Refinishing a guitar top crack

Allow this coat to dry thoroughly before applying a clear coat of sealant. The finish provides complete protection against beer, wine, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk. Ive decided that i really like a guitar that shows wear. Stewmac has everything you need to set up, repair or build guitars. Most of the worst and hardesttorepair cracks happen on a guitar s top. Professional guitar and bass refinishing at pace guitar repair. This will ensure good even clamping pressure along the entire length of the crack. 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. Back then, he began taking parts from one guitar and putting them on another until he had one he could play.

Refinishing wood like a pro refinishing wood may seem simple. Stripping and refinishing the entire panel to render an invisible repair on a small crack would be overkill to say the least. How to refinish a guitar with nitrocellulose lacquer. Marty bell finishing premier guitar finishing about. It doesnt matter if youre a celebrity or a starving artist, i treat every guitar the same. After dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt. There are a couple of cracks in the thick plasticy finish.

That means a white guitar may eventually turn yellow and, since blue and yellow make green, older blue instruments can eventually turn green. Acoustic guitar top crack repair continued, leveling and buffing. You must sand with the grain in the same direction. The cauls are lined with cork to protect the finish. Refinish your guitar by first applying your choice of wood stain. Most people see the damage and defeat of a onceloved instrument. We work exclusively with nitrocellulose lacquer as the clear coat over any color coat or stain, sometimes using compatible acrylics for color coats, but always nitro for the top. Soho guitar is owned by rob meigel, who has built and refurbished guitars since he was a teenager. Cant tell yet if this is true in my case, but it does sound good, even with a few small cracks in the top. Depending on the crack, finish repair may not be advisable or necessary. The width or length of a wood crack doesnt affect whether it should be repaired or not, because even a small crack can run and get biggerget. What to do if you break your guitars neck guitarless.

These tools are for repairing stubborn cracks, splits and punctures in acoustic guitars. What to do about cracks in guitar finish acoustic guitars harmony. This video shows many more discoveries of preventive maintenance not performed and what can and does happen, plus gluing the cracked top. Not sure if i should be posting this here or in dyi, but here goes.

The cauls are marked left and right but of course that depends on which side of the guitar your standing on and which part of the guitar is facing up isnt it. Blend new lacquer into old lacquer with flash coats youtube. Acoustic guitar cracked top repair by randy schartiger guitar repair. This video i show how i level the guitar top cracks with single edge razor blade where i filled and sealed them with a very thin viscosity ca glue. Each and every finish is better than most factory standards. It would cost me a lot of money today to buy a guitar with no laminated wood in it. Guitar finishing and refinishing several factors determine the cost of finish work on stringed instruments. During that time, ive done it all, from sanding and refinishing acoustics and electrics, as well as getting bare electric bodies and building my own brand of electric guitar i. Let the clear coat dry before you paint your guitar using a highquality spray paint. Here it is grain shot scar shot the long black line is inside the finish. How to repair acoustic guitar finish guitar repair bench.

If your electric guitar has a worndown or otherwise damaged finish, you can refinish it with a nitrocellulose lacquer, giving your axe a nice new look. If you are interested in having repair work done at our factory, please contact customer service. Loosen the tuners and remove the strings from the guitar. First, i made the damage much worse by taking my most pointy knife and running it through the check, widening the crack in the lacquer, roughing the edges of the crack, and not digging deep enough to scratch the wood underneath. Dan fixes the problem and shows how to keep this happening from happening again. I want to do a new finish on my tanglewood nashville iv tnd ce solid spruce top it has a natural satin finish looks very light, what products w. Guitar repair handmade guitars luthier school guitar. Im looking forward to when i start wearing the finish on the back of the neck and on the top of the guitar. This martin d35 has a cracked top due to the pull of a shrinking plastic pickguard.

Yes there is a crack on the otherside as well but its much smaller about 15th of the top side. It doesnt seem like there are any cracks in the wood itself, just the. First i placed the stick on top of the guitar with the magnet and cleat directly over the crack. But, if you want to refinish your guitar, here are quick steps and details on how to do it well. Then i marked the stick at the location where it hit the guitar body.

These cracks look like hairline cracks, but cannot be felt when you run your finger across the top of the finish. Repair cracks in tops and sides of an acoustic guitar. It sounds good, but now i need to figure out how to fix the crack. Youve been playing it for years, but the time has come to give it a makeover. Atlantas finest guitar shop, with over 25 years experience in playing and selling guitars, teaching guitar lessons in atlanta and guitar repair have enabled us to create an outstanding inventory of guitars which includes some of the finest guitars available worldwide by such recognized luthiers as collings, ramirez, kohno, martin, lowden, goodall, santa cruz, national resophonic, takamine. You might find this gives your instrument unique character, but if not, refinishing. You bring it inside and immediately open up the case to see your new beauty. This project was an attempt to take a cheap solid body guitar with a crack in the finish, fix the crack and call it a day. Repairing large, open cracks that can not be pushed back together requires splicing. I do repairs for clients and guitar shops all over the united states.

Cracks in the top wood are of particular concern because the top is generally a softer wood than the back and sides, and a crack can interfere with the soundproducing ability of the guitar. This usually happens when the guitar is allowed to dry out, causing the two halves of the top. Your repair may vary depending on the condition of your guitar and the specifics of the work needed. This involves cutting a piece of matching wood as closely as possible to the crack itself and fitting the filler wood into the crack. A finish crack makes zero difference in tone or structural integrity of an ovation. How to repair a lacquer finish home guides sf gate. Guitar specialist guitar repair and restoration services. You can skip this step if the stain you applied is a sealant as well. One of the limitations when purchasing a guitar, especially a lowbudget model, is the lack of color choices available. Will i ruin my acoustic guitar if i use sandpaper to. If you are set on having a specific color, or simply want to try your hand at refinishing an old or cheap guitar, you can learn how to repaint a guitar yourself. The test subject for this was a shiny black epiphone sg with a laminated body and just a little chamfer around a couple o.

As i point out to my clients, every guitar has a top and back crack. Factory quality finishes for guitars, basses, drums and specialty products with over 23 years experience. Dan erlewines got a neat trick for a mandolin repair, and. Telecaster style guitar with p90 pickups this guitar was built on commission from a customer. So, this time, instead of returning the guitar to the manufacturer for refinishing, i decided to fix the small check. The color was cool when you bought it photo 1, but now youd like a change. The majority of instruments that are truly dry will crack the top first, very dry. Is it possible to speak to the repair person working on my guitar. It features a twopiece ash body from guitarbuild, an allparts vprofile neck and p. Acoustic guitar top crack repair continued, leveling and buffing duration. This video i put to use my new magnets and cleat the first crack in the bottom of the lower bout of the guitar top.

It can start with a finish crack or completely crack the guitar top. With age this clear top coat begins to turn yellow. I have an applause ae28 electricacoustic guitar that plays pretty well, but doesnt look so great. Finishing diy kits wudtone custom guitar innovation. Of course, its impossible to refinish your guitar with the strings on. Sometime during the life of an average acoustic guitar, it will likely develop at least a small crack.

Im also assuming it would cost a fair to have it repaired, hence the absolute bargain i scored it for. For about three seconds you see this beautiful mint guitar, and then a crack races across the top as the warm air in your house stresses the cold finish on the guitar. Overlays take a lot of work but can often be a relatively discrete way of reinforcing a break. This crack had been glued up, and the guitar refinished some fifteen years ago. Keep your guitar away from extreme weather changes. I squeezed some out onto the lid of a cottage cheese carton, and used the bent tip of a dropfill toothpick for my brush. Our service level and pricepoint are second to none. Repairing cracks in acoustic guitars examples of cracks caused. Im recently retired so i dont have a lot of money to throw around, but i have lots of time and patience.

This sort of reinforcement is often necessary for repairing previouslyrepaired breaks i. As i hear this story, my eyes gaze upon the guitar, cascading over every previously repaired crack, every sanding mark that was left by a man trying to open up the sound of this mahogany body, every worn fret that echoed the songs once chorded. Offering a state of the art, temperature and humidity controlled environment, as well as a full staff of highly skilled and experienced luthiers, gibson is fully equipped to perform any and all. Maple street guitars acoustic, classical and electric. Make sure the grain in the filler wood matches the grain in the guitar as closely as possible. The guitar to the right is an extreme example of what can happen to your guitar if you leave it in a icy car and play it as soon as you bring it inside. The thinner will emulsify the surface and the defects should disappear when it hardens again. These prices apply to guitars in otherwise good working order. Martin guitar performs warranty and nonwarranty repairs on martin instruments at the factory.

Ive done a lot of guitar building and repair stripping a poly guitar is slow but a good industrial strength stripper will eventually soften the finish enough to get it to release from the wood. Spray a wet coat of pure lacquer thinner on a surface that has cracks, orange peel or roughness. I figured it wasnt important since it bent and seemed to be a finish check to me. When his friends found out, they wanted him to frankenstein a guitar. First, make sure you sand the wood even if you dont see any sort of finish or top coat.

Acoustic guitar top crack repair cleating cracks n sealing outter. If you have a better quality guitar it might have a straight nc lacquer on it which is super easy to strip off. Id protect the bridge and neck, carefully strip and sand the top, then refinish with clearcoat. Let the glue cure for at least several hours the longer the better. Taylor acoustic guitar top repair chicago fret works guitar repair. How to fix a crack in the top of an acoustic guitar.

Refinishing a vintage guitar will decrease its value. After enough time, the finish on a guitar will begin to fade. I also service music stores around the country as well as authorized warranty repair centers for some of the top guitar lines. An instruments finish can consist of a color coat and clear top coat or simply a clear coat. How to repair cracks in your acoustic guitar guitar alliance. My main guitar for 2 years prior was and is a great tom anderson drop top t that has not aged one iota from playing.