Does anyone have any thoughts on this? It’s a Gibson F5 - fantastic mandolin - about a year and a half old. Right after I bought it, I noticed chipping under the 5th fret. Even though it wasn’t covered under warranty, David Harvey was nice enough to do a drop fill and fix it. Now, the chipping is returning and has moved up to the 6th fret. I wear a silicone wedding ring so it’s not that. Is this a common thing to happen or is there just something unusual about this mandolin?
It’s really hard to get a picture that shows it. I did the best I could.
Randy Mallory
2020 Gibson Custom Shop F5 MSC Wide Nut (2020) David Harvey
2022 Eastman MD515
2022 Northfield NFO-AT1 Octave Mandolin
and a few more....
Finish problems are never unusual. When finishes are expertly applied to expertly prepared surfaces, there is a small chance that the finish will age well without some kind of problem showing up, but there is usually some kind of adhesion problem or clouding or something that shows up later. When finishes are applied less-than-expertly to less-than-expertly-prepared surfaces it is unusual to not have some sot of problems later.
Getting good adhesion between finish and substrate is always touch and go, and where there is an edge, like where the finish goes to the edge of the binding at the fingerboard and stops there, the chances of adhesion problems are increased. If the finish is applied thicker the chances are also increased.
Gibson has nearly always applied lacquer finishes rather thickly. Not sure about their varnish finishes, but when a thick finish meets an edge (like the edge of the fingerboard/binding, it is likely to chip.
Randy Mallory
2020 Gibson Custom Shop F5 MSC Wide Nut (2020) David Harvey
2022 Eastman MD515
2022 Northfield NFO-AT1 Octave Mandolin
and a few more....
I couldn't have expressed it better than John did. Adhesion between different materials, finish or not, will show some failure at some point. If it's an older finish we call it mojo. It it's a newer finish we call it something else.
Bookmarks