S2 Black Satin shedding its skin...

Lloyd676

Lloyd676

New Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2022
Messages
31
Location
Iowa
My first S2! I got it about two weeks ago. Cool guitar...but after about a week of light playing at home some finish started coming off on the side of the fretboard. Then on the upper bout, then near the arm spot. This is just all with light playing, no drops, not wearing chain mail while I play, nothing weird. This has not happened any my Core, CE, or SE models.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else? I've contacted customer service, but haven not heard back yet. Just curious about anyone else's experiences!
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I had a Fender Highway One Telecaster years back. It had a thin nitro finish, and not surprisingly the finish wore off and chipped easily. But it also had a nice aged quality to it that people spend big bucks on. Not saying this is the same thing here, but kinda seems like it. I say don’t worry about it, and embrace the natural relicing that it will have soon enough.
 
IRG said:
I had a Fender Highway One Telecaster years back. It had a thin nitro finish, and not surprisingly the finish wore off and chipped easily. But it also had a nice aged quality to it that people spend big bucks on. Not saying this is the same thing here, but kinda seems like it. I say don’t worry about it, and embrace the natural relicing that it will have soon enough.
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Yeah I mean I bought this with the intent of it being a player so it's fine. I just can't believe it comes off when you no more than look at it funny! Just surprising, coming from PRS!
 
Xtcclassic said:
Hasn’t happened to either of my S2 Vela satins but this looks like a totally different finish than the satin Velas.
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You have 2 satin Velas?? Im debating a used one as a second...in another thread...and putting a JB in it!!
 
Russ73 said:
You have 2 satin Velas?? Im debating a used one as a second...in another thread...and putting a JB in it!!
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I do, a black and a burst. Both solid bodies. The black one has Harmonic Design Z-90’s, the burst has a TV Jones Magna’Tron bridge pickup and a K-Line Firebird neck pickup. They’re awesome guitars, the black one is probably the best guitar I’ve ever owned. You should get one.
 
I suspect this is an issue with the nitro over CAB finish. Have seen a few post-2018 PRSi with this problem. I appreciate the vibe of older guitars and having nitro as an option, but I prefer durability and longevity in my finishes and fear this may eventually be the next V12.
 
Warmart said:
Yeah, personally not a fan of the new nitro, for what that's worth. Definitely contact your dealer!
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Working through customer support since I'm not local to my dealer. Tough to decide what to do since I bought it as a daily player/backup gigging guitar. But at less than a month old...doesn't feel like it should be aging so quickly.

I suppose I'll try to send it in and see what happens! Not sure what turn around time for this kind of thing is....but at least I have others to play in the mean time I guess!
 
It's a limited sample size but the nitro on my '22 S2 594 SC chipped with the same type of light knock that hasn't done any damage on my polyurethane SE's. Seems more fragile.
 
Nitro will always be fragile compared to poly. But poly is thicker and seals the wood so the wood doesn’t breathe or age like it does with nitro. Pros and cons.
 
Yep. Part of me think this nitro finish talk is inspired by nostalgia for vintage gear when everybody swore they sounded better.

Call me crazy but the poly finishes seem so much more durable. They can take a knock and laugh with a light scuff that could buff out. The new nitro? I rub it the wrong way and i have scrapes. So is it better to breathe or better that the guitar finish last longer? Fender only uses the nitro for vintage inspired gear. Their typical made in USA stuff is poly.
 
I lean towards wanting the wood to breathe and age and get better over time. Plus I like the feel of nitro better, and I don’t care about scuffs and wear. I would probably feel differently if I had a super flamey 10-top core model but that’s not really my style, I have two satin Velas, and two CE-22’s that I took the poly off of and restained and oiled them so it’s just stain over the wood with no gloss. So I’m a bit of a weirdo around these parts.
 
Certainly seems excessive for the short amount of time but satin nitro is delicate in my experience. The used one I just got has a good amount of wear but it’s 7 years old and I want it to wear even more.
 
Yeah if all this had happened in 6 months or a year I might feel differently! Even at a few weeks a part of me just says "eh....let it wear". I'll send it out this Wednesday and see what happens. Who knows, it may just happen the same way again! I'll still love the guitar regardless!
 
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