Finish on my $1500 Acoustic guitar is falling off

[89911]

I own a Tacoma guitar. They made their own guitars for a while up in Tacoma before being bought out by Fender. I don't play much at all anymore and when I do, I play a cheap Sigma that I don't care if it gets damaged. I also have a collectors Fender Strat, but thats another story. I've owned this guitar for 10 years and I pulled it out tonight and the finish is almost completely off both sides of the guitar where the knee rest. One quick search and Tacoma and finish problems shows a lot of inquires. Seems like a longshot getting them to take it back on Warranty. Their website is useless. The finish coming off is also very thick, so its no simple task. Not sure what to do. It looks like crap now and I don't think I have the patience to tackle this myself. How much do they charge to refinish a guitar these days?

[slodave]

I could refinish it for you, but that means having the guitar go across country twice. Not sure if you want to do that.

[89911]

From what I have found out, shipping cost would be the least of my worries. The finish is really thick. I think getting if off, at least in the parts where its not falling off, would be the hard part.

[slodave]

I was thinking more of shipping damage.

I think you'll find that it'll cost close to a grand to refinish the entire guitar.

[porsche4life]

Whats wrong with playing it with the well worn look?

[WolfeMacleod]

I used to work at Tacoma, back in the mid-late 90's, when they were still located in Tacoma.

Was it a guitar from that period? I don't know when Fender bought them and moved them.

They had a lot of problems back then. And I mean, a lot. Green wood, huge rejection rates from Washburn, who they also built for. Their method of leveling fretboards before fretting was just stupid.
Tacoma was a part of an Asian piano company called Young Chang. They were originally built in Korea, but had a 100 percent rejection rate. They moved operations to the US to put the Made in USA stamp on them, hoping people would buy them.

the Electric Papoose they made was my idea. I pushed them to built an electric, which they said they never would.

I was once told that a guy died while at the opening ceremony of the factory. They stuck him in the corner and proceeded with the ceremony.

[89911]

Interesting. From what I get or believe from the internet, the factory had problems with quality control and ended up with this problem. My guitar was made before they were sold to Fender. As far as spending a grand on this guitar, it aint going to happen. I barely play it and was keeping in case one of my kids get the urge. I'm sure it will sound the same. I just didn't want the unfinshed parts of the guitar to end up causing more problems.

[slodave]

A partial refinish would cost a lot less. You can just get the sides done.

[ramonesfreak]

cant advise you. not sure what i would do except probably try to sell it if i hated it and couldnt live with it.

if it makes you feel better, back in 2001 i bought my dream acoustic. spent almost $4,000 on it. within a month, the bridge popped off. the highly respected maker Santa Cruz, told me to take it to a guy they authorized to fix it. he had it 6 months. when i got it back it was great but then the bridge came off again.

then SC told me to give it to Mandolin Bros to fix...they had it several months. Got it back and it looked great and then one day the bridge came off again....then i sent it back to SC and they had it for months. Got it back and it was great but then one day the bridge came off...finally after begging the owner of SC and the production manager, they agreed to give me a brand new guitar.

It was great but about 3 months after i had the new one, the bridge on that one came off too...sent it back and it was determined that i had stored the guitar perfectly so they fixed that one too......all of this cost me an enormous amount of shipping costs and stress even though the repairs were free, not to mention i went approximately a year with out my guitar. If something isnt working out for you, sometimes its best to get rid of it and start over and its possible to get a lemon or 2 lemons from a well respected builder...

[targa911S]

That looks like an epoxy finish. This kind of peeling happens when the sanding sealer under the top coat hasn't finished "gassing off" and they seal it with the epoxy. It can't breath so you get a gas layer in between the sealer and top coat. It will scrape off like ice on a windshield. I would let Dave do the sides for you or you can take the risk of doing it yerself with nitro from guitar reranch. However laquer may wrinkle the under coat and you will be sanding it again.

[89911]

Like I said, it came off like it was dipped in plastic. I'm surprised the thickness of the coating didn't muffle the sound of the guitar, although its always played loud.

[Zeke]

That could be a polyurethane applied over the wrong sealer as mentioned. You might be able to run the rest off with a razor blade very carefully and reseal. Polys in spray cans can be some good stuff if you know how to do it. I once did a Mercedes Tigerwood dash with 12 coats, sanded or steel wooled between each 2 coats with a rattle can. It was flawless.

[nostatic]

You could try the Ronson method

[89911]

Originally Posted by nostatic

You could try the Ronson method

That's why I got the Sigma! The sad part is that the Tacoma was absolutely flawless and sat in its case in a bedroom closet. Pulled it out yesterday to check on the flawless condition and found out that I need a new term for its description.

[Por_sha911]

Warning: the sound quality of an acoustic guitar is directly related to the finish. The more aged the varnish and the wood, the better the sound. If you strip off the finish and re-varnish it you will totally change the sound.

[slodave]

True, but the finish is stripping itself off. That's not something where you just spray a new finish over the areas that have chipped. Looks like there are more areas starting to pop off.

Only way to fix that is to strip and refinish the sides at a minimum.

[89911]

Did some phone calls and Fender is going to credit me the price of the guitar which was actually $1259 and tax. The said to go on Musicians friend and pick out something in Fenders line give or take $100. They said I can go up if I want to pay the difference and it can be anything. Any Suggestion?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by 89911

Did some phone calls and Fender is going to credit me the price of the guitar which was actually $1259 and tax. The said to go on Musicians friend and pick out something in Fenders line give or take $100. They said I can go up if I want to pay the difference and it can be anything. Any Suggestion?

Sweet.

[89911]

It would have to be in the Fender Family. That is Fender, Gretsch, Jackson, EVH, Guild, and SWR.

Got this in the email

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Sweet. That is why Fender will always get my business and if I find myself lusting after a Gibson I'll buy a clone.