clear coat has worn off the front and when you wax it etc you're actually removing paint or stain.. I had a Gibson Explorer painted in the VERY early 80's.. from that brown wood grain look to white.. initially the guy who painted it, did a GREAT job, but didn't clear coat it, so it was FLAT white.. I wasn't happy and sent it back to be clear coated..
Well, I guess the guy got butthurt, so he didn't remove all the electronics - he just taped stuff and clear coated it.. originally, other than the overspray of clear coat it looked good.. but over time, the back of the guitar's clear coat began wearing off and little bits of fiber from whatever shirt and pants I was wearing began sticking to the back of the guitar.. blue fibers from blue jeans, red fibers from a red shirt, for example.. and you practically had to sandblast them off..
So, that ended up being the first guitar I ever painted.. first it went that 80's hot pink, then eventually back to white.. I put lettering on it that said, "My heart belongs to..." and had girls names all crossed out all over the guitar..it was pretty cool..
Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..