Acetone test.

makaze · Jan 11, 2010

Hello.

Can someone please describe what I should see when acetone is applied to a Tokai nitro finish.

On some guitars I can clearly see the acetone just sit like a water droplet ontop of the finish.........poly no doubt.

On some I can see something going on, a bit of fizzing and a residue is produced...................nitro??

On some I can see the under colour also get effected..........nitro??

Can someone please show a photo of what I should see. Ta

DaveWW · Jan 11, 2010

Hi, haven't got a photo but the acetone will soften and start to dissolve nitro. So if you see some reaction it should be nitro. If you apply acetone on a cotton wool bud, in an area that won't be visible after the test(e.g. a cavity), you should be able to remove some of the nitro as it softens.

Hope that helps,

Dave

mojoburst · Jan 11, 2010

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/AcetoneFinishTest/acetonetest.html

DaveWW · Jan 11, 2010

Interesting article but I wouldn't personally do the test in a visible area.

Dave

billysamboy1 · Jan 11, 2010

i put acetone on my 1985 ls80 in the pickup cavity and it took the finish right off

makaze · Jan 12, 2010

Should there be a substantial amount of goop on my cotton bud after wiping, or am I looking for some form of discolorqation where the bud has been applied, like the gloss goes and dul paint can be seen??

DaveWW · Jan 12, 2010

After a bit of rubbing (somewhere your not worried about damaging the finish) you should be able to see that it's fetching the nitro off. if you can't then it's poly.

makaze · Jan 13, 2010

Ok, I tried ls-100 and clear result where I wiped the finish is off and I can see a light shade as if I'd scraped the top coat off.

1981 st-80, sticker on neck, hard V profile, I don't get the same result here at all. A residue is left even after polishing so I'm sure something's gone on but nowhere near as clear cut as the ls-100 on the rear. I have to hold it in the light to get a certain angle then it can be seen. Was the NC put on in the sameway, is there an undercoat of something on the st-80's?

ls-80 1980 BB. same thing here, no clear effect, just a suggestion that something has happened but whatever it is it's minimal.

1979 st-60 no residue, no effect at all.

Should I always see a clear nitro strip down like on the ls-100??

Thanks.

JVsearch · Jan 13, 2010

Thicker vs thinner finishes? Different formulations of nitro (some with more plasticiser in the mix)?

Good work on the testing BTW, very informative for everyone!

makaze · Jan 13, 2010

I was so happy to see a lovely stripped spot on the ls-100 but I cannot get any ls-80 st-80 to do the same.

If someone would show a pic of st-80 nitro test result i'd be very greateful.

kmarccoco · Jan 15, 2010

I did the acetone test on my 1979 ST 80. The results were hard to spot. It was hard to see the slight mark the acetone made. It did leave a tine mark though.

makaze · Jan 15, 2010

Thanks for that. C'mon guys, get that acetone out, can someone get a clear result from an st-80??

Anonymous · Jan 15, 2010

makaze said:
Thanks for that. C'mon guys, get that acetone out, can someone get a clear result from an st-80??

I don't think I did when I tried on mine a while ago. We tried one of those blacklights too, with inconclusive results, not just on the ST80.

Personally I care more about nitro on the neck than on the body, so that would mean removing the neck to test on the hidden part where it joins the body. Having just replaced the pickups, changed the strings and set it up, I'm not in a hurry to do that!

les · Jan 18, 2010

makaze said:
Thanks for that. C'mon guys, get that acetone out, can someone get a clear result from an st-80??

I did the acetone test on my 1978 ST-80. The result was a dull spot in the place were acetone was dripped. I tried it both in the pickup cavity and near the springs on the back. Quite similar result as here. So I guess it must be nitro since I tried the same on my other guitar, which is definitely poly (and no visible mark left).

villager · Jan 24, 2010

basically poly does nothing with acetone, nitro has differing results depending on the mix, so from complete stripping to a dull spot, any reaction is a nitro finish..

Acetone test.

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