The Hub

It was attacked by a Martin Dreadaught on a small mountain stage resulting in a faceplant. The top is Redwood. I was able to get it to glue up fairly well and have done some splice and drop fill on the vertical cracks. I'm curious about suggestions for the deep cross grain areas. I am hoping to not re-shoot any lacquer and just rub out the finish with some Kovax dry sanding. It was never high gloss buff to begin with and it's a personal…

Howdy folks, I'm a 2026 graduate of the two year guitar program at Red Wing (Minnesota State College Southeast). Between my two years at Red Wing I worked at Collings Guitars in Austin, TX for two years in the acoustic neck department, shaping and finish sanding ~2000 necks, radiusing and gluing ~750 fingerboards, and pressing ~100 sets of frets. I also spent a couple months in the finishing department level sanding and pore filling ~300…

I have a Favilla Classical guitar on the bench, in for a bridge reglue. This is a low to mid-range classical guitar, made circa 1960, and it's an heirloom guitar for the customer, he basically wants it back in playing shape. The story is that he went away on vacation, and when he returned the bridge had delaminated from the top and took a fair amount of finish with it. It also appears that someone attempted to glob on superglue at some…

Here You'll seehere pin tip sized bubbles. Nitro finish. It got hot in a case. They'll need a light amagolmater mixture applied to melt'm back into the surface. Im looking for advice on the recipe for said amagolmater....Straight retarder? Im not sure if Id need lacquer in the mix that I apply....Thank you! Colin O'Brien LittleCreek Instrument Repair, Nashville. Images

Hey guys, does anybody know of a good alternative to mixol? I use it in lacquer for mixing opaque colors and it's great but I've been on the lookout for something more affordable and haven't had much luck. Wondering if anybody here knows of anything. Thanks!

I have a Taylor Acoustic in for a setup and I had a couple of questions: 1. My main one is how you would go about gluing the label back on? I'm probably overthinking it but I'm curious if there's a universally recognized way of doing this? 2. I have some very minor finish damage which I'm not planning on touching, but I am curious how one would go about repairing it. Would this be a case of drop filling lacquer? What would be the…

Hi all, I'm new here. I've been playing guitars for ~15 years and recently started as a technician at a music production school in London, where part of my job is maintaining the guitars. I picked up this 50s parlor nylon the other day and it's in bad shape but I don't know how to go about repairing it. The main issue is the bridge. The guitar was kept high strung and the bridge has twisted and lifted off slightly at the base. T…

Need some guidance for binding repairs. I'm using the "Martin method" using CA glue and tape for re-attaching the binding. From there: Scrape glue 400 grit to level Brushing on Lacquer 400 grit to level Meguiars #1 Meguiars #3 Meguiars #7 All by hand. But I recently purchased a Proxxon hand polisher. I'm still getting big marks. Its usually "ok", but I'm noticing huge swirls. Not pro. I do not have the money/space for…

I'm fast approaching the finish coating of 2 acousitcs. The sitka spruce tops are really bright. I'd like to tone them down a little and have been scouring the web for methods. Seems like adding amber toner in either the sand sealer or more likely the first set of nitro lacquer coats might be the the ticket. I see Stewmac has a Colortone stain called "Vintage Amber" that can be mixed into the nitro. Anybody have expirience with this pro…

A customer brought this Gibson songwriter deluxe in, it’s approximately 20 years old to his recollection. It needs a few things done including fret work and a bridge re glue. At some point the guitar was lent out to a friend who dropped it then tried to fix the finish themselves. It looks like they used some kind of cleaner or something that didn’t get along with the lacquer at all. I’ll attach pictures but it’s kinda hard to get a pic…

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…

Hey all! Anyone know what lacquer pigment might better match the deep black colour of this tele body? It’s an American tele deluxe with a nitro finish. Photos show: Finish damage was the size of a quarter. I’ve filled and levelled the area and sprayed on coat of Oxford black nitro. I poured a puddle of naphtha on to check the match and unfortunately no dice. I’ve used Oxford black many times for overspray during repairs and have always fo…

Okay gang I have a doozy of a crack repair. Young guy brought in a Epiphone LP Limited Ed. He had picked up the case while it was unlatched at the guitar took a nasty tumble. Severe finish damage, and the wood has a shear split in it as well. The undercoat is thick with a thin layer of nitro color on top. Spoke with a sweetwater rep and they said that the finish was nitro. Here's the guitar specs via Zsounds: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson…

Hey everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has a good recommendation for a water based finish that buffs nicely. I currently use lacquer but I'd rather use something less toxic. One finish that's come up in my research is General Finishes Enduro line. Has anybody used that before?

Hey all, I am really enjoying digging through the looth group. I have not yet watched all the ding kings vids or read all the amazing comments and articles here, but I've been appreciating some of the loothing for dollars stuff, seeing other people's intake sheets, discussions about dealing with customers, and it led me to this question: How do people deal with customer expectations, liability, and the inevitable accidents that can happ…

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…