp cloth will leave matte streaks behind and very little shine (where there was some shine before). I'm really tempted to try putting some kind of light finish (like Virtuoso polish) just to add a bit of protection against the effects of further rubbing. There are also some small scrapes around the edges where the light (raw) wood shows through... I'm thinking that something like Virtuoso could be helpful to protect those areas too. Please let me know if you have strong opinions against this idea!

Finally, nobody commented about the in-case humidifier... I'm curious, do any of you use one (especially those of you in areas with cold/dry winters)?

Thanks again!
Doug.