That wasn't supposed to happen. S#!t.

[benjammin308]

I was filing off the sharp fret ends and polishing the frets on an early eighties Fender Bullet over the weekend.  I masked the fretboard for protection and when I removed the blue tape a chunk of finish came off the fretboard with it.  How to fix?  Doesn't have to be perfect, just better than the very obvious defect I have now.  A little background:  this is an entry-level USA Fender that I bought new in high school.  I had others before it but they are no longer around, so this is the oldest guitar (to me) that I have.  The neck finish is thick eighties high-gloss.  All the fretwear is mine and I like that.  It doesn't get a lot of love any more but I decided it was finally time to upgrade to a multi-ply pickguard and some better pickups.  What I thought was going to be a fun little project turned into this:

[hamerhead]

Dammit! That just makes me sad.

[Dave Scepter]

Just get some polyurethane and a small brush

[Dutchman]

This^^^^, they make a tape with less stickum on it. It's in the same place as the other tapes.

[topekatj]

[Dave Scepter]

1 hour ago, Dutchman said:

This^^^^, they make a tape with less stickum on it. It's in the same place as the other tapes.

Or make the tape less sticky by first placing it on your pant leg then use the tape as the fibers on your shorts or pants will make it less sticky

[JGravelin]

6 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

Just get some polyurethane and a small brush

This. But thin the poly a bit and do a number of light coats and build it up until it blends with what was peeled away.

 

[tweed]

A few months ago I picked up something from Sweetwater, Music Nomad  "Grip Guards". They're metal slotted fretboard protectors with handles. A pack of three, sized differently to match your frets.  Dag.... wish I knew how to work this computer stuff to show you a picture !!

[tommy p]

3 hours ago, tweed said:

A few months ago I picked up something from Sweetwater, Music Nomad  "Grip Guards". They're metal slotted fretboard protectors with handles. A pack of three, sized differently to match your frets.  Dag.... wish I knew how to work this computer stuff to show you a picture !!

Just helping out.

[Dave Scepter]

I use these

[scottcald]

Was that 3M blue tape?  I ask because when we moved in our house and I painted the first room, I used some for the ceiling lines and it ripped the paint off the wall in a few places.  I called them and let them know.  They sent me an envelope to return the bad tape, sent me new tape, and a check to pay for the supplies to repair it and the time.  That was like 20 years ago, but was impressive customer service.  Not sure if they'd still do that these days though.  

[gtrdaddy]

If you’re going to use tape, always use artist tape.

”less stickum stuff”

[ptm1diver]

A friend of mine is a pro painter and builder.  After I screwed up his paint job he told me blue tape on painted walls is only for short duration.  If you leave it on for a long time (days) it will pull paint off.  A luthier used blue tape to protect part of my Gibson SST Chet and the tape removed the decal signature and a patch of finish.  The tape had been left on the guitar for days.  

[Menehune]

Those metal fret masks are the bomb.

What @JGravelin said about the poly repair, with added note that once it's thoroughly dried, you can level and blend by wet sanding with fine to really-fine grits using a small backing block. Stew-Mac has videos covering finish repairs.