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Hi Everyone,

I've been working on a top of a classical guitar that got stepped on.  The lower bout was all caved in.  It split along the grain into 2 sections.  I've glued them back together, installed a couple of cleats to keep it strong.

The finish damage consisted of cracks in the and the wood dye along the cracks.  I thought I could brush some brushing laquere over those spots. wet sand it, use micro mesh and tada.  Turns out that my once flat top is now a little bit wavy.  The high area got hit hard by the sand paper, removing finish and dye. The low areas look alright, though :).

At this point I've pretty much resolved to refinish the top.  I'm going to sand off the old finish, or use finish remover. then sand it flat, then respray.  If I do this, though, I'll have areas (the now high areas) that are thiner, by as much as 1/32". Do you think this is going to be a problem? 

I'd send a photo, but no digital camera, doh.

any advice much appreciated.

Stefan

hi Stefan,
it may well develop into problem down the road, its hard to say. is the thin spot on a brace? i asume it probably is, also around the crack, maybe its puckered slightly?
generally a customer wont realistically expect a virtually destroyed guitar to be 100% again, getting it structurally back as it should be would be my priority, ie braces fixed, reglued etc - to the point where its not going to implode any time soon.

the joys of being a repairman are many and varied eh?

some jobs i take on at a lost just to do em and learn that little bit more, although i sometimes feel i need my head tested!

Try getting some nice small-ish photos (dont make my mistake) and send them to Frank Ford at frets.com - hallowed by his name - he may well have some better advice

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