Chips in clearcoat on neck / binding

[Tres Aardvarks]

My new Echotone has two big chips through the clearcoat on the neck / binding. I wouldn't care except they are right where I hang my thumb over the fretboard and they are quite sharp. Can I do anything to drop fill them, or should I lightly sand them down so they are more smooth?

[tbonesullivan]

Medium Viscoscity cyanoacrylate super glue would work fine. The super thin stuff would get everwhere.

Dan Erlewine, who literally wrote the book on guitar repairing, uses super glue all the time.

[zenmindbeginner]

Get two nitro pens from ReRanch... one is tinted neck amber and the other is just straight up clear. Use the tint until you match the color and fill the rest in with clear.

Dan Erlewine uses superglue because he reps for a company that makes pretty atrocious paint pens (Colortone). The ReRanch pens are magic and work really well.

FWIW, ReRanch makes nitro pens from all of the nitro colors so, you can theoretically fix any chip with their stuff.

Superglue will work but you won't match the tint and will always have a big white area that YOU WON'T EVER BE ABLE TO REMOVE... super glue repairs are permanent.

I had some jackass repair a ding out of the fretboard in my maple board Centaura with white super glue and I want to KILL that mutherf**ker. I could have made an invisible repair with a little wood filler and nitro pens but nooooo.... some douche had to go ahead and use super glue. They basically RUINED my guitar and they deserve to rot in hell for disfiguring such a fine guitar with their ham fisted repair methods.

[Tres Aardvarks]

Get two nitro pens from ReRanch... one is tinted neck amber and the other is just straight up clear. Use the tint until you match the color and fill the rest in with clear.

Nice tip!! I'll check 'em out!

I had some jackass repair a ding out of the fretboard in my maple board Centaura with white super glue and I want to KILL that mutherf**ker. I could have made an invisible repair with a little wood filler and nitro pens but nooooo.... some douche had to go ahead and use super glue. They basically RUINED my guitar and they deserve to rot in hell for disfiguring such a fine guitar with their ham fisted repair methods.

Oh shit....that SUCKS

[murkat]

I'll send you some tinted lacquer.

you just need some tape, time, some wet dry sandpaper, etc.

just pay for shipping.

don't use the danfookinnerlwine method of super glue, those patches are too big.

J

[Armitage]

What a great guy!

[tbonesullivan]

Yeah, that probably is a bit big for superglue, though now stewmac makes tinted super glue. Murkat is the man!

how long does the lacquer take to dry? I remember when I did some drop fills with nitro, it took a while for it to really "sink in" and dry.

[seeker]

How about one as big as this? Its a PRS.

https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,h_620,q_75,w_620/v1439771514/uzire2nhyqg23lltkkgr.jpg

[tbonesullivan]

Yeah, that's more than a drop fill. Now this brings me to something I have always wondered: do all guitars have a color coat followed by clear coat, or are some just color coat? That guitar looks like it's all red.

[Tres Aardvarks]

I'm going to assume I need to spray the lacquer, rather than drop it or use a brush? I've got an auto paint size spray gun and larger compressor in Ohio, but not here in VA. :/

[tbonesullivan]

Did you end up fixing the finish issue? Being the anal person I am I am now once again bothered by a few clear coat chips on various guitars, and am trying to decide what to fix them with. How are the re-ranch clear touchup pens?

EDIT: I just ordered one. I'll let everyone know how it works out.

[tbonesullivan]

I'm going to assume I need to spray the lacquer, rather than drop it or use a brush? I've got an auto paint size spray gun and larger compressor in Ohio, but not here in VA. :/

Definitely not. Just get the pen, first get the tint right. maybe sand it level. Then do a bunch of coats of clear. I would give an hour between coats. Make sure you go over the edge of the chip a little bit, and also mask off the fretboard when doing this. Then get a sanding block or something with 600 grit sandpaper, and level if off. Any low spots, put on some more clear, and repeat. Once it is nice and level, then work your way up through the grits, and then maybe use some polishing compound, and you'll have a pretty seamless repair.

[Hamer Dave]

I'd maybe clear first to seal. Then add the tinted to match, followed by more clear to level. Then finally sand/polish the area.

[Tres Aardvarks]

Did you end up fixing the finish issue? Being the anal person I am I am now once again bothered by a few clear coat chips on various guitars, and am trying to decide what to fix them with. How are the re-ranch clear touchup pens?

EDIT: I just ordered one. I'll let everyone know how it works out.

Not yet, figure it's a winter project while I'm hanging out in the evening with the Mrs....keep us posted on how yours goes!

[serial]

If you don't want or have access to a paint pen, I've used clear (tinted) nail polish and sandpaper for years.

[tbonesullivan]

Not yet, figure it's a winter project while I'm hanging out in the evening with the Mrs....keep us posted on how yours goes!

I had a StewMac lacquer touchup pen before, and it was alright. The main problem is controlling how much comes out. The lacquer touchup pen I got from Reranch looks quite a bit like the stewmac pen...

Now I just need to get a small container of naptha somewhere to properly clean off the areas before I touch up. I also will now go back and re-evaluate touchups I did years ago. With a ton of different grits of sandpaper, buffing compounds, and experience, I can probably make them look better than they do now.

[Hfan]

Tbone, let us know I have a sweet H535 with a little round chip maybe 1/16 of an inch. Always been afraid I'd do more harm than good. It's a lightly tinted natural.

[tbonesullivan]

Tbone, let us know I have a sweet H535 with a little round chip maybe 1/16 of an inch. Always been afraid I'd do more harm than good. It's a lightly tinted natural.

I would just use clear for that. What you can do is use the lacquer pen to make a small blob on some cardboard or something, and then use a toothpick to drop some in the chip. You'll want it to protrude above the surrounding finish, and you'll want to get a bit over the edges. Then leave it out of the case and two weeks later see if it has sunk down below the finish.

Once you have finish above, take a razor blade, and put scotch tape around it except for maybe 1/4 inch in the middle. This way you can scrape down the finish repair pretty close before using sandpaper and/or buffing compound to shine it up.