Fixing Scratches on Laquer Guitar

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Anyone know the easiest and best way to fix these scratches? Would the super glue and razor blade method work?

_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Jeff told me at one of his excellent seminars that I should first buff down the rough edges of any blemish with a fine, fine piece of sandpaper.

Then, clear finger nail polish could be applied to hold the lacquer in place.

I workd on my 1872 Emmons.

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

I had a marlen D-10 that I sanded lightly with 100 grit paper and steel wool and re-did the clear lacquer. You might get by with a lighter paper (400 grit?).

See http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=245342&highlight=marlen

Here are some specific before and after pics... look at the front below the keyhead area at the huge scuff that was there.

Before

After

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Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it

I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Russ Tkac · Posted 30 Sep 2014 11:39 am

Henry, I worked for 32 years in the piano business. Most piano stores employ or contract a cabinet repair person who has the products and skills to fix or hide most damage. Call a store near you and see if they have a name and contact info to give you.

All the best
Russ

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

For goodness sake, don't use a l00 grit sandpaper! You need to start out with maybe a 600 and work your way to a 2000. One nice thing about lacquer is that the new lacquer blends right in with old. After you give it a few coats of lacquer, lightly resand it and then use some polishing compound for a final finish.

Jan Viljoen · From: Pretoria, South Africa

Yes, I agree with Erv, 100 is way too rough.

Use 600 and then upwards.

Check out this vid how to fix blemishes etc.
It is quite informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVScFJoe24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7GfLLwFg-k

Idea

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Sierra S10, Stage One, Gibson BR4, Framus, Guya 6&8, Hofner lap, Custom mandolins, Keilwerth sax.
Roland Cube 80XL, Peavey112-Valve King and Special, Marshall 100VS.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Thanks guys, Jan, like the method on YouTube so I believe I'll attempt myself to fix them. They aren't that deep so I think that'll work.
_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Jan Viljoen · From: Pretoria, South Africa

Best of luck Henry.

Just work it slowly and methodically and check your progress rather too much than too little.

Go well!

Wink

_________________
Sierra S10, Stage One, Gibson BR4, Framus, Guya 6&8, Hofner lap, Custom mandolins, Keilwerth sax.
Roland Cube 80XL, Peavey112-Valve King and Special, Marshall 100VS.

Clete Ritta · From: San Antonio, Texas

You may notice that many of the higher grit sandpapers (600 to 2000 as Erv recommends) are Wet/Dry. After filling sratches with brush, scrape smooth with a razor, then wet sand with a sanding block. Soak the paper in water with a little dish soap first. This will work into a slurry. Keep wiping clean with a soft cloth and use higher grit as you go. The micro mesh from StewMac are a bit expensive, but definitely worth it since you can reuse them for a long time!

Jerry Kippola · From: UP Michigan, USA

Do not use any sandpaper!!!!!. What u need is some solvent called 'retarder'. U might poss be able to get some from a body shop or wood finisher, as u won't need much. W/ a small artist brush putting the retarder on the scratches it will weld the finish back together and displace air. Done right it will be invisible. This is the stuff, I have used it for years to fix lacquer scratches-----http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Finishing_Supplies/Finishes_and_Solvents/Behlen_Nitrocellulose_Stringed_Instrument_Lacquer/Behlen_Lacquer_Retarder_1_quart.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2014-10-gp&gclid=CN_x9eSgnsECFSyCMgodpSsAFA

Bill C. Buntin · Posted 8 Oct 2014 6:17 pm

I've done it. On several guitars. I first practiced on an old guitar cabinet. The best luck I had was with 1000 cloth. Work up from there then use crocus cloth.

What was tricky for me was learning to apply lacquer. Buffing the cracks was easy. A super fine brush and thinner. I practiced applying and buffing, over and over until it looks seamless.

Find a piece of maple to practice on. My $.02

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Well, I did get it fixed. Tried the YouTube method and made scratches show up more. What I did was sanded down past the scratches, which weren't very deep, and refinished the front apron. I put 5 coats of oil based laguer and worked down and polished with 12,000 grit sandpaper and it came out real good. It matches front of guitar and top perfect. can't even tell really. A lot of work I may add. The littles holes in front were too deep but they are now just barley visible and looks like part of wood now.
What happened to guitar was someone put too long of screws in the lid hinge on the case and that's what damaged guitar.

Thanks everyone for the advice.
_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Now Henry, you know we want to see pictures!

And thanks for letting us know why it happened... bummer!
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it

I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Here are some before and after pics. I'll have to find an MSA emblem somewhere to make it look factory. If you will notice the small black dots, they show from angle I took pic but straight on, you cant see them. Also notice the endplate on before pic, I was able to get 98% of those out to. Just getting guitar back together so haven't got strings on C6th yet. This guitar has an awesome tone, sorta sounds like my old Emmons but not quite as bright.

_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Pat Comeau · From: New Brunswick, Canada

Hi, I've built a few pedal steels from scratch and I make almost every parts except chrome legs,tuner keys and pickups and I've had to do some lacquer repairs on some of them and I've found that you only need to take a small brush like the ones for painting crafts and apply the lacquer to the damage area until it is a little thicker then the surrounding area...after its dry use wet sand paper 400 grit,600, 800, 1000, and go up to 1500 or 2000 wet sand with water and a little of dish soap after buff it with a polish for a mirror finish, you'll probably will have to buff the hole part( front? or back?, top? )for a better job, I would wet sand the scratch area up to 800 grits and continue sanding the hole part up to 2000 grit wet sand.

ps...make sure you use a new piece of sand paper every time you go up grits and also clean the sanding area every time you change grits cause if there's any dirt left...you'll scratch the finish, using a small sponge like 1" x 2" works great...you wrap the sand paper around it and it gives you a little more grip and it keeps the paper wet longer also, and you'll need a bunch of rags to clean it as you go cause the water will drip all over the place.

hope this help
Pat C Smile

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Comeau SD10 4x5, Comeau S10 3x5, Peavey Session 500,Fender Telecaster,Fender Stratocaster, Fender Precision,1978 Ovation Viper electric. Alvarez 4 strings Violin electric.

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Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Good job Henry. Ain't it nice to stand back and say "Yes, I did it!"
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it

I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

How about a repair for blisters in the finish? I rubbed out and polished a body. Looked awesome. Took it out in the sun for a couple decent pics. Went inside and downloaded and checked the pics, two 3/8" blisters had popped up in the Sun. Guess one of the compounds got in through the scratches that were there. You can kinda see the scratches if you zoom in;

And how about this 'un? It's a crack in the lacquer, at the seam. There is age checking all over this guitar. Such as the seams where the marquetry trim is glued in. Woods expand at different rates due to humidity. Lacquer not so much. I had tought of mixing some colored lacquer, and applying it with a very thin artisti's brush. Any ideas?

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Clete Ritta · From: San Antonio, Texas

Larry Carlson · From: My Computer

I remove scratches from my guitars with Meguiars PlastX.
It is a polishing compound for plastics that I have used for years keeping the windshield scratch free on my Harley.
I tried it on my guitars and it works great. I use a damp soft cloth to rub it on and a dry soft cloth to wipe it off.
It has kept my instruments looking new. It won't work on deep scratches but as long as the scratch doesn't go down to the wood it does just fine.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

I have no intention of removing the age-checking. The problem is two blisters that need repair. The age-checking is beautiful. The blisters ain't!

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