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ll This Steel Listed on My Steel Inventory List ll My Homepage ll |
1953 National / Valco 'El Grande' |
~ This Steel's paint finish checking (cracking / flaking); And corrosion info ~ Page 2.b of 5 |
ll This Steel Listed on My Steel Inventory List ll My Homepage ll |
THE PAINT FINISH: The checked / flaked finish paint of this Valco El Grande is not loose and not still actively flaking off like I had presumed it to be until a close inspection. It is quite tight and secure. I cannot remove any of it in several likely spots I tried quite firmly with a fingernail. The flaking that has occured during some period over this guitar's last 55 years is surely due to environmental factors, with some Players body sweat a main factor upon the condition of this Steel Guitar's nitro-cellulose paint finish, that have since stabilized. Body sweat being the major cause is evidenced by the places and degrees of flaking on the guitar (common handling spots and more lightly where it would rub in a case), and by surface corrosion spots & patterns, .....both at common body sweat contact spots and lack of care wiping them off afterward. ~~~~~~~ The nitro-cellulose paint simply did it's natural behavior that is even apparant on many old expensive guitars' nitro-cellulose finishes that have been well played and abused and now even valued for same on the opposite end of the spectrum of fine condition. As wood ages, ....the soft, less-dense, light colored lines of it's grain shrink while it's harder, denser, dark colored grain lines shrink much less, bending the nitro-cellulose paint that becomes brittle with age ....both occuring on about the same aging schedule. Therefore the nitrocellulose bends sharply at the high spots in the grain causing the paint to crack along those grain lines (called "checking") while still attached well to the softer and lower shrunken grain; Although there will also be some cross-grain checking that are points of stress relief in the nitro-cellulose also having a property of shrinking. Salty sweat enters some of those cracks, particularly where sweat gets on the finish often along with hands and picks motion; And the sweat continues thru the cracks and into the wood underneath and compromises the grip of the paint in those areas, which then flakes off during the period that sweat repeatedly invades those areas. Sweat has not repeatedly entered areas that have not flaked off. ~~~~~~~ As good perspective, imagine what value most folks would put on a 1950's nitro-cellulose Stratocaster with a similarly aged / "misused" finish ! As a compromise between a refinish and maintaining this Steel Guitar 's aged appearance; A sealer of modern satin clear coat would stop further deterioriation of this Steel Guitar's paint finish in the long run. BUT, applying such a clear coat would require someone expert or quite talented in guitar finishes (an auto body shop will not do in this case !), ....if an expert job is desired. Otherwise the results might not be "award winning" ! THE SURFACE CORROSION: Some folks would call it Patina; And might scrub it lightly with a toothbrush and baking soda, maybe wipe it down with some WD40, and love it. Cool; Different strokes for different folks. I call it corrosion. Whatever a person calls it, ....here's some info about dealing with "patina" / corrosion: The surface corrosion on this Steel Guitar is also nominal although it stands out in the enlarged high resolution pictures on these webpages. The surface corrosion is mostly small pitting on the electronics plate chrome and moderate surface corrosion on the pickup "bunker"-top and on the tuners mounting plate. The nature of the corrosion is pretty apparant in the pictures of the tuners and the close-up shots of the electronics assembly. After disassembling the metal parts and putting them into a penetrating oil bath, most corrosion should clean up quite well with a toothbrush and baking soda as mild abrasive, ....possibly followed by some Dremel wire wheeling in a few spots if that. Then a polishing with Brasso or with water-thinned toothpaste as fine polishing compounds to see if any courser polishing compound might be needed overall or in some spots. Q-tips work well to get polishing compounds into tight places such as tuners machinery, and paper lollipop sticks or Artists or Jewelers burnishing sticks work well for the rubbing in tight places. ~~~~~~~ A person need not go to polishing extremes in treating corrosion if they don't desire to; Just cleaning the corrosion and some nominal polishing provides appealing results. |
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