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I would really appreciate some advice on this repair that I need to do. I've built a number of (classical) guitars so far, but this is my first repair job. I have already set the expectations with the customer that I can probably fix it structurally but the repair will be visible. The guitar is modestly priced and of no historical significance so it seems like an ideal project to take on as a first one. The guitar suffered a blow on the…

Hello fellow looths! I recently had a customer come in with a '71 Fender neck that is a fusion of the 60s and 70s style. It has a veneer fretboard, no skunkstripe, 4 screwholes, 70s style tuners, 70s headstock logo, and it seems like it has a poly finish on the back of the neck, and nitro (with cracking) on the front of the headstock. Can anyone tell me if this combination is possible or could it be fake? Another thing is, even without th…

I had a wild idea, and I would love to be talked off the ledge before I try it. I've seen some acetone vaporizers used in headlight repair, and the thought occurred to me that the concept could possibly work for blending poly finish with Ca (fill and finish) to lessen witness lines without sanding. The idea would be to fill the finish chips as usual and scrape flush with a razor blade, then use the vaporizer to blend the edges before…

Ok. Did a refret on a MIM Fender Strat maple neck. Some of the finish came off (was careful AF but....) It is not lacquer but I assume a poly finish. New lacquer did not meld. Can/should I use a tinted CA fix? Any tips, color recipes? Any help would be appreciated. VERY appreciated. Thanks -Mike

The neck on this Epiphone Les Paul was repaired by the local Guitar Center, but they left it ragged and the customer asked me to fix the finish. It appears to be very thick poly (not lacquer) and the crack has some glue left over from the repair. I would love to be able to just fill and finish the cracks, but I'm afraid it will be near impossible to match, so I'm inclined to strip and refinish the whole neck. Advice??

I'm still working on this 1958 Country Gent and I am getting closer to getting past the structural stuff and on to the finish work. The entire body appears to have been resprayed with what I'm guessing is some sort of poly a long time ago. It's very yellowed, has multiple big drips across the entire body and flakes right off in big pieces. My plan is to remove it all, clean it up a bit and then respray with nitro. Anyone have great advi…

Any tips on matching this fingerboard up to the headstock with some type of stain before frets then looking to spray a gloss poly on after fretting. The original finish seems to have reacted with a moisturizing lotion the customer uses.

I'd like to start a discussion about guitar polishes. We have always been careful to use only non-silicone products on nitro finishes. We previously used Stewmac Preservation polish for years, but they don't offer that product anymore. We recently had maybe what was a bad batch of Stewmac "Clean and Shine" that was softening nitro finishes so we trashed it and haven't purchased anymore. The first bottle we got worked great, but the s…

I'm trying to touch up a finish ding and a couple of sand through spots on a black, mid-2010s MIM Fender Telecaster Deluxe, and I'm having a really hard time doing it well. I did a previous touch up on a black Squier Jaguar using Stew Mac's black nitrocellulose rattle can, and it blended so well I can't see the repair, but in this case the contrast between the original finish and the touch up paint is super obvious. I've since learned h…

I’m serious here, maybe crazy or funny, but please forgive me should it be obvious, because I don’t know shellac good enough to really know by experience if that’s doable or not would it be stupid to use some recipe on shellac for an electric Bass fingerboard finish? Would it be a good “filler” or way of giving some body in preparation for a finish like nitro or poly? Would it scratch like hell sooner than later? Could it be easily rebuilt…

Hey everyone, I just had a Tele clone built by a small builder in my Proper's Guitar Workstation for a new nut and a fret level. It was clamped down in the workstation for less than a day. I just noticed that the rear hold down clamp left its footprint in the finish. No, I don't know what type of finish the builder used, but I'm trying to find out. I'm thinking its not nitro or poly because I use my TVPGW everyday and this has never hap…

I have an Epiphone explorer that suffered a vertical neck break in shipping. I'm in the middle of repairing the break a la Ted Woodford's remedy. My question is, what would be the polyurethane you'd recommend to cover the break? A couple of things to consider/questions I have: The neck color is not quite all the way black but the customer is fine with it being darker than the original color. The neck finish is satin What would be the best…

I repaired this double neck SG geetar with mahogany splints. Sealed the new hog with shellac, pore filled with ca, more shellac, then a thin layer of Stewmac white color tone in nitro, then a few coats of poly, then Mohawk ultra flo (cuz I can’t buff the neck) . I seem to be getting strange bleed through into the white (it wasn’t there before). Tannins??? Ideas? Thanks

I have a Carvin 12-String "acoustic" electric with what I think is a poly finish. Over time, the back side has gotten a bit cloudy where the body makes contact with the player. Doing my initial research, it seemed like buffing compound would have done the trick to bring back the shine. I've tried 3 different compounds (StewMac ColorTone Med, Mother's California Gold and No. 7) and nothing has done the trick. What am I missing? Do I need…

Haven't done any finish work on this yet, just made and installed the patch. Customer is not concerned about perfection, but this poly is extremely brittle and as you can see, it's flaking off left and right. My thought is to stabilize and do local touch up on the perimeter and then spray the patch. Thoughts on technique and medium for this one?