My inclination is to say that couldn’t have happened in two minutes. Like I said earlier, i have 3 nitro electrics, all hang on wall hangers most of the time and sit on inexpensive OnStage stands when I’m playing; never seen anything like that.

That does not look like a reaction between the finish and the hanger, and especially not after only a few minutes. That looks like a defect with the finish and it would’ve happened with any hanger. I’m assuming you emailed the company that made the hanger? Gibson is who you need to be asking about this.

I had a conversation with the repair tech at my local guitar center on this topic a few years ago.He's a luthier who specializes in basses. I've seen a few examples of his work and was absolutely blown away at the craftsmanship.

Back to the topic... his opinion was that hangers were the worst as the entire weight of the body is suspended from the head stock. That eventually will impact the neck set up. Some guitars should never be hung as the head stock isn't strong enough. Old SG's come to mind. I asked him about the guitar wall behind me and he said "Do you ever see me look at it?" The answer is no.

The leaning type stand for multiple guitars were made for gigs, not the house. Same issue as you're side loading the neck and it will impact set up.

The stands that cradle the body are better but risk of the guitar or bass getting knocked over

Safest stand? The case. The guitar is cradled in the case designed for it and set up is protected.


I use the stands that cradle the body and don't touch the neck.

Yeah maybe I have it wrong then as it seems un-friggin-believable that it would do that after 2 mins. I will add though it had a couple black spots on the maple colored area below the black area that I had to rub with some elbow grease to get off so the pads did transfer SOMETHING to the guitar. The areas in question are the exact areas that the hanger touched it and I gently set it in so nothing got scratched per se.

I looked over my guitar pretty well though perhaps I didn’t even look at the sides of the headstock that closely prior. I’m surprised I wouldn’t have noticed it though. And it does indeed look like a scrape, but I thought maybe that’s just a precursor to deeper wear and potential chemical burn that’s palpable later on. Maybe it just reacted with the black paint more not sure. Will call Gibson and ask.

Funny thing Guitar center has all their guitars on wall hangers all day every day so not sure how they all are fine there as they have a lot of these nitro guitars. Maybe I need to just get whatever brand they have. It’s more hard rubbery than softer foam like this one, which I thought the hard rubber was what you wanted to avoid.

Either way, I at least caught it before it got real bad and I guess I can live with the small marks in the black as it’s not really noticeable until you get close and it doesn’t affect the feel of where I play on the neck. The guitar is still beautiful and it’s gonna get nicks and stuff because it’s gonna get played, just aggravates to have things happen when specifically attempting to avoid them. It’s like parking your new sports car out at the end of the lot where there’s wide open space for safety from idiots, and then coming out of the store and there’s a cart up against your car. Except I feel like the idiot too this time.

That doesn't look like a scratch to me, that looks like it's bubbling up off the neck, like an air pocket. A void, maybe. I've seen that before, not a lot, but I've seen it before. Send Gibson that picture and tell them what happened. I'd be interested to hear their response. Don't feel like an idiot, quit beating yourself up. Shit happens sometimes, this is one of those times. Personally, I think it's a defect in the finish and not anything you did.

The damage you're worried about looks like the following descriptions posted in this thread:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
You will know something has happened to the finish because it's unmistakable, it looks like the rubber melted to the guitar, or like you touched plastic with acetone or something.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
the damage I have seen before on nitro guitars from stands looks more like the stand has eaten into or melted the finish.

Now, this will sound perhaps callous and I don't intend it that way, but you will eventually put some marks on that guitar that will be there forever. Don't let it ruin the experience for you.

^^^^^thanks I’ll send them the pic. So you don’t think it’s the stand melting the finish, but perhaps the actual issue is the finish itself just from the pressure of the stand holding on the neck? Sorry if I got that wrong. And I didn’t take your comment as callous you are right. Shit happens and it’s gonna get a few marks I know. I’ll enjoy the hell out of it either way.

On another note I have a real good luthier here in town maybe I’ll ask him as he fixed my old acoustic really well prior.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
So you don’t think it’s the stand melting the finish, but perhaps the actual issue is the finish itself just from the pressure of the stand holding on the neck?

Correct, that is what I think.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
And I didn’t take your comment as callous you are right. Shit happens and it’s gonna get a few marks I know. I’ll enjoy the hell out of it either way.

Good man. That's the right attitude.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
On another note I have a real good luthier here in town maybe I’ll ask him as he fixed my old acoustic really well prior.

Yeah, have him take a look. I'm not an expert on finishes and likely he knows more about it than I do, but I'm guessing he'll agree with me that it wasn't the stand and is some sort of issue with the finish. A new Gibson shouldn't go that.

I’ll add, I had a Gibson 339 that I ended up trading in. I returned one when similar chipping occurred along the side of the fretboard close to where the neck joins the body. Received another from Gibson and it did the same thing. I traded it on a Gibson SG that I like a lot, and have had no issues with the finish at all.

I’ve bought two guitars from Wildwood in Louisville, Colorado. I started my conversation by essentially badmouthing Gibson and their QC. He was having none of it. “You cannot just dismiss one of the oldest, most famous guitar makers in the world like that,” he said. He also said he was surprised that Gibson warrantied the 339 for chipping, calling that a property of nitro finishes. I don’t know.

Like I said, I ended up trading the 339 on an SG and have no complaints at all—it’s a beautiful guitar and does exactly what I want it to do, cover humbucker pickup tones.

Edited to post pictures of the ES-339 I spoke about. These pictures were sent to Gibson, Memphis with my warranty inquiry.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,

I feel bad that I suggested the wall hanger, but it is hard to believe it was really caused by that. Still, I'm sorry your finish has been compromised.

Regarding hangers in general, coincidentally, there was just an article in Acoustic Guitar Magazine about hangers and it stated hangers are safe for any guitar considering their weight. In other words, contrary for what Rightwire's tech reported, they were okay. Not saying it's correct, but a different opinion from a reliable source.

Hope you can get to the bottom of this!

Good point about ALL guitars in any music store....all hanging on guitar hangers.

Is this from the hanger that looks like a rip off of the Hercules design?

I’m not sure if a chemical reaction happens that fast. Maybe some of the binding superglue and finish didn’t adhere properly?

6guns no worries buddy it was the only one that the answers to the questions consistently said it was fine for nitro finishes. Almost went Hercules though in the middle of all the positive reviews I read some bad reviews of them about the pads getting gummy so I went with the other. I’m still dumbfounded by the whole thing. I stopped into guitar center and their stands are all rubber or foam padded and the guitars I looked at with nitro finishes had a little foam I had to rub off, but no finish damage. So not sure WTF is going on.

I may take the pads off and just roll cotton twill around the plastic base and use it that way. It would be safe that way if the foam rubber is gone I’d think.

The more I look at it, the more I believe it is a problem with the factory finish not adhering to the headstock binding. Maybe have it looked at by a warranty repair person or your original dealer if possible.

That doesn’t look like it gassed off to me. More like stress and the Nitro lifting (popping) slightly. It’s like the first ding on your new car, it hurts……………………………………………Everyone I doing and form of Nitro today, it will be interesting..

I would ditch the bag and pop for a hard shell case. Worth it in the long run imho.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Krazeehorse,

I have a local guitar luthier to at sprays Nitro all the time so I’m gonna see if he can touch it up next week.

quote:

Regarding hangers in general, coincidentally, there was just an article in Acoustic Guitar Magazine about hangers and it stated hangers are safe for any guitar considering their weight.

6guns: Any guitar, or any acoustic guitar?

quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:

quote:

Regarding hangers in general, coincidentally, there was just an article in Acoustic Guitar Magazine about hangers and it stated hangers are safe for any guitar considering their weight.

6guns: Any guitar, or any acoustic guitar?

Any guitar built correctly is going to have a neck and headstock strong enough to support string tension - hanging from a hanger is an afterthought.

quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:

quote:

Regarding hangers in general, coincidentally, there was just an article in Acoustic Guitar Magazine about hangers and it stated hangers are safe for any guitar considering their weight.

6guns: Any guitar, or any acoustic guitar?

After re-reading the article, it sounds like he's talking about acoustic guitars....he's answering a question regarding a resonator guitar.

https://acousticguitar.com/ask...4b&mc_eid=b1f8e31b60

That doesn't look like nitro that was melted by contact with plastics. It wouldn't happen that quickly, either, I don't think.

That looks more chipping or flaking damage from pressure on the finish. Which suggests (without proving) that the finish wasn't adhering properly. What is the face plate on your headstock made of? Is it bound? In other words, what surface is that finish applied on?

The reactions I've seen between lacquer finishes and foam materials look completely different than your finish problem. The foam or rubber actually melts into the finish in my experience and it takes at least a few weeks of constant contact.
I've had guitars of all kinds hanging from the neck for over twenty years and its never caused any problems with the setup. If a guitar goes out of adjustment its not from hanging.