Members Gaetano Paul Posted August 27, 2011 Members Share Posted August 27, 2011 Hey guys. So I have a spalted maple neck through tele type guitar here. I love this thing. The spalted maple is very soft and brittle, and there are areas, particularly where the pick hits, where I have borne through the (satin????) finish and its just the raw (soft) spalted maple. I am really digging this Minwax fast drying clear gloss for enclosure, I had thoughts of glazing the front of this guitar with it, for protection and beautiful look of course. Is this a good idea? If not what is a good idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted August 27, 2011 Members Share Posted August 27, 2011 It's hard to say what it's been finished with. Lacquer has the advantage of easy touch up. I'd be inclined to strip it to the wood and properly sealing it. Then hit it with some clear satin lacquer. Check the Reranch site for a tutorial on guitar refinishing. Time well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gaetano Paul Posted August 27, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2011 I'd be inclined to strip it to the wood and properly sealing it. Then hit it with some clear satin lacquer. Check the Reranch site for a tutorial on guitar refinishing. Time well spent. My only hesitation would be if I can just do that for the top, or would I have to do back and neck etc basically the whole guitar. Its a neck through so its completely connected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MahaloVision Posted August 27, 2011 Members Share Posted August 27, 2011 It's fairly common to treat softer woods with epoxy, leveled, then finish on top of that. Not a lot of fun to do, but I've done it with good results. Always recommend practicing on a piece of scrap first to make sure everything is compatible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted August 27, 2011 Members Share Posted August 27, 2011 You may want to get a can of lacquer, remove the bridge and spray it there see it. If the lacquer isn't compatible, you'll know right away. Tape off the bridge area before removing it. Then if it gets really fugly and bubbles up, who's gonna know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -=Pennywise=- Posted September 2, 2011 Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 that is by far the sexiest tele I ever seen..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gaetano Paul Posted September 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 that is by far the sexiest tele I ever seen..... Thanks man! Pennywise Roks hard too. I still play BroHymn every once in a while to demo Boogie Like tons! Holy Grail much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 2, 2011 Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 You can test to see what kind of finish is on there already in an area you cant see well. Scratch at the finishin a hidden area with a knife and see if the finish flakes or peels. You can also use some denatured alcohol in thet area and see if the finish melts. If it flakes and melts then its lacquer. If it peels its an oild finish or poly and it wont ment with alcohol. Lacquer is easy to overspray. Tape off the area, clean with some naphia to remove waxes, light sand, and use some spray lacquer. try not to overspray the tape, rather feather it out in that direction using very light coats. Then you can buff it out. Oil finish, all you can do is strip off waxes. Then wipe more oil over the old. If the wood was discolored or damaged, it will show to some degree. Oils and polysgo on in layers like an onion so new layers dont melt into older layer like lacquer does. Poly just plain sucks for repairs. Its a plastic finish and all you can do is do some patch jobs dabbing somenew poly over the old with a paint brush or overspraying, or strip it and start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flump Posted September 2, 2011 Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 You can test to see what kind of finish is on there already in an area you cant see well. Scratch at the finishin a hidden area with a knife and see if the finish flakes or peels. You can also use some denatured alcohol in thet area and see if the finish melts. If it flakes and melts then its lacquer. If it peels its an oild finish or poly and it wont ment with alcohol.Lacquer is easy to overspray. Tape off the area, clean with some naphia to remove waxes, light sand, and use some spray lacquer. try not to overspray the tape, rather feather it out in that direction using very light coats. Then you can buff it out. Oil finish, all you can do is strip off waxes. Then wipe more oil over the old. If the wood was discolored or damaged, it will show to some degree. Oils and polysgo on in layers like an onion so new layers dont melt into older layer like lacquer does. Poly just plain sucks for repairs. Its a plastic finish and all you can do is do some patch jobs dabbing somenew poly over the old with a paint brush or overspraying, or strip it and start over. You can easily touch up poly by sanding in an area and spraying over it. A small airbrush is great for it. I've done it, and it works just fine. Then just buff the area so it all blends in right. It's obviously not as easy as lacquer, but it's not exactly hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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