Does anyone have any advice on how i could go about repairing this. Theres a special solvent thats used to remove old wax and polish, and id use that on the guitar. Oct 03, 20 cold chills lacquer and can cause crazing, a network of fine cracks in the surface or glaze of the guitar. I played it at the music store for hours over the course of a few weeks and thought i checked everything, but when i got home i realized some little cracks on the binding of the fretboard. How to repair cracks in your acoustic guitar guitar alliance. I used a glue syringe from stewartmacdonald and titebond iii cleans up with water and clamped it for several hours. Regarding its content, nitrocellulose lacquer is mostly solventbased. If they mention them at all, sellers tend to describe them as superficial lacquer cracks. Martin acoustic guitars cracks in tops the unofficial. Never expose your instrument to extreme temperatures for long periods of time. For example, good luck finding a stratocaster in any of their metallic finishes blizzard pearl or inca silver that doesnt have hairline finish cracks around the neck pocket.
Checking cracking a nitro guitar finish nitrocellulose. The ebony bridge is a replacement, and very slightly oversized 6 332 long, bridge tips 1 332 wide. As an instruments wood expands and contracts with moisture content stress is placed on the finish. It says your style is flamboyant or that its laidback.
Make a holder for the neck that holds it horizontal, less runssagging that way. As the example from jpmist shows, these kinds of cracks can indicate serious problems such as cracks in the wood or misaligned neck pockets. Feb 23, 2017 stewmac visited mamie minch and chloe swantner at brooklyn lutherie. How to create lacquer checking on a guitar our pastimes. At some point, the neck was over sprayed with tinted lacquer which has further reduced the useable height of the already worn frets. Lacquer can then settle into the wood grain and undergo changes. Id say it has been subjected to extremes of temperature and humidity. Blend new lacquer into old lacquer with flash coats youtube. Any problem leaving the neck and back lacquered and the top tru oiled.
This is an extremely common, somewhat expected condition on older instruments with lacquer finishes. When repairing lacquer finishes a new lacquer fill is placed in the finish crack. This 1956 strat neck needed a new finish on the fretboard, and it had to. Refretting this neck will give me the chance to address all of these issues. If the neck only flexes like a normal whippy neck sg, and the crack doesnt get wider when you flex it, then your guitar is likely fine and playable and maybe a factory authorized luthier could rub the crack out for you, at gibsons expense.
Are the sides of the crack level or is one slightly higher than the other. Neck has been professionally reset and it was recently refretted. A professional refinish requires neck, bridge and pickguard removal. The thinner will emulsify the surface and the defects should disappear when it hardens again. If you were to hold the guitar in playing position. Anyway, does anybody have any suggestions on repairing the cracks. Get the technique down before application to the guitar. All posts 1 day 7 days 2 weeks 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year sort by author post time subject ascending descending. How to refinish a guitar with nitrocellulose lacquer. Fixing crack in the lacquer the steel guitar forum. It too will shrink back, so i repeat this dropfill several times over two days using a smaller drop of lacquer each time. In that way i can have a nice little museum even if the instruments have been sold. Before even getting a neck on it, a slight hair of a crack appeared in the finish.
Sometimes what looks like a crack in the wood is actually just a crack in the guitar s finish. Repairing cracks in acoustic guitars examples of cracks. I want to spray a light tint on the neck to give it a slightly aged appearance. I had a 1993 l5 reissue for 2 days that had cracking all over the lacquer on the binding. Wood satin can also be used to give a guitar body a flat. This lacquer fill will begin to shrink almost immediately and a small depression is likely to appear, even after weeks of patient waiting.
Two coats may be required but judge best in your own case, how you wish the guitar to look. The wide cracks appear as the coating is drying and happens when it is applied too heavily or the solvents flash off too quickly. Personally i would have expected a small amount but this seems excessive. I recently got back from a gig and was shocked to discover a gouge had been knocked out of the edge of the neck of my sunburst strat. The nitrocellulose and acrylic components themselves act as binding agents in the paint that then need to be mixed in solvent in order to be sprayed properly onto a guitar, or indeed a car. Its a good look, created in nitrocellulose lacquer instead of the hard plastic coating thats on. They have changed the cases and the problem is now gone.
I wish it had a fender sunburst, he says, meaning the threecolor burst of so many 1960s fenders. My current theory is someone must have hit the neck with something when the guitar was on its stand it was a small stage. All internal bracing is original including the maple bridge plate. Fixing a cracked gibson neck silesia guitars guitar. Two 60s lake placid blue jazzmasters but the left guitar has a nitro top coat, which has yellowed over time. Advice for nonluthier, repairing a crack in a maple electric. I dont know what ratio lacquer to lacquer thinner, i thin just a tiny bit.
When that happens, the wood expands at rates different than does the lacquer, and thats how nitro usually cracks. The neck was cracked in several places, and the more cracks, the harder it is to put together. The main causes of cracks in your guitar s body are low humidity and physical impact to the instrument. Removing scratches from guitar finishes lacquer repair. Theres a specialty finish called crackle lacquer thats designed to produce cracks for the visual effect. Ebmm had found that the problem was mostly from an overly perfectly fitted guitar case. It very well could be a defect in the mixture of lacquer from the factory. As the wood changes, you may notice lower action on the neck, sharpened fret ends, a concave appearance on the face of the guitar, grainy ridges in the wood and even cracks on the instrument. It was a mirror image on both the bass and the treble sides, so it opened like a hinge across the width of the neck. The only reason to go to that hassle is if the instrument is otherwise everything that you wanted. The expanding and contracting causes the the finish to crack.
Im no expert on these things, so maybe other can chime in with opinions as well. Then we rebind the guitar with authentic royalite binding. John levan has written five guitar repair books published by mel bay. I sprayed it outside at the time the humidity was pretty low, probably high 20s. By powerbreak, january 30, 2019 in gibson repair and restoration. We hand mix the same aniline dyes gibson used in the 1950s. The neck seemed fine at first, cleaned fret ends slightly, frets seemed level, however it took me awhile to make a jig to make my own body and finish the body and neck. It also had a twisted neck so who knows what kind of torture it saw.
Lacquer crack means that there is break in bruchs membrane it is a significant finding as you are at risk of getting cnvm choroidal neovascular membranes, which means new blood vessels will start forming. This video i go over the cracks with 1500 grit sandpaper and smooth. Because of the size of the guitar the bridge still looks small. Slight cracks in fretboard binding gibson custom gibson. Essentially, the lacquer alongside both sides of the crack is dissolved or melted into the surrounding plate. Frets are in great condition, neck has only a few hours of playing time on it. Either there is a crack in the wood, or, more likely, the neck was. If one is slightly higher than the other as it was on a mahogany guitar i looked at recently then theres likely the wood is cracked and there may be problems. We start by removing the factory abs cream binding. Once the strings were off, it was obvious that it was a lot more than the lacquer. A repair magnet in the bottom of the cup holds it to the metal lacquer can so it wont spill. Within an hour the perfectlooking drop of lacquer had shrunk sinking in the center, so its mounding up at the edges.
Guitars here i am going to show instruments that i have owned or maybe still own as well as instruments owned by friends. How to stop a lacquer crack from spreading on a guitar. These parts are not masked around as finish would pool at the edges and look unprofessional. The neck had to be properly prepped any debris and slivers that were in the way of the pieces closing back together had to be removed. How to repair a lacquer finish home guides sf gate. Theres also a special additive that allows you to shoot over a silicone polish, and id get that and add it to my mix, cause someone might have used turtle wax or something like that, and plain lacquer wont work properly over a silicone polish. Also guitar straps, stands, or wall hangers made from vinyl, plastic, synthetic, or surgical rubber tubing will react with lacquer and can mar the finish. In some ways it gives the guitar character, in other ways it makes it look shoddy. The best prevention for clearcoat cracks in my opinion is to keep you guitar in a stable environment about 70 degrees and 40% humidity. One of the most common instances is actually not a crack at all, but a centerseam separation. My theory is that it has a lot to do with the shape of the guitar at that point. Gibson nitrocellulose lacquer cracking problems rob. Poly can be repaired but it takes a special skill set that you are unlikely to achieve in a diy capacity.
The traditional way to mask that repair is to fill the remaining finish cracks with ca to seal them, sand the crack area to a smooth surface and spray a semi solid colour matching the neck colour on the repair, feathering out to the neck and headstock, like a burst. I reattached my paint stick to the neck pocket to hold the body in a vice as i started checking the lacquer. Hofner colorama ii restoration project part 2 removing the. If you notice any of these red flags, take your guitar to a music shop or a luthier who can help to repair your instrument and prevent further damage. After dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt look to good. The expansion and contraction of the lacquer or urethane finish is faster or slower than the. This twisted and warped maple neck has a thick factory finish sprayed over the frets and fretboard. Classic series 50s stratocaster neck with lacquer finish, soft v shape maple fingerboard crafted at the ensenada, mexico manufacturing facility, this genuine vintagestyle fender stratocaster guitar neck features a comfortable soft v profile and 7. This usually happens when the guitar is allowed to dry out, causing the two halves of the top to come unglued at the center seam.
Checking will vary according to the extremes the instrument has been through. Advice for nonluthier, repairing a crack in a maple. If you glue your eyelids shut, id go easy on the acetone and maybe seek pro help. How to stop a lacquer crack from spreading on a guitar finish. A nitrocellulose lacquer also wears away over time, causing dulling in areas where you make regular contact with your guitar. John also authored pgs guitar shop 101 column, hosted several pg diy videos, and is an authorized warranty technician trainer for taylor guitars. As i brush new lacquer into the area, the solvent in it melts the leading edge of the surrounding finish. It can be resurfaced and buffed over real nicely too. On a setneck guitar like gibson or epi sure i agree, a stress crack around the neck heel is cause for worry. All in good condition better than expected for a guitar nearly 20 yrs old. When repairing cracks it is usually a two part process. Nitrocellulose also yellows with time, especially when exposed to excessive sunlight. Spray the paint evenly along the length of the neck, again keeping it smooth to avoid dripping.
Has anyone sprayed their own necks with nitro lacquer. Though i would agree that most cases of lacquer checking seems to happen due to abrupt temperature changes, most notably when a cold guitar is taken into a warm environment. Most of the worst and hardesttorepair cracks happen on a guitar s top. It is an expensive and invasive repair, but in the right hands it is a procedure that can breathe new life into an old, tired guitar. My experience is that thick applications are prone to checking. The finish isnt entirely lacquer, you have a thick basecoat. Still, had i known the paint cracks were that severe, i doubt i would have driven 30 miles to meet the guy. I doubt the wood is cracked, thats a stress line crack and are normal on strats. They were also really long, following the grain of the wood. I find that many repair shops to recommend resets all to quickly as if it is the answer to all problems. I poured a nickelsized drop of lacquer onto the bottom of a plastic dairy carton, and let it sit for an hour to thicken.
Ive been looking on ebay getting some idea as to what used martins are on the market are selling for and ive been noticing quite a few of these older examples seem to have cracks in the wood and im not referring to the lacquer checking but in the wood itself and some of these guitars are just a few years old. How to prevent a crack in the lacquer on the top of a guitar from. Get an big old brush, dip it into the paint remover solution and smear the solution over your body or neck. Many would say this is due to improper maintenance of the guitar. In this article, we compare the two main types of guitar finish that. This shortish video looks at neck pocket cracks the scourge of just about all boltnecked guitars bought online. Its very common with bolt on necks and is probably a crack in the finish, even if its in the wood, its not a big deal. When stripping the neck, cover the entire fretboard with masking tape. Minor cracks are one thing, serious cracks like this are different. A short tutorial showing how to get that cracking checking effect on a nitrocellulose guitar finish. The original neck has a 20 mm deep crack across the headstock glue joint, through the lacquer. It gives the instrument a big part of its character and its soul.
A friend of mine has a peavey wolfgang and i love the feel of that neck so i thought maybe i can achieve a similar effect by removing the lacquer on my guitar necks. Breaking and shattering tends to be more a symptom of aging polyurethane finish rather than actual lacquer, and would fit with the guitar neck having been made in the 1980s. Any more will be too thick, any less may not flow out to a smooth surface. So if you have one, its most likely an older guitar with an older case. Apart from the above, small cracks can appear in a nitro finish after several years too. Once everything is dry, reattach the neck, fastening the bolts correctly. Starting at the nut slot, the crack ran at an angle down to the 2nd fret. I bought a mid90s telecaster from a friend and it has a hole and cracks in the lacquer on the back of the neck, as shown in the image below. Every acoustic guitar and many electrics, at some point in its life will need a neck reset.
Checking develops naturally on nitrocellulose lacquer finishes over a tough rock n roll history, and although it takes years, the process can be artificially accelerated. Fender strat maple fretboard refinish and refret finger lakes. I repaired what looked like a lacquer crack on an epi les paul neck last night. Most of the worst and hardesttorepair cracks happen on a guitars top. When spraying, do so in light that allows you to see the reflected surface. I did the body at the same time using gloss and had no problems with that. Leaving your guitar in a car on a frosty night or on a blazing hot day is a surefire way to completely destroy your instrument. Wait 10 days to 3 weeks for the lacquer to cure, sand back and buff. Reinstall all of the hardware including tuning heads, pickups, knobs, cord jack and strings.
Dan teaches you how to blend new lacquer with old lacquer. The last thing you want are streaks to dry over the lacquer, marring your otherwise nicely finished guitar. This neck is very straight and sets up with low action. There is excessive cracking in the nitrocellulose finish on the headstock and neck. The spare neck i have been able to find has a 50 mm deep crack at the bolton neck joint, and is from 1982. This will leave a very small hole in the lacquer that can be filled with a touch of clear enamel. Mamie shared this great tip for making scratches disappear, while renowned guitar photographer john peden shot closeup photos. The thin, watery superglue will fill cracks in lacquer pretty well. If theyre level then its probably just a finish crack. The previous ownner of the guitar let the fingerboard get too dry likely in the wintertime and the fingerboard shrunk.
The neck is maple, has a rosewood fretboard, black binding and clear nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Sand the neck with fine grade sandpaper once the primer has thoroughly dried. Nov 26, 2011 i just purchased a gibson es7 custom, built in 2010. The neck on this vintage hofner colorama ii is going to get tackled before we deal with the guitars other issues. It was clean inside and the break ran with the grain, so it. You cannot feel the cracks when playing and the guitar is still a dream to play. If they mention them at all, sellers tend to describe them as superficial. Dont forget that acetone nail polish remover is your best remedy for getting your fingers unstuck with crazyglue. 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.
Geoff, the owner of this fender jazz bass, says it plays fine but i dont really like the color. Spray a wet coat of pure lacquer thinner on a surface that has cracks, orange peel or roughness. A used epiphone that im interested in buying has lacquer cracks on both sides of. As already posted, the finish checking comes from sudden changes in temperature and humidity by the wood in your guitar. The gouge was about 316 x 18 and was deep enough to make it to the maple of the neck. Its a patch of lacquer that was chipped off the back of a martin guitar neck. Personally, i think it looks pretty coolit gives the guitar character. Im very careful to let my guitars acclamate to the ambient temperature in the room where im about to play. I put a small amount of acetone into a plastic mixing cup.
Lacquer is also reactive to chemical contact such as silicone guitar polishes. Nitrocellulose lacquer yellows and cracks as it ages, an effect seen on many vintage instruments ultra thin finish allows the guitar to resonate for a classic tone available in aerosol spray cans, a touchup pot for repairs, and in tins for use in spray guns and hvlp kits. One option that has worked for me is to use a very fine soldering tip at the end of the crack in the direction it is going. The day after all coats were on the neck the weather turned to rain so humidity went. The lacquer has checked all over, but the neck is the most severely affected, with the finish actually beginning to lift and fall off. Any way to repair lacquer crazing on fresh lacquer. We use the same material that gibson used on their guitars in the 1950s and 1960s. A 1969 neck would have been finished in polyurethane which doesnt yellow much so i dont want to add too much colour. Low humidity causes the wood to shrinkwe see a lot of these types of cracks in my minneapolis shop during the dry winter months. The cure for this type of cracking is to sand it back and recoat as soon as its dry enough. I always like to get myself a shallow carton box in which i can lie the body or neck.
Wet sandingcracked lacquer inlays and finishing chat. In response to those of you who have asked for a finish that feels less like polished lacquer and more like natural wood, wood satin clear nitrocellulose is now available. Most often, this will be caused by the finish reacting to extreme cold or rapid changes in temperature, resulting in whats generally referred to as checking, a weblike spread of damage many modern polyesterbased finishes are immune to this damage, but nitrocellulose lacquer can be very sensitive in this regard. I have a strat that i stupidly put a neck on where the heel was too wide and it put a good size crack into the wood, but with the right size neck on its not a problem and doesnt affect the guitar really.
You score the crack, apply an amalgamation medium, allow to dry, spot fill the crack with a bead of lacquer, allow that to dry major curing time involved at this step like a month or more, sand to level, then buff. Guitar relicing makes new guitars look old and worn, and checking is when the instruments clear lacquer coat cracks. It will work over neck amber and unlike tung oil will protect the neck from from warping due to moisture absorption. The fingerboard pulled away from the sides of the neck and cracked the paint and lacquer. Fender classic series 50s stratocaster neck with lacquer. Like the final fret dressing, the finetuning of the nut will be done once the neck has been sprayed with lacquer. A guitar s look is a major part of the statement that guitarists make to the world about themselves.