Removing Chemical Prints from Nitrocellulose Lacquer (Les Paul) - Guitar Care

Here I share my experience restoring a Les Paul Studio headstock that suffered a chemical reaction from contact with a clip-on BOSS Tuner for a period of about two hours.
This is a well-known issue with nitrocellulose lacquer, which reacts poorly with certain rubber and foam materials. This is not covered by the Gibson warranty.
After some trial and error, I finally managed to resolve the issue with some Meguiar's Mirror Glaze - a swirl remover normally intended for use on vehicles.
After about 30 minutes of application by hand, with a fine microfiber cloth and exerting moderate pressure with circular movements, the "print" had magically disappeared.
When caring for Nitrocellulose, always be wary that your accessories, such as stands and tuners, are safe for the product. Do your research!
I hope this helps those who have not yet found an answer to this specific type of problem, which is not a ding caused by a hit, but a "print" left by the chemical reaction.
"Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@steveide2062]

This is very interesting. I suffered the same reaction with a clip-on headstock tuner on my Gibson and have been searching for easy way to fix it. How did or where did you come up with the idea for using a Meguiar product for this? Surely you must have been nervous about causing further damage.

[@MatthewFant]

I have a similar issue where I think some water spots from a floor cleaner got on the body. I tried scratch x it didn’t seem to cut enough. I think I’ll try this.