I own an epiphone sg eletric guitar and i have a crack around the spot were you plug in the cord that runs into the amp. French polishing is a method of applying finish to wood by hand with a cotton pad. However, you can put enamel over lacquer without it attacking the lacquer. The lacquer has checked all over, but the neck is the most severely affected, with the finish actually beginning to lift and fall off. So i set the calendar for a month, and put the guitar aside to dry. You can take it a step further by having some finish work done to make it look as good as possible if youre concerned about aesthetics. Finish crack in polyurethane how to repair the gear page. We use only the highest quality of dye and with the help of using a uv protected finish, your guitar will stay vibrant for many years to come. Checking cracking a nitro guitar finish nitrocellulose relic tutorial. Mar 18, 20 ive showed my guitar to 2 luthiers and they have suggested 2 different approaches. Tuners are hipshot ultralights and the bridge is a hipshot a. This is my 4th time wetsanding a guitar and i was being as careful as i was with the previous 3 which did not crack oh well, this guitar build has been cursed from the start.
Tung oil is slow to cure and will appear wet as it dries. Repairing an ugly scratch on a beautiful guitar sign in to disable this ad my fellow pluckers, i recently bought a 1982 ibanez ar305av artist. The problem is that when you say cracks people do not distinguish between finish or wood and the majority of people think finish cracks means the top is cracked all the way through. Fixing crack in the lacquer the steel guitar forum. A short tutorial showing how to get that cracking checking effect on a nitrocellulose guitar finish. Walnut burl wood veneer 10 x 17 with no backing raw veneer. How to stop a lacquer crack from spreading on a guitar. French polish finish instructions luthiers mercantile. Nitro is a much thinner finish than poly and it doesnt clog the wood pores.
First,color match the underlying wood as closely as you can. Neck pocket finish crack fix fender stratocaster guitar. Jul 15, 2016 french polishing a piece of red morrel burl, by clickspring. Guitar repair glue is used in repairing guitar inlays on the headstock, body, and fretboard. How to repair a crack in a solid top acoustic guitar our. Dan erlewine shows how he makes a new finish repair on a 1956 strat look as old as the original finish all. Cracks are one of the many ways that coatings film forming transparent finishes and paints can fail. There can be cracks in a knot, voids in a burl or other anomalies. Ca is a brittle glue and will eventually crack out. Whoa, most neck pocket finish crack threads are someone stressing out over some teeny tiny little nothing of a crack so your photo was a little shocking. This model according to gretsch book was designed to compete with martins guitars of this era, all solid mahogany, chunky 14. Dont get too much water on the guitar, as if it manages to somehow soak into the wood, the wood will expand and crack the finish. Apart from the above, small cracks can appear in a nitro finish after several years too.
Dec 24, 20 overspraying spraying over the existing finish is an option if you just cant live with the cosmetic imperfection of a crack, but it should be avoided on any vintage guitar. Body is made from poplar with a thick maple cap and nitro finish. If you want a glasslike finish, such as on a desk or a tabletop, you have to fill the grainactually the wood pores in the grain, says jim. They occur in a variety of forms to include checking, crazing, cracking, alligatoring, and mud cracking. In the past two years i have not had a single eb show up with a stress crack. May 16, 2009 i completed a solid body electric guitar in december of last year.
You will not be able to wick glue in there without getting some on the outside of the finish. Ive showed my guitar to 2 luthiers and they have suggested 2 different approaches. The guitar is structurally intact, but we want to be very clear about the crack. I recently bought a used epiphone zephyr regent jazz box, and found two very thin hairline cracks in the polyurethane finish right by the nut where you would hang the guitar. Using the right product to repair these issues is very important to a good end result. Jan 05, 2012 we recommend repairing promptly, to prevent the crack from spreading. You can change the look of your guitar with a guitar skin today. Some companies are putting a layer of nitro over the poly finishes to try and fool the end consumer or maybe to make the guitar turn yellow with age. They can put it on fast and it builds thick easy to rub out to a high polish without burning through. Sometimes the perfect piece of wood is not all there. This puts oils and dirt from your hand into the crack, which makes it hard to reglue and can leave a dark line that cant be removed.
Centerseam separations or other lengthy top cracks can be made stable if not invisible without removing the bridge and overspraying the top. The finish kits come with either, deep colour, base and top coats depending on the type of kit, designed to meet the demands of wood. This model according to gretsch book was designed to compete with martins guitars of this era, all solid mahogany, chunky 14fret mahogany neck, 19fret rosew. This occurs when a guitar is regularly exposed to differing. Wet sandingcracked lacquer inlays and finishing chat. Under close inspection with a bright light, you can still see a hint of the cracks because the lacquer did not seep all the way down into the crack this could have been remedied by first widening the cracks with a knife but it is good enough that it will never be noticed by anyone but me and that is only because i know they arew there. It happened when i was playing in my room, the guitar was plugged in, and i stepped on the cord in a spot that tugged at the guitar. This martin d 35 has a cracked top due to the pull of a shrinking plastic pickguard. Repairing an ugly scratch on a beautiful guitar home. Someone must have taken a screwdriver to adjust the tailpiece and it slipped. Typically a guitar that has got cold and then warmed too quickly.
Honestly, if its just a paint crack you should just forget about it. Id say it has been subjected to extremes of temperature and humidity. Discussion in luthiers corner started by jeronimofesto, nov 8, 2006. Anyway, does anybody have any suggestions on repairing the cracks. It will not affect the guitars tone, and personally i would leave as is. Here are eight of the easiest ways to repair and restore common wood issues. Apparently, the original thief or thieves had stashed the guitar in a drainage ditch, perhaps intending to retrieve it later, but who knows. You might try putting a small dab of clear enamel on the chipped place. Its been a while since weve been to the belly up in solano beach and it was good to be. To repair these cracks the stress must be eliminated by removing the pickguard and reattaching or replacing it. Mx400 exotic wood acousticelectric guitar quilted ash burl.
Test your finish on a scrap or on one of the sample pieces that you will receive with your order. This video shows many more discoveries of preventive maintenance not performed and what can and does happen, plus gluing the cracked top and. In my case the guitar is for me, and i pick with my fingers so there is no risk of damage. Learn how to repair a polyester guitar finish in an hour using solarez polyester uvcure resin. Davids idea is a good one, but use a pin heated up. Mix the two components to make a filler and press into the splits and cracks. Food grade finishes are needed for all containers that. As an instruments wood expands and contracts with moisture content stress is placed on the finish. Finish crack in polyurethane how to repair discussion in.
Cracks in the body of your solid top acoustic guitar are often cause by physical damage to the guitar or shrinkage due to a lack of humidity. This is a custom guitar that ben is currently working on, and the buckeye burl needs to be stabilised with epoxy before he can proceed with final sanding and finish application etc our website. These cracks in the finish are most often caused by rapid changes in temperature, when the wood warms or cools at a different rate than the finish applied to it. Buckeye burl custom guitar stabilising soft wood with. Vintage 1955 gretsch burl ives junior up for sale is a rare gretsch, the best buyer candidate would be handy luthier since need some fix. Shake can 1 vigirously, turn upsidedown, aim straw at guitar, spray, watch finish crack. Mitchell mx400 exotic wood acousticelectric guitar quilted. However it can be fixed by a good repair man, as being nitrocellulose, the finish can be blended back together. When i was a guitar tech for charveljackson,they had us learn the dan earlywine repair techniques. Beautiful guitar, gorgeous burl mahogany finish, but it has a deep scratch running from the tailpiece for 3 or so. Dont leave your guitar out in the car it the temperature is below freezing and then bring it in to play a song by the wood stove or you may. There is nothing worse than a nasty chip, ding or crack in your favorite guitar.
Allnatural finish checking, to me, provides a level of character and history which you simply are not able to find on a brandnew guitar. Each knick, ding, buckle scrape and finish crack is an element of the battered past of the guitar. Repairing cracks in acoustic guitars examples of cracks. How to stop a lacquer crack from spreading on a guitar finish. If it happens, the bottom line is that its from rough handling. With the fenders, you would be lucky to get it home before the finish rubbed or chipped off. While it is difficult to tell anything from the posted pics, there is really no such thing as a finish crack on a poly finished guitar like an epi. Nitro finishes, however, crack and yellow with age, and they can check guitarspeak for fine hairline cracks with age or sudden exposure to low temperatures. This shortish video looks at neck pocket cracks the scourge of just about all boltnecked guitars bought online. Because my new lacquer had a slow acting solvent under it, and because my new lacquer fill is actually deeper than the original finish, i wanted to wait longer to allow it to dry than i would have even for a full finish. The finish provides complete protection against beer, wine, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk. Guys, without examining a particular guitar, nobody can tell if a finish crack is really that or something more serious.
Mar 04, 2010 i own an epiphone sg eletric guitar and i have a crack around the spot were you plug in the cord that runs into the amp. Acoustic guitar cracked top repair by randy schartiger. Each individual person who picked it up and played it left a little piece of himself behind. Premium guitar skins, decals, stickers and wraps available for any size, shape or style guitar, bass or acoustic. Billy demanded an explanation whereapon the kid pulled a gun out and billy decided that retrieving the guitar would probably be enough today. The crack is purely cosmetic and does not affect the playability of the guitar at all. If you know that youre not looking at a finish crack and the top is indeed cracked, remove the string tension and get the guitar to a good repairperson as soon as possible. Dont try this at home, but with cracks caused by low humidity, we always start by putting a trash bag over the entire body and adding humidity inside the bag for a. One piece per price as pictured aaa quality grade 142 thickness. Filling cracked or knotty wood without using wood putty may seem a difficult task, but there are a few options. Seal all crevices and pockets with sanding dust and epoxy glue.
However, i may be going crazy but ive been watching that crack this past week and swear its gotten longer than the last time i looked. Use a backer board covered with wax paper to keep the filler liquid from running out the back or tape the back off buckeye burl is highly over rated and over priced imo and experience. Any guitar, be it a quickie plywood job to an intricate, detailed piece of art, needs a good finish to make it complete. Repair chips and cracks in finish fender stratocaster. Checking is a mild form of cracking and doesnt go all the way through the finish. Aug 11, 2005 shake can 1 vigirously, turn upsidedown, aim straw at guitar, spray, watch finish crack. I have an old kramer with 2 gigantic cracks, and the guitar plays very well, and tuning stability is fantastic.
Theres something alluring about the finish of a vintage guitar, but we can get. Has your guitar gotten a little boring, or a little scratched up or are you just tired of the look. We recommend repairing promptly, to prevent the crack from spreading. Lastly, there are a couple of subtle rings in the finish on the back of the body also smooth to the touch. Its important to note that a ding or a finish chipout wont affect the guitars sound, playability or humidification and repair is generally not something required for the performance of your guitar.
I tend to use the term finish checking but most people outside of the industry dont understand what that means. Taylor factory service centers and uv finishequipped service centers can repair cracks and, in many cases, make them disappear completely. My first inclination would be to do as others have said and ca glue it down, but the warning about it wicking into the neck pocket is frightening. On a wellmade guitar, basswood can yield good dynamics and definition with enough grind to give the sound some oomph. Mitchell mx400 exotic wood acousticelectric guitar.
Repair broken pieces of your favorite guitar with starbond guitar refinishing glue. Apr 17, 2012 allnatural finish checking, to me, provides a level of character and history which you simply are not able to find on a brandnew guitar. Finishing diy kits wudtone custom guitar innovation. If you know that youre not looking at a finish crack and the top is indeed cracked, remove the string tension and get the guitar to a good. This is an extremely common, somewhat expected condition on older instruments with lacquer finishes. When i started playing, all guitars worth buying were laquer finished. The longest crack should not be in an area of high stress from the strings. I noticed after five months old the finish is developing cracks one just over 2 long between the pickups at the top edge of them. That is because poly remains more flexible than the wood, and will not crack unless there is a crack in the wood beneath it. Only thing is a very minor finish crack on the upper back heel, only noticeable holding it at certain angle to the light. Korina best known as the tonewood of gibsons radical modernistic series of the late 1950sthe flashy flying v and exploreras well as more recent guitars that follow these templates, korina is a warm, resonant, and. Nov 17, 2007 i tried the method above and it worked fine. Knotty burls have interesting colors and textures hidden inside of their gnarly exterior. There doesnt appear to be a crack in the wood, but i can feel the cracks in the finish when im playing open chords.
I completed a solid body electric guitar in december of last year. They can be finished with urethane, if they are not to be used with food. Depending on the severity and location of the crack, a repair is as simple as stabilizing the wood and applying glue to secure it. Finish crack in polyurethane how to repair the gear.
I have 3 pickguards made from highfigure walnut burl pic below. My concerns are crazing or cracking due to flexing its pretty thin and i also need to porefill quite a bit. French polishing a piece of red morrel burl, by clickspring. This grandauditorium shallow body guitar features the ce304t preamp with builtin tuner. A guitar may play like a dream and sound like thors hammer, but if it has a terrible finish itll get regulated to studio work where nobody will ever see the horror of its appearance. If you have the time to wait you could always see what happens in my case even if it is a lesson in what not to do. Burl poplar electric guitar tops, wide range of dimensions, world wide delivery, no minimum order. In the guitar world, the term french polish is understood to be a shellac spirit varnish that has been applied by the french polishing method. Checking will vary according to the extremes the instrument has been through.
Dealing with a guitar finish repair using gluboost products. Our gold level service centers and uv finish equipped service centers can also touchup dings and, in many cases, make them disappear completely. Feel free to contact us for help in having a crack or ding repaired. This shortish video looks at neck pocket cracks the scourge of just about all bolt necked guitars bought online. Both luthiers are reliable ive read a lot about the super glue fix, but havent heard as much on the airbrush approach. As the finish ages, the checking will likely get deeper and go all the way through the finish. Whoah playing the star spangled banner was an honor indeed more will be revealed categories. There are some color variations in the natural finish on the side of the headstock and back of the neck, which are completely smooth to the touch. This martin d35 has a cracked top due to the pull of a shrinking plastic pickguard.
Most of the fine old musical instruments made in europe were french polished, as are a majority of fine classical. Side note, dont stick tongue to can when the can gets cold. Walnut burl wood veneer 10 x 17 raw no backing aaa. Vintage gretsch burl ives junior 1955 mahagony reverb. You can see an oak piece with either filled grain that has a smooth, reflective finish or with unfilled grain and a semirough look. You can see a couple of places where the finish is missing at the edge by the fourth string tuner. In this video i use the traditional french polishing technique to apply a shellac coating to the large wheel skeleton clock base. In an effort to avoid a repeat, and keep the new adhesive from pulling up wood fibers if removed again, this bare area of wood beneath the guitar is usually sealed with finish. I am days away from starting to apply a finish to a burr walnut pickguard in my challenge build. This one has a 2 crack on the lower right hand corner 5 from the bottom, which is visible in full photos. Burl poplar, burl wood, guitar top electric guitar wood.
Luthier and instructor, robert obrien, shows how to fix hairline cracks in a brazilian rosewood guitar back and then repair the finish. As the two names suggest, these cracks are in the finish paint of the guitar and are caused by extreme changes in temperature. Crack repair guitar blog the official taylor guitars blog. This creates a glassy appearance and allows the fascinating patterns to shine through the varnish. I bought some a while back and it fell apart on me. I wouldnt use lacquer to do the repair because the thinner will also soften the original lacquer finish. Buckeye burl pick up covers gold hardware 34 scale 19mm spacing foderapope custom 3band preamp fodera dual coils 9. Most finish dings arent too concerning, but inspect the ding closely to make sure the impact didnt crack the wood.
1330 909 264 451 833 1270 1366 1117 354 1448 1487 358 1411 1565 415 1002 1538 1514 282 30 1095 925 262 1083 1606 305 835 1193 946 736 1215 176 51 682