Should I refinish the top on 73 D55?

chazmo

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Will using guitar polish help seal it?
I would also say no to a refinish.

As far as the wood being bare, isn't the inside of the guitar all bare wood?

I think carnauba wax would probably help. But, that's just a (very) temporary measure. Oh, yeah, and avoid polishes with silicone, especially with bare wood exposed; that'll just create finishing problems in the future.
 

chazmo

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Hmm, why do you say that, Al? I'm just curious (and vastly ignorant here). Wax doesn't penetrate the wood, does it? It doesn't last very long either, at least not in my experience.
 

adorshki

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Hmm, why do you say that, Al? I'm just curious (and vastly ignorant here). Wax doesn't penetrate the wood, does it?
Sure it does. It's actually just another long-chain hydrocarbon like oil.
It melts or would simply permeate exposed bare wood through capillary creep.
Ever tried to get candle wax out of bare wood? See what I mean?
It doesn't last very long either, at least not in my experience.
You never heard of waxy-buildup from furniture polish like Pledge?
I think you're just not aware of residual layer of wax left after polishing and getting worn off over time.
Wax dissolved into a polish would be even more able to contaminate bare wood.
Thing is, after reading all this, our OP might be thinking his (guitar's) bare wood's already been exposed to contaminants (most likely skin oils) that might make a sprayover "chancy" as far as permanence.
That's' why the original suggestion of a naptha cleaning, for prep.
But wax is a much tougher customer.
This one addresses paraffin but all real waxes are still long-chain hydrocarbons:
https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/17109/how-to-dissolve-candle-wax-paraffin
 

adorshki

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Pledge ain't Carnauba, Al, but fair enough.
Not trying to beat it to death and true, "Pledge" ain't carnauba but it does contain waxes dissolved in the petroleum distillates (that's how most polishing waxes are formulated), but as the distillates evaporate, they leave behind the wax.
In this case because the wax is applied over a finish, it just sits there.
Carnauba, nice hard stuff, why they like it for cars, but over time still perfectly capable of "creeping" into bare wood even at typical ambient temps.
 
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Rayk

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Clean it up , keep the worm look and have your luthier shoot it with NCL . It will look cool :)
 

bobouz

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Okay, stop this madness! By now, the poor OP's head is probably swimming in a goo of products.

Google & then contact Kerry Char @ Char Lutheries & Guitar Repair, 5922 N. Willamette Blvd, Portland (in the St Johns area). Phone number is 503-286-0068.

I do repairs on my own stuff, but have spoken to him on the phone, and know him by reputation. You need to have a qualified person look at your guitar to offer you an in-hand opinion of your best options.
 

dreadnut

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Heck, they charge extra for vintage Martins that look like this!
 

adorshki

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Okay, stop this madness! By now, the poor OP's head is probably swimming in a goo of products.

Google & then contact Kerry Char @ Char Lutheries & Guitar Repair, 5922 N. Willamette Blvd, Portland (in the St Johns area). Phone number is 503-286-0068.

I do repairs on my own stuff, but have spoken to him on the phone, and know him by reputation. You need to have a qualified person look at your guitar to offer you an in-hand opinion of your best options.

Best answer yet!
 

Rooftop

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Best answer yet!

I could not agree more. Thank you to everyone who has weighed in on this. I think I am going to take Bobouz advice and contact Kerry to have a pro give a first hand look at it. I absolutely want to leave it looking just the way it is, but also do want to seal the exposed wood. I would contemplate doing the NCL spray myself, but a few months ago I used some music Nomad polish on the top, it does claim to have no silicone or wax, but I am sure there is something there that may interfere with the bonding process. With that in mind, I care too much about this old thing to risk the learning curve.

Thank you all for the info and guidance! I have said it several times, but this is one of the greatest communities to be a part of!
 

Tico

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Isn't all the wood on the inside of every guitar not sealed?
So why be compelled to seal the outside? ... short of protecting it from spilled beers.
 

adorshki

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Isn't all the wood on the inside of every guitar not sealed?
So why be compelled to seal the outside? ... short of protecting it from spilled beers.

AS mentioned a couple of times already, the primary purpose of the finish is to protect the top from contamination by stuff that would eventually muffle it.
And beer would be the least of the worries.
 

Rayk

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Isn't all the wood on the inside of every guitar not sealed?
So why be compelled to seal the outside? ... short of protecting it from spilled beers.

My main concern of bare wood is wear . I had a habit of tapping my resting fingers the 3rd&4th on the top . I wore right the finish and into the wood .

If that much finish is already gone this guitar then might not take long for to look like Tommy Emanuel’s guitars which only last about a year . Lol
 

Pike

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There is no finish on the underside of the top so sealing the top side of the top is not sealing anything really...
 

Br1ck

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I have seen some of the work Frank Ford has done on old Martins. He basically french polishes clear over a deteriorating finish to seal from further damage and protect bare wood. Looks great. No mojo deterioration at all.
 

jedzep

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As someone who would sand down a top at the drop of a hat under certain circumstances, I would leave this one alone. It's in a near perfect vintage state of being.
 

adorshki

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There is no finish on the underside of the top so sealing the top side of the top is not sealing anything really...

How many times do we have to repeat the purpose is to protect the top from contamination.
If it was common for guitar tops to get contaminated from inside the instrument then the insides'd be finished too.
"Seal" is just casual usage on the OP's part.
See post #36 for a description of what the OP's really hoping to accomplish.
 

idealassets

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There is definitely no lack of opinions here. If it were me, I would 1) save the cost of the re-finish and use it instead to buy a second guitar of some kind that's new or almost new to play all the time.

Then I would keep a 1973 D55 original and only play it occasionally, most likely doing all my finger picked songs on it or just light strumming.

Or 2) I would spend way too much and totally replace the top with a new one. But the problem with this option is that more than likely the new Guild factory is not geared up to do the work for anyone at this time. Might anyone know about this?

I owned a Guild 1974 F50 in about the same shape as your D55 that I paid $350 to have re-finished. I was not happy with both the sound and appearance results. The luthier was overly optimistic in his description of how it would come out. I sold that guitar, but may have kept it if I had not had the work done to it.
 
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