How to maintain Stealth Black finish

[five7]

It will get shiny over time no matter what you do, unless you don't play it.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

I will highly appreciate if you can confirm if this is the product that will help cleaning and removing those oily spots
thanks
"Custom Shop Spot Remover Pint for the Bold Matte Finish Paint Jobs"
SPOT REMOVER PINT

I'll chime in!

Here's an array of products that we recommend using from Custom Shop- we actually use some of them to clean matte finishes here at the factory:

TCP Global | Custom Shop | Matte Products

 

[bvdrummer]

The problem is they are not oily spots. The matte finish has microscopic bumps all over so light scatters off it in all directions, giving it the matte look. When you are playing you are using your arm/hands to buff/polish the finish, smoothing out the little bumps and making the surface more reflective, giving it a glossy look. The only way to return to the matte appearance is to make the surface rough again by using a light abrasive. Others are saying they don't recommend this because you would have to know the exact grit in order for it to look right.

Edit: After looking more closely at that ^ product, it appears that is a preventative/protective coating, not a "return from gloss to matte" product.

 

[threeminutesboy]

I love this natural worn aspect on my stealth. Don't mess up with anything

I will be curious to see JP majesties after a tour

 

[jacob.rocha]

I will highly appreciate if you can confirm if this is the product that will help cleaning and removing those oily spots
thanks
"Custom Shop Spot Remover Pint for the Bold Matte Finish Paint Jobs"
SPOT REMOVER PINT

Apologies for the VERY delayed response- it looks like the guys in our setup department are using the Matte Protectant spray bottle. They use it to remove oily fingerprints for the most part, and it does an exceptional job...

 

[PaoloGilberto]

thank you very much for the reply
so I guess this is the product you are referring to!?
MATTE PROTECTANT 4OZ

What about rubbing alcohol Brian was using with sterling guitars?
thanks!

Apologies for the VERY delayed response- it looks like the guys in our setup department are using the Matte Protectant spray bottle. They use it to remove oily fingerprints for the most part, and it does an exceptional job...

 

[KEOKI]

Let me dip into my gig bag of worldly knowledge and make a statement totally unsupported by evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, about using alcohol. I suspect occasional use would pose no problem. A mix of alcohol and water is good for cleaning non porous surfaces like glass, etc. The alcohol helps with evaporation of the water. I suspect long term use of such mixture on a porous painted surface would cause the paint to dry out, become brittle, and crack.

 

[Vincent S]

All satin/matte finishes tend to get shiny in high-friction areas after a while. There's no avoiding this. Not sure what grit (pretty fine I'm sure), but you can actually sand it back to matte. I'm sure someone here can chime in on exactly what to use. All matte/satin finishes are are regular finishes that haven't been buffed to a shine. I'm sad (in advance) for the day that my Majesty starts getting shiny spots lol.

I can speak on this... From a finish perspective the topcoat of these guitars have a clear coat that dries to a matte finish. it is not the same as a gloss clear coat although the polymers are similar. this means it can be shined with the proper technique...But!...not the other way around. Unfortunately the oils in your skin and texture of your skin over time acts in the same way as polishing process would (very fine grit and just the right moisture and pressure). Unless you sand the entire topcoat to allow a new topcoat to stick upon it and re-clear with a matte producing finish there unfortunately is no way to fix this issue. My SBMM JP50 is shiny where my fingers rest below the pickups whilst playing and a bit in the arm pocket but not too much. My SBMM JP57, yes JP57 stealth, has none...well, because I only minimally play it. hope this helps!

I terms of sanding it, it is true you can sand off topcoat to dull the shiny but in doing this you remove the valuable topcoat. The sheen after doing so will NOT produce the same finish qualities and will likely make the finish more porous. The oils in your skin will be more difficult to clean from the surface. if you sand too much you could hit the color coat and then you end up with a Stealth relic look! may be cool if someone want to try it!

If the finish is that important most painters (motorcycle, auto, or guitar builders alike) can produce this (black stealth or matte finish, not the color stuff but they do sell similar custom colors) with the proper products. I don't know of anyway to avoid this from happening unless you don't play the guitar.