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Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Mid-90s Gibson acoustic finish adhesion

A fella left his 1994 Gibson Blues King locked in a damp garden shed through a hot humid summer. See attached pics! The clear coat has lost adhesion pretty much everywhere on the neck, back and sides, and is starting to let go on the top too in places. But 95% of the colour underneath seems to be hanging in there. Customer is open to a full refin. But I'm wondering how exactly the colour on these was applied, why it seems relatively…

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Ian Davlin
I'll start swinging by late. Fair warning. My A game leaves the station at about 4pm these days cuz I'm old.
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

A rant on touch-up pens.....

This is just a rant against the Stew-mac touchup pens. Ive just never had them functionally work, without creating more of an issue than there was in the first place. Through an "act of god" I chipped a small bit of freshly buffed and polished laquer off the headstock of a Taylor that I refinished. The guitar had that nasty bubbling around the tuners and CA glue didn't fix the issue, so I stripped the front of the headstock and airbrush…

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Ian Davlin
I have used the micron pens to pretty good effect here and there, but those shellac pens I could never get to work.
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Les Paul Cherry neck: Touch-up or refinish?

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??

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Private member
Thanks Al, I use the FNF liquids, but not powdered stain. I'd welcome a 1-on-1 if you're game. Whatsapp works well (+1-253-376-0116). I'm on Pacific time. Looking forward to talking! Neil
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Stripped Out Trussrod

I have an epiphone 335 style guitar on the bench right now. Bad fret buzz on the first frets. No relief in the neck. Pretty Clear its a trussrod adjustment and out the door it goes. But the truss rod is stripped out pretty bad. My 4mm allen fits, in but it has a lot of wiggle. My 5/32" allen doesnt slide in all the way. I dont have a full set of torx wrenches. But i thought that might get some grip. What is the best way to get this thin…

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Private member
I am not one of the Rich looths
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Floyd Rose Special Replacement Parts

I'm in the process of setting up a Parker (PDF-80 Maxx Fly Floyd Rose Special; Early-2010s) and one of the Floyd Rose saddles (G string) are stripped. Found exact replacement parts on StewMac and ordered in hopes of just swapping out one of the saddles and not having to replace everything: https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/bridges-and-tailpieces/bridges-and-tailpieces-for-electric-guitar/floyd-rose-tremolos/floyd-rose-special-s…

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Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

1946 Gibson J-45

So this 46' J-45 came to me at a very very low price as it needs extensive repair. Much that I am confident in, cracks, bridge/bridge plate issues, loose braces and the like. There are however a few points that id like the groups opinions on. The neck angle is pretty great and theres a good amount of fret, however, at some point in its past, someone shaved down the neck to a dangerous point, and the back of the neck has toms cracks along…

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Ian Davlin
That break in the neck is probably the truss rod breaking on through to the other side. That would require something radical to become stable. Maybe pulling the board, the rod and then layering some C…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Refinishing question for VA/MD looths

I have a customer who has a Peavey T-40 bass body that he wants stripped and refinished. Does anyone here take in work like that? I'm in northern VA but any VA/MD location would work if I could pass along your details. Cheers.

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Private member
Hi Matt, I don’t do full refins. Only finish repair and touch up.
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Maxed out trussrod

Hi all! Has anyone some tips about a maxed out trussrot? I have a Squier strat with a relief of 0.24. I've bring it down to 0.14, but that still twice the amount I want it to be. The trussrod is maxed out, I can't turn it more because I think its gonna strip out or break or something. Are there some workarounds to lower the relief even more with a maxed out trussrod, or is it what it is?

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Ian Davlin
What kind of nut is it ? If it isn't open and you are hitting the end of the threads you can put washers on the end of the rod to get more tighty. If you're trying to take a shit ton of relief out, so…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

What causes these pits?

Hey All I am finishing a ukulele and I am getting all these weird pits. I was able to drop fill a lot of them but most of them do not want to stay filled and it is driving me mad! Anyone have an idea as to what may be causing these little pits? I used StewMac's dry power pore filler and their lacquer. I'm about to strip it and start over because at this point I've been chasing my tail so much I'm going crossed eyed. Thoughts?

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Yeah it's just the physical properties of the wood. Some more porous woods might need a second pass at pore filling or a sanding sealer after pore filling, before applying lacquer. I've even used vi…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

2005 Gibson SG with lifting lacquer on headstock

Hey y'all, Got a guitar in for repair, I've got nitrocellulose and experience with it, so can repair it one way or another, but would like advice on what's best. I figure the options are stripping the headstock by itself and respraying, or maybe doing the trick of very thinned lacquer hoping it will slip underneath and hold the existing stuff down. Owner is budget conscious but also not too concerned with originality so it's a bit of a t…

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Ian Davlin
I suspect you would spend quite a bit less time stripping and refinishing. It looks like you could get under the lifting with a palette knife and just peel it off like a bad sunburn. After that, the w…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Breedlove Trussrod Removal/Replacement

Breedlove Roots D/SRH (basically an HD28V) on the bench with a non functional trussrod. Wrench will engage, but the nut just spins and no change in relief in either direction. Pretty sure the nut is stripped at the rod end, but due to the neck block design, there's no way to access it without pulling the neck. Anybody ever replace a trussrod in one of these? The neck is a bolt on, and the fingerboard extension is glued down, so only…

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Private member
I've replaced many a truss rod on Taylor's. Same neck bolt design with glued on fingerboard. Only difference is the adjustment is at the peg head. But they can be dug out at the heel and slid out. I t…
Ian Davlin DiscussionJob Postings

Project Available: 59 P Bass Neck

Truss rod is broken and skunk strip is popped. If you are interested in this project DM for details.

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