Failed? DIY Guitar dent

CoolCat

CoolCat

Well-known member
it reminds me of old sayings..."eye of the beholder" and "theres no accounting for taste"

its complex too, because one is doing it DIY to save money obviously or mistakenly, as I did, think it would be fun or easy.
then as the cost creeps upward in DIY its faced with "paying a pro" but then what if it came back like this, from a pro? like a shitMix or laughable Mastering job ....some youtubes the dude has a very poor end result. Then as expertise RFR mentions some of the perfection might be near "impossible" due to different layers and materials used.

then someone said upthread "just get a new body!!" lol and its crazy but how far is the chipped wood going to bother someone?

I had a buddy whose super ocd and had some high end guitar and as he pulled it from the case the poorly designed lid fell and put a ding in the front of his guitar, I think it was some $4500 PRS, or a Martin but anyway....

at what point does one say Fit! and move on? :guitar:

This little DIY does make me respect more the work and time this stuff takes, and to have a super OCD customer would be impossible probably a major PITA.
 
R

RFR

Well-known member
CoolCat said:
This little DIY does make me respect more the work and time this stuff takes, and to have a super OCD customer would be impossible probably a major PITA.
Click to expand...
In a ‘modern’ finish, doing any kind of repair leaves ‘witness lines’ due to being unable to melt into the existing finish.

The key here is total honesty and transparency with the client on the fact that it’s never going to be perfect.

With the vintage crowd it’s just as bad maybe even worse regarding OCD.

With nitrocellulose lacquer being able to melt into itself, one can do a finish repair that to the naked eye looks perfect.......

But under a black light the repair is obvious. 😂

New lacquer looks different under a black light than the 50 year old finish despite being the same formula.

Many buying an expensive vintage instruments will first have it black-lighted to make sure it has no repairs.

OCD world for sure 😂
 
CoolCat

CoolCat

Well-known member
I did a small car repair , some old dude rear ended me, and it came out really nice, spray painted and installed DIY..
(..it saved several hundreds of dollars per the body shop)

but........... there was a small gap and I thought!! I have that Black glue crap! :facepalm:
and I got out the Starbond Black glue and dropped a little in and it ran and it reminded how long it takes to dry.....and it was starting to make
this project go bad. So the STARBOND went into the garbage. It takes waaay too long to dry compared to other options and its runny and easily a mess to clean up. (The Black Enamel TESTORS paint was also a bust as it took 24-72hrs to cure/dry and theres better things to try...total mistake.)

I'll keep searching for something for one last try on the guitar body....Super High Gloss Black, that drys fast, thats thicker and can be applied with the tip of a toothpick or pin.
I'll be out approx $45 when this is all done. To date Nail Polish seems to be the top choice....any inputs appreciated on this idea!

ADD: After watching a few more youtubes, I think the best bet for this would have been
STEP 1: clean it and STAIN the raw wood
STEP2: do the rest...however....and not expect "perfection" results. The majority all seem to agree with RFR that the repair will always be visible under a magnifying glass etc... unless a full new body strip,repaint is done. Whether then using Clear Super Glue or Laquer or Finger Nail polish...I dont know.

wow...I spoke to my buddy who I thought had done this type work and he said "no it didnt look good" and sent it back to the Taylor factory and they fixed it like brand new, "10" but it cost $$ (i didnt ask). his got hit from the guitar case lid falling down as he removed the new guitar and bam! dent on the front of his brand new Taylor.
 

Attachments

  • CAR LATCH.png
    CAR LATCH.png
    95.1 KB · Views: 6
Last edited:
dogooder

dogooder

Well-known member
CoolCat said:
Im watching a video where they used finger nail polish, instant dry....anyone used that?
Click to expand...
The head tech for Spector bass guitars told me to use nail polish. He said it works great and you can find just about any color.
 
dogooder

dogooder

Well-known member
My cheap Chinese favorite guitar was dropped once. It has a good sized "dent" in it. I am wondering what it is made of
because it certainly doesn't look like wood? It is in this guitar. I will try and get a good picture of the dent.aston2.jpg
 
Last edited:
TalismanRich

TalismanRich

Well-known member
A lot of cheaper guitars with fancy tops are actually printed laminates. They can do some amazing things with printing these day. My cheapo Peavey bass has a top with a fancy printed birdseye pattern.

When I redid my bathroom, we used ceramic tile with a printed marble pattern. It looks very good, and has held up.
 
S

sonusman 2019

Member
I have done many of these super glue repairs. It might have been better to try a few on a lesser guitar to get the techniques down before tackling a more expensive guitar. I started on a Squire Strat I had.

I don't use colored superglue. They don't cure hard (as you found out) like the regular clear stuff does.

I would apply several drops until it was well overfilled. Then, started with 500grit strip to work down. Just a few pulls over the spot. They to 800grit. Again, 2 or 3 pulls. Then 1000. 1200. 1500. 2000. 3000. Then a rubbing compound around the area. Then a special scratch remover. Worked very well every time. Patience is your friend.

I was going to offer a service to fix these kinds of dings, but discovered that most players are NOT willing to pay fair market value for the work (literally, $100 for the first ding. Call is maybe $30-40 for each additional on the same instrument). Glad I learned it, but gave up trying to pimp the service.
 
E

ecc83

Well-known member
Unless you intend to sell a guitar I would not bother to 'touch up' minor knocks and dents. "Battle scars" if you will! Not as though it's a car that will rust!

Splits need to be addressed of course and you can buy "F" clamps in various sizes quite cheaply around here from 'Rock Bottom' type shops. Not super strong pro tools but then you are not trying to fix a boat!

And yes, PVA 'white' glue for wood.

Dave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top