Milky areas in JG 4001 finish?

[rob4001va]

Hey Paul and all you experts...
(from a long time browser/reader and occasional poster)

hope this is the appropriate place to post a question about a recent and somewhat bizarre situation with my Rick.

So, I have a '76 4001 in JG. Original owner.
daily player for the first 10 years of it's life. Kept clean with regular aerosol guitar polish (Gibson, Fender, etc.)
Kids came along, and it went into hibernation in the case for years.
I started back playing in the past 5-10 years, but only recently has this bass come back into rotation. In fact, for my brand new band, it's the best fit (even over my 06 AFG 4003). Other than the aforementioned regular polishes, the only other thing I've used on it is occasional Zymol or carnuba.

The problem:
the last couple of times I've played it, there has been a large area of milky or cloudy stuff right where the bass rests against my body, and where I sweat against the guitar (I'm an active guy when playing, and it's hot in the practice room, and hey...I perspire!).

The first time, last week, it freaked me out. Polished it when i got home, waxed it...everything I could think of. No real impact. Left it in the stand over night...it was gone in the morning.

I'm assuming it's some sort of moisture effect on the finish/paint, as if the clear coat is no longer protecting the varnish.

So, I put about 4-5 coats of Zymol on it, took it to rehearsal last night...by the end of the night, same thing had happened, though it "dried" out much faster, especially after a good wipe down, and appeared to be gone by the time I got home (and fine this morning).

So...questions for Paul and the experts here
is this something I should be concerned about for the long term?
is there a way to stop this?
does it sound like moisture to you? (my drummer said he has the same kind of thing happen to his dining room table with water rings from glasses...goes away on its own).
is there someting else I should be using to protect the finish? Frankly, at this point, I'm getting a bit paranoid about playing the guitar. It's my baby after all.

And could anyone really recommend those scratch guard static cling pads on a Rick? They say they are safe except for nitro, but... well, I don't know.

I just know when I see this milkiness come up again, it screws with my head and takes the fun out of playing the bass, which I love.

Thanks for any help or advice.
-Rob

[jingle_jangle]

Your CV finish is exhibiting some porosity which is allowing moisture to cloud it. This is certainly not a good thing, and is probably due to oxidation and finish decomposition over the decades. It won't get better, wont "heal" itself, and it doesn't matter whether you choose to refinish it now or later... if you want it to NOT do this, you're looking at a refinish. Eventually you'll probably see some delamination of the clear coat from the black color coat, but I can't predict when this will begin to happen.

So, plan on a refinish sometime if it bugs you. A new CV refinish will put things right.

[gareth]

Your CV finish is exhibiting some porosity which is allowing moisture to cloud it. This is certainly not a good thing, and is probably due to oxidation and finish decomposition over the decades. It won't get better, wont "heal" itself, and it doesn't matter whether you choose to refinish it now or later... if you want it to NOT do this, you're looking at a refinish. Eventually you'll probably see some delamination of the clear coat from the black color coat, but I can't predict when this will begin to happen.

So, plan on a refinish sometime if it bugs you. A new CV refinish will put things right.

I'll sand it for you. Just ask Paul. I'm good at sanding I am.