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Hi folks,

I need your help. One of my guitars has come home and the owner would like to have this ding/scuff fixed. I have no idea what caused it, it's not really deep at all but it does have a blackish scuff mark, plus you can see at the end it has fractured the lacquer which I'm not too worried about fixing, there are other spots on the guitar that have dents which fracture the lacquer.

So I'm just wondering how to fix the scuff mark really?

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

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Assuming it's nitro first I would sand out the black part of the mark with 600. Then I would clean with naptha and decide whether or not I needed to add more lacquer or just melt the fracture back together with a bit of retarder. After that has dried properly sand out the repair again at 600 and buff.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Brian, when you use retarder for that, are you applying just a drop like you would when drop filling?

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Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

I am typically spraying it with an airbrush but you can drop it on.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thanks Brian. The finish is Mohawk classic instrument lacquer. I don't have any retarder so can I use thinner or thinned down lacquer to fill the fracture. I'll get some naptha to clean the black off to see where I'm at.

I did tell the owner that this is just what happens when these things get played but he was pretty crushed when it happened although there are other dings and scratches after a couple years of use.

I'll clean it up and see how it turns out. I'm not married to the idea that it will be perfect again.

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Cleaned up nicely now to get some retarder to drop fill it.




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_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Are you talking about something like this: Our Fill n Finish is known to work some magic on dents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd0INGg3OM8

Rod, the old fashioned way to repair lacquer was to use an epoxy thinner like cellosolve acetate. I used to airbrush the area with it straight to soften the old lacquer, drop fill some thickened lacquer in the holes, then airbrush several coats over he area. Once that was done I would spray cellosolve over the area again and wait a week, Then I would call the customer in and give him the guitar. He could return at a later date to have it rebuffed, usually 2-4 months.