At worst, its a minor scratch, but to me it looks like finish checking from the photo. I fixed the crack by fill in hhg then clamp it standard procedure. Finish crack question gibson acoustic gibson brands forums. Nitro pro, the complete adobe acrobat alternative, enables you to do more with pdf through powerful tools to create, convert, edit, combine, secure, annotate, formfill, and save 100%. Finish repair techniques are purely dependent on the nature of the damage. Overall, nitro pro gives you a powerful set of easytouse tools that make working with digital documents simple, straightforward, and more cost effective. Besides using thickened lacquer, you can also put a fan on the area to speed up the process.
You cant put lacquer over enamel or other materials because the thinner in lacquer will attack most other finishes except epoxy. Both polyester and nitro cellulose take about the same. On a solid color nitro finish, this can be a rather easy and painless process. Most always it will crack from the edge in word so you dont want to put your finish on to heavy in those areas bill. I would think twice about trying to repair that ding. After dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt look to good. Fortunately, plastic can be repaired with acrylic solvent. The longest crack should not be in an area of high stress from the strings. The cheeks on this remington had been pinned and the wristhead partially broken through.
After dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt look. I tend to use the term finish checking but most people outside of the industry dont understand what that means. You can find everything you need to know about cracking here. A demonstration of the proper technique for repairing a nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
Plastic windshields are extremely durable and less susceptible to breaking than glass windshields. How to repair a lacquer finish home guides sf gate. That infamous nitro nitrocellulose haze on strat and les paul guitars haze, residue, and fog so common with nitrocellulose instruments like many fender strat and gibson les paul guitars is normally very resistant to cleaning due to years of playing. Jul 27, 2017 after dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt look to good. Glazes and waxes attempt to fill scratches and claim to make them less noticeable. I got an acoustic guitar that fell on the carpet floor and the headstock got a crack. Nitrocellulose laquer finish repair the unofficial martin. Even if the crack is well aligned when glued, the chipped finish at the crack will be visible. Overall, its a nice guitar, but it has a finish problem on the lower bout, top side. If the scratch is too deep for safe leveling, then you can wet sand partially, and then spot spray or dropfill the scratch area, building it up enough to redo that area as before, with spot leveling and buffing. Im sure there are lots of ways to fix this as it must be a pretty common occurance. Advice neededfilling neck dings telecaster guitar forum. John also authored pgs guitar shop 101 column, hosted several pg diy videos, and is an authorized warranty technician trainer for taylor guitars. If its not cracked on the opposite side and you get no movement out of it i would leave it alone and just keep my eye on it for a while.
Id already got some aged white blonde nitro to repair it with and its a perfect color match. When its just finish checking the most common cause is a sudden. The vintage head stocks were silk screened on top of the finish also. Normally cracks like that in that area would mean a crack in the wood or at least has been stressed enough to crack the finish. For this reason, the lacquer used to fill a chip or crack can continue shrinking weeks after a nearly invisible repair. Compressor in good working order and drained once or twice daily and pressure regulator controls, and moisture trap installed in the air line as close. You can fix a guitar poly finish in a few different ways depending on the nature of the problem at hand. Fretspagesluthiertechniquefinishlacquercheckrepaircheckfill. I buffed out the edges of the spot and blended some artist acrylics to match the color and applied.
John levan has written five guitar repair books published by mel bay. To repair blushing, you have to resoften the surface so the water can evaporate, at the same time controlling humidity or drying time so the. Leave the guitar outside in subzero temperatures in your car overnight. Fixing crack in the lacquer the steel guitar forum. Id think youd be able to sand that spot to eliminate that check, and then reshoot the nitro. I start with 400grit frecut gold sandpaper, then work my way through 600, and 800grit.
Another myth is that nitro is more labor intensive and takes longer to dry. 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. Looks like meaningless finish checking to me that occurs with nitro finish guitars. Nitro pro crack updated the print dialog with the new design to help reduce printing. Oct 21, 2009 filling the crack is a repetitive exercise with the fill spot still being apparent as a dull lack lust spot on the finish at best. I wouldnt use lacquer to do the repair because the thinner will also soften the original lacquer finish. Its a pretty big section and i can see in the photo that theres more spider. It doesnt seem like there are any cracks in the wood itself, just the.
Blend new lacquer into old lacquer with flash coats youtube. Mamie shared this great tip for making scratches disappear, while renowned guitar photographer john peden shot closeup photos. In many ways this is the best of both worlds no paint at all to impact the tone and no cracking issues. I also have a gibson flying v faded, which has a natural finish instead of a nitrocellulose lacquer. Checking will vary according to the extremes the instrument has been through. This martin d35 has a cracked top due to the pull of a. The head was repaired and the stock was refinished to retain all signs of age and damaged. As an instruments wood expands and contracts with moisture content stress is placed on the finish. The first step in making a repair is to clean the surface with mineral spirits. I buffed out the edges of the spot and blended some artist acrylics to match the color and applied it to the bare spot and the color came out spot on to the color of the nitro thats awesome.
Once again, nitro doesnt ever dry as it starts thinning the moment it is applied. A properly matched spray gun needle, nozzle, and spray cap in good working order. Some guitar finishes like nitrocellulous lacquer naturally yellow over time. May 21, 2019 the kind of issues that we all experience with a nitro cellulose finish on a guitar are generally thus. Some of us like to open the case to a clean guitar. However, when drop filling lacquer and other finishes, the fill normally shrinks with time and a dip is still seen even after a spotless repair. Gibson nitrocellulose lacquer cracking problems rob. Choose a lacquer repair kit which contains the substances that you can use to fill the cracks in the lacquer. Feb 07, 20 you can fix a guitar poly finish in a few different ways depending on the nature of the problem at hand.
Nitro pro 11 crack latest version is a very useful application to create or edit in pdf format files. Finish repairs on this type finish are very difficult to successfully pull off. Drop filling a scratch, leveling the fill with the surface and then buffing the instrument is another technique. Now that you have a clean and scratch free finish you can concentrate on filling the cracks. The nail polish worked fine and blended right in with the existing finish. However my problem is matching the sheen because the nitro on the guitar is like a satin and the acyrlic is dead flat. The way to get it to check faster is obviously to get the wood and finish to move suddenly through drastic heatcold changes, wood and lacquer having different coefficients, the brittle finish will crack. Dan erlewine had a tutorial in bass player magazine showing the steps for making a bass fretless and coating the finger board with cyanoacrylate super glue, for a superior, durable finish. A spot repair with a color thats off by even just a little will look like a spot repair. To learn more about johns repair and restoration workshops for players.
I have a 10yrold nitrofinished guitar wa very, very fine crack in the finish along the center seam under the bridge. Checking cracking a nitro guitar finish nitrocellulose relic tutorial. Checking in a finish that is less than 20 years old is most likely due to cold shock. But remember, you have to do this quickly or otherwise the swab can stick to the glue. Removing scratches from guitar finishes lacquer repair. The brief was merely a surf green finish with medium distress and lots of lacquer checking. Most simple scratches can be wet sanded out to relevel the area, and then the finish rebuffed to gloss. Sorry i cant remember the month or cover of the mag, just remember the article. Dan teaches you how to blend new lacquer with old lacquer using a flash coat for a nice near. Using lacquer, thinner, and retarder i did a touch up to the areas with missing finish. How to make the crack disappear mandolin cafe forum. Long story short, i just sanded down to the repair area, maybe a little below, and reshot the nitro recently and its seems to have blended in really well. Apply this paste into the cracks and gently smooth it down.
May 16, 2009 ed it is not that hard to fix the cracks in the finish any ways. At worst, its a minor scratch, but to me it looks like finish checking. It varied from 1 to 2 millimeters wide, and only went down to the wood at one small spot. A short tutorial showing how to get that cracking checking effect on a nitrocellulose guitar finish. Sticky or milky effect on the body tide mark on body of the guitar where your arm sits. I decided to fill a large buckle scar on my latest banjo. But if you think your getting to much finsh on just sand it a little more be for you buff it up. On gloss ive had good luck with ca filling and buffing but on satin you can either buff the whole thing, or fill level sand the neck smooth and spray thin coat of satin over whole neck.
Unlike glass windshields, the majority of plastic windshields are safe when put under stress. Essentially, the lacquer alongside both sides of the crack is dissolved or melted into the surrounding plate. Nitro finish paint chip repair questions page 2 fender. The kind of issues that we all experience with a nitro cellulose finish on a guitar are generally thus. This pre mixed formula spreads easily for fast, professional repairs. It came out nice and level, and apart from color, it was just the same as the original finish. You score the crack, apply an amalgamation medium, allow to dry, spot fill the crack with a.
Nitro is a much thinner finish than poly and it doesnt clog the wood pores. In my opinion the best thing about nitrocellulose lacquer is that it is an evaporative finish. The nitro confirmed by martin is chipping and flaking away. The gash was on the bottom edge of the resonator, about one inch long. Nitro pro 11 serial number can perform editing pdf files very accurately. The body was a swamp ash tstyle finished with clear cellulose. Lacquer finishing trouble shooting guide wood finish supply. But, finding a replacement plastic windshield can be difficult. However, you can put enamel over lacquer without it attacking the lacquer. On my gibsons such finish checking comes and goes depending on the environment. This is an extremely common, somewhat expected condition on older instruments with lacquer finishes. May 28, 2008 as a former quality control person at tml, i can tell you straight out that the finish on this guitar is poly, not nitro. For example, when touching up the finish on a guitar, make sure that area of the guitar is level.
This version is having following updates and improvements. 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. I have done many, many finish touchups with ca, but imho, lacquer is the preferred method to repair nitro. Flake off the broken finish, fill and level, shoot new finish, wet sand, polish, and buff it out. I have an applause ae28 electricacoustic guitar that plays pretty well, but doesnt look so great. Crack patch spackling provides superior performance for filling dents, holes and cracks in surfaces such as drywall, plaster, wood, stucco, brick and stone. This will leave a very small hole in the lacquer that can be filled with a touch of clear enamel. Dec 09, 2014 essentially, the lacquer alongside both sides of the crack is dissolved or melted into the surrounding plate.
Nitro has remained a popular finish for acoustic instruments for many years because the thinness of the finish is thought to be desirable in that theres less to get in the way of the wood vibrations. Overall, thats a sweet looking guitar, bro check that yellowish nitro finish of your neck you should be concerned if you crack the body, but bumps and chips give your guitar some history and attitude. Aug 14, 2011 this sample shows a finish that is marred by checking. How to repair acoustic guitar finish guitar repair bench.
A demonstration of the proper technique for repairing a nitrocellulose lacquer finish using the behlen lacquer repair kit. Created 15 years ago by steve curtis, the guitar repair. Nitrocellulose laquer finish repair the unofficial. The finish had kind of softened and you could peel it away. Not sure if i should be posting this here or in dyi, but here goes. There are a couple of cracks in the thick plasticy finish. What is the best way to identify if a gibson custom.
Some companies are putting a layer of nitro over the poly finishes to try and fool the end consumer or maybe to. It also enables you to perform dropfill repairs to chips and polish out superficial scratches. Each strip is pulled across the fill once or twice. While im not opposed to accumulating some mojo on this guitar, id also be up for some. In this episode ben answers a viewers question on how to repair a dent or possible crack in a guitars lacquer. Dude, we all tend to lose our minds with little bumps or buckle rash or those chips. It helps you to create, edit and modify pdf files very quickly.
The cheeks were taken down and veneered with new wood to cover the old pin. The guitar repair workshop is an inhouse repair, upgrade and restoration facility located within one of europes largest music stores. I put a scratchcrack through the lacquer finish of my johnson jo27 with a bridge pin puller. With a small artists brush, i place a drop of acetone on the dent to soften it and prepare it to accept a drop of lacquer. Nitro is also more prone to fine scratches as its a softer clearcoat. Sep 16, 2017 looks like meaningless finish checking to me that occurs with nitro finish guitars. If i were to buy another gibson id seriously think about getting a natural finish for that reason.
Gummy feel to the back of the neck hand finger prints that wont clean off. This sample shows a finish that is marred by checking. Stewmac visited mamie minch and chloe swantner at brooklyn lutherie. Regarding the sunburst finish, repair is more complex or not. Nitrocellulose laquer finish repair nitrocellulose laquer finish repair. Filling the crack is a repetitive exercise with the fill spot still being apparent as a dull lack lust spot on the finish at best. Dec, 2010 i did a finish repair on a d35 that looked similar, a large area of missing finish on the side and top where your arm lays on the guitar. Always have a cotton swab in your hand, ready to remove excess glue. Mar 04, 20 i also have a gibson flying v faded, which has a natural finish instead of a nitrocellulose lacquer. So if youre looking to do a spot repair then youve done it correctly by matching the. Lacquer is very high in solvents and as a result it shrinks quite a bit. Weve watched dan erlewine repair this 1930s kay over the previous 3 trade secrets. Add to this the problem of fixing blemishes in metallic paint. Nitrocellulose yellows and cracks more also called finish checking than polyurethane and polyester finishes.
This will fill the gaps but it will always be slightly visible. One of the more common issues with nitro finishes is residue from oils and acids in our hands will react or stick to the surface of the nitrocellulose. The only downside is the amount of time required for the lacquer to completely cure. Before we go on to learn about finish repairs, i urge you to think twice before. A thin acrylic lacquer finish will be basically indistinguishable from nitro, except that it wont yellow and crack over time. With all of the talk about intentional checking, i wanted to pass along a trick that. How to repair water damage to lacquer finish home guides. If it were a silk screen there wouldnt be a problem because it wouldnt crack. Its just a matter of scale their finish is a thousand times thicker than mine.
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. Fix a guitar poly finish with help from an experienced guitar builder and repair technician. You can add a comment or watermark to the pdf file that you want to edit it. Its a patch of lacquer that was chipped off the back of a martin guitar neck. Repeated fillingleveling of the area works as well, it just takes longer. If its tilted, the glue will run to the lowest spot and create a mess. No light or naptha will penetrate the crack, and it is very tiny. Almost anyone with a nitro finish on a gibson les paul or fender usa strat will recognize this telltale fog and haze, usually on the upper part of the guitar where your arm rests, and it can be felt on top of the finish as a nonglossy residue this is different from nitro that fogs from environmental moisture and age. Restoring checked and crazed finishes woodworking network. However, nitrocellulose lacquer is tougher and more scratch resistant. However, nitrocellulose lacquer dries slowly compared to modern finishes and its. A repair magnet in the bottom of the cup holds it to the metal lacquer can so it wont spill. Depending on the view angle, the crack is more or less visible. I was impressed with the quality of their job, too.
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