Advice for repairing (quite) deep scratch to finish

[forcedmeme]

Hi guys,

I've got a US Jazzmaster here with a relatively nasty scratch to it's back. I'm just looking for advice/recommendations on how I might go about fixing it up.

I'm not sure this is something that you can remove just with polishing, so is some kind of small brush finish application in order?

What would you normally do for this kind of fix? Thanks for the input!

image removed

 

[Peegoo]

Looks like it may be into the color coat. The way many techs fix is a spot refinish, which involves matching the color and filling it. Scrape it flush when dry and polish.

The problem is many guitars have clearcoat over the color, and that makes any spot repair stand out because the colored fill in the clear coat casts a shadow on the surrounding finish:

A better way is to fill the scratch with clear. It won't make the scratch completely go away, but the repair is a lot less prominent and it will level the surface so the scratch cannot be felt.

If that came in, I'd clean the area with alcohol and then do a drop fill using clear nail enamel or CA. Use the point ot a toothpick to 'pull' the liquid along the scratch; apply very little...only enough to fill the scratch. Allow it to dry for a few days and then carefully scrape it level with a razor blade and polish it out.

 

[Peegoo]

Look here:



If you decide to use CA (superglue), do not use accelerator. Allow the CA to set up on its own because accelerator can make clear CA go cloudy and lumpy.

There are products on the market like Glu Boost, and that stuff is just very expensive clear and colored CA.

Take. Your. Time.

Get in a hury and your results will be less than optimal.

 

[4wotitswurth]

Speaking of repairs, and apologies if this is bad etiquette... no wish to disrupt the thread. This site has some repair stories that are mind boggling, the guys attention to detail in each of the stories is well.... the last one on Anders Osborne’s guitar is quite something, but then every one of his stories is along the same lines regarding detail and perfection...

http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/blog/

 

[jrblue]

Sorry about that scratch! I cannot make a suggestion based on that poor photo full of reflections. A superficial scratch (restricted mostly to the clear coat) may well polish out using a "cutting" type compound first and then progressing through to the finest polish. This often eliminates, or at least reduces, that awful "etched" and sharp look to the scratch. If it's deeper, and into the color coat, there may be some low-impact methods that will work but that depends entirely on the underlying color. Drop-filling with CA is something I have done very effectively, but depdns on the actual 3D nature of the flaw. Fender's finishes are easy to fix in some cases, and awfully hard in others, depending on what they are: polyester? Nitro over mostly poly? These substances behave really differently. My own fist step, if it really is a scratch, would be compound and polish to see if enough damage remains after that to warrant further work.

 

[forcedmeme]

Thanks for all the input!

I'm going to try and take some better photos. I find it really hard to not get reflections in the picture, but I can see how that doesn't help anyone get an idea of how deep the scratch is.

The CA suggestions seem like they might be the way to go. I'm convinced that it's too deep to deal with by polishing it out.

 

[EsquireOK]

I would ignore that completely. Just looks like the guitar did a single gig. It's mild, it's on the back, and it's to be expected if you actually use the thing.

If anything at all, I would just polish it up using the appropriate silicone free car paint product.

If, after that, it still bugs you, fill it with clear, level, and polish.

But be warned: IME, a repaired scratch, even if it's done really well, devalues a guitar more than a scratch that is left alone. If resale will ever be a consideration of yours, don't repair chips and scratches. Just leave them be. I have been completely turned off of guitars, collectible and otherwise, that were great...except for the fact that someone had done a "repair" on finish damage some time in the past.

 

[Dano-caster]

Personally I wouldn't mess with it. Some times that just makes things worse.

 

[stratisfied]

If you don't want to take a chance, just get a black Sharpie fine point and trace the scratch to hide it. Taking chances trying to sand it out or drop filling will make it worse unless you have the touch and are confident in your ability.

The general rule of thumb is if you can feel the scratch dragging your fingernail across it, it will need to be filled. If you can't feel it, wet sanding with 1600 grit wet or dry paper wrapped around a Faber rubber eraser as a sanding block will take it out, followed by hand buffing with a compound like ScratchOut from the auto parts store.

If it is deep enough to require filling, follow Dan Erlewine's videos to the letter. Basically, lacguer fill to level followed by wet sanding and buffing for lacquer or coloring the scratch with thinned black lacquer followed by a CA fill to level, again followed by wet sanding and buffing.

 

[Stanford Guitar]

I would put many, many more scratches on it.

 

[LightningPhil]

Burn it, then mix the ashes with some top soil and compost. Use this to plant a tree and watch the wood regrow scratch free. Then make it again.

Or use an automotive colour match scratch repair kit.

 

[forcedmeme]

Thanks for all the replies! Here's my attempt to take some better pics, I hope they help.

 

[stratisfied]

Forget what I posted earlier. I don't have a clue what you're working on from your pics. Your first pic looks like a black guitar, The last 2 you added show a light color (white/silver/white blonde?) and some kind of crazy texture.

 

[El Marin]

Welcome to Relic guitars, mate. Your journey has just begun

 

[forcedmeme]

Forget what I posted earlier. I don't have a clue what you're working on from your pics. Your first pic looks like a black guitar, The last 2 you added show a light color (white/silver/white blonde?) and some kind of crazy texture.

It's Ice Blue Metallic. To the naked eye it seems anything from grey, to sky blue, to green, depending on the angle of the light. It's a hugely reflective finish, more than any other guitar I've ever had, so I had a real tough time taking any photos without reflections. Couldn't manage to get any with none at all.

 

[stratisfied]

That's a pretty long scratch. Do the fingernail test and if it passes (fingernail doesn't catch on the scratch), try the weat sanding and buffing on a small area and see how it turns out. It it doesn;t come out after a dozen strokes of the sandpaper, it's likely in there for good.

Get a tube of brush-in-cap or aerosol automotive touchup in the closest color you can find. Overfill the scratch slightly and then wet sand and buff after it is dry. As with any metallic, perfect touch up results are nearly impossible even when you have the same paint you painted the guitar with as you cannot duplicate the dispersion of the metallic pigment the same as when it was originally sprayed. It will still show but will be less noticeable.

 

[forcedmeme]

That's a pretty long scratch. Do the fingernail test and if it passes (fingernail doesn't catch on the scratch), try the weat sanding and buffing on a small area and see how it turns out. It it doesn;t come out after a dozen strokes of the sandpaper, it's likely in there for good.

Get a tube of brush-in-cap or aerosol automotive touchup in the closest color you can find. Overfill the scratch slightly and then wet sand and buff after it is dry. As with any metallic, perfect touch up results are nearly impossible even when you have the same paint you painted the guitar with as you cannot duplicate the dispersion of the metallic pigment the same as when it was originally sprayed. It will still show but will be less noticeable.

That sounds reasonable, thanks for the input. It's definitely deep enough to be caught by a fingernail. The width of the scratch is pretty much the same as the thickness of a fingernail. It looks like some kind of filling would definitely be needed.