once white guitar now looks yellow...help

[kelvinator]

My Ibanez artic white guitar has been in storage for awhile and now looks like the clear has turned yellow. Is there anyway to fix this without stripping the clear all off and redoing it? Is this a common problem?

thanks

[fastvfr]

Ouch.

Well, you could say it was originally Ivory-colored, I guess, if it isn't blotchy.

That's too bad, man. Hope there's an easy fix.

[John Burr]

My Washburn HB35S was made in 1995 and the varnish has yellowed a bit over the years. It's a vintage thing. It looks very cool in most people's opinion. I am afraid there is no easy way to fix it but under stage lights it's going to look white anyway. How long was it in storage? I thought it took years for the varnish to get yellow...

BSR

[Prez]

Some people call that "vintage" and pay extra money for it.

[Santah]

You could try an abrasive cleaner just to take a little bit of the top layer off without scratching/sanding and see if it makes it better.

[kelvinator]

I think it was in storage for about 8 years.

[vovin]

ammonia or bleach might help. This is a total guess and those liquids could ruin your finish. I dunno if I would even try it but I swear in the back of my head I read somewhere that ammonia would un yellow clear coat but I could just be remebering something wrong. Mebbe it will trigger somones memory.

[reeced]

You could try an abrasive cleaner just to take a little bit of the top layer off without scratching/sanding and see if it makes it better.

If the yellowing is just oxidation of the top layer then you could try Meguiars ScratchX (http://www.autogeek.net/megscratxfin.html) - it's non-abrasive, but will remove fine scratches and oxidation from paintwork.

[kelvinator]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give it a try and let you guys know what happened.

[kelvinator]

Well I tried some mild car rubbing compound and no difference at all. It appears that the clear coat has yellowed. I'll either have to live with it or repaint the body. Thanks all for your advise.

[Ogier]

Welcome to the wacky world of nitrocelulose lacquer. To get rid of the yellowing, you need to strip the clearcoat and re-shoot it.