Hairline Splits in Solid Body Guitar Finish. Repair Tips?

[b12670]

Hoping to access the Harmony Central brain trust on this one.

Just picked up an old Cort Flying V project from a yard sale. Probably from around 82-84 if I had to guess.

Pretty good overall condition considering the age.

Thing is there are a few pretty significant hairline splits to the paint job. Not full on chips as the paint is still intact. I guess this because of the paint shrinking over the years? Not sure really.

 

Anyway. I seem to recall that there is a method of using heat to slightly soften, but not strip, the paint along the split thereby allowing the softened finish to "melt" back into the split.

Now I'm not talking about any kind of drop-fill method here, where I'd be adding new lacquer to the body. Simply softening up the existing finish enough to 'move' the finish splits back together. I've seen heat guns used to strip a guitar body. But I'm thinking there is a way to just get the finish to flex a bit. I'd like to avoid doing a complete refinish if i can, since this is just a cheapie guitar. But I don't want to trash it further by botching this repair. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mrbrown49]

I believe that guitar has a poly type finish, which is basically a plastic. There's not much you can do to fix that type of finish. It won't soften and meld back together like a nitrocellulose lacquer will.

[b12670]

I believe that guitar has a poly type finish' date=' which is basically a plastic. There's not much you can do to fix that type of finish. It won't soften and meld back together like a nitrocellulose lacquer will. [/quote']

 

 

Thanks. So short of stripping and refinishing theres not much I can do to reduce the visibility of the splits? I don't want to just start hitting it with crazy glue or some other chip fill method. It seems like if I were to add an additional layer of any kind of fill material, I'd end up with a raised bump along the split line, since the existing poly is still there underneath.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I was given an Encore like that

 

First guitar I ever binned

[Freeman Keller]

Depending on the finish you might be able to do something but you'll probably just make it worse. First thing is to determine what kind of finish it is. If it is solid color in 1982 it probably was an automotive finish, could be either lacquer or enamel. Back then it could have been catalyzed or not. Frankly your best bet would be to take it to someone who paints cars (or better yet, motorcycles) and get them to look at it with you.

 

If it is a translucent or transparent finish it could be either lacquer or one of the modern finishes (polyester, polyethelyne- probably catalyzed either with UV light or a two part finish). There is a simple way to find out - find someplace on the guitar that is not visible - under a tuning machine or inside a cavity if there is finish sprayed there. Put a small drop of lacquer thinner on the finish, if it softens it is lacquer, if it does not it is a catalyzed poly.

 

The other thing to remember is that lacquer does check over time - what you describe is common for nitro. Poly usually doesn't show the surface cracks and checks as badly.

 

If it turns out to be lacquer you can spray subsequent coats which will melt into the previous layers and heal the cracks. In that case you would scruff sand the old finish, shoot 8 or 10 coats of lacquer reduced pretty heavily, then do the normal color sanding and buffing. Minor problem here is that you will end up with a 30 year old guitar with a brand new looking finish - not necessarily what you want.

 

If the finish turns out to be poly there is frankly nothing you can do other than strip it completely to bare wood and start over. I do lots of repairs and frequently turn down work on guitars that I know have a poly finish because I (and my customer) won't be satisfied with the results.

 

I'll add one last thought - if this was a valuable vintage instrument ANY refinishing cuts the value immediately. People go thru a lot of work to try to make new guitars look old (I hate relic'ing). Unless you are a finishing professional (and by asking that indicates that you aren't) you'll make the guitar worse than it is now.

[b12670]

Thank you for the detailed analysis. It is a solid white number. Somewhat yellowed by age. If it were an old SG or Firebird it would posses that patina that many vintage guitar buyers drool over. Slightly off white and yellowing. But alas it is but a lowly Cort.

 

I should mention though that whatever humbuckers (Dimarzio knock-offs?) they stuck in these things back in the day are super creamy smooth and dial in that nice mid-range-y classic rock chunk effortlessly. I've got another one from around the same time period and the pups are what made me grab this one in the first place.

 

But back to the finish. I will try your finish testing method and hopefully I can salvage her.

It'll be my first ever attempt at a finish repair so I'm going to take it nice and slow. No way I'm stripping down a fifty dollar guitar and starting from scratch though. A flying V is a lot of surface area to deal with. Too much of a time commitment for me.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Frankly, I'd be shocked if it has a lacquer finish... and if it doesn't, any finish repair would be next to impossible short of refinishing the whole thing. Best to leave it alone IMO.

 

[b12670]

Believe me, I'm definitely from the 'don't understand it, don't monkey with it!' school of guitar repair. I get over my head very easily with stuff like this.

[gardo]

I'd go to the auto parts store and look for polish colored to match the paint. They do make such a thing. Wipe it on let it dry and wipe it off. .

What's the worst that can happen ? you may have to clean it off with lighter fluid if it doesn't work

I've even been known to use a crayon to fill a small crack

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-crayon-repair-scratch-furniture-20530.html

[Freeman Keller]

The caveat here is that is polish only - no wax and particularly no silicon. Either will make any attempts at finishing/refinishing almost impossible. Polishes have a bad habit of getting into cracks (which is your problem in the first place) and highlighting them so follow Gardo's advice and match the color.

 

Lighter fluid is naphtha which you can buy in quart cans at the box hardware stores. It is the one solvent that is pretty safe to use on almost any finish and it will (mostly) get waxes off (white gas and other petroleum distillates like Coleman fuel are also generally safe).

[Freeman Keller]

Since it is a solid color my bet would be an automotive finish. Many manufacturers were using them in the 70's and 80's. Could be about anything - I know squat about automotive finishes. My recommendations to the OP is to either find a car painter or leave it alone.

[b12670]

The auto polish idea sounds like the least invasive way to go. Good idea. Think I'll give that a try first.

[WRGKMC]

I'd just play it as is.

 

Many guitarists go to extreme measures trying to get that aged antique look. You should simply learn to value it as an older vintage instrument.

If you really cant stand it, sell it and get something else. The look of a guitar that's yellowing and checking adds value to it.

 

I would think the instrument was a lacquers finish by the way. Poly finishes don't yellow with age nor do they normally crack. It takes a physical blow to crack poly and you usually find those kinds of cracks at places like the neck joint or where its been dinged.

 

There's an easy way to tell. Pill a pickup out or remove a cover where there's some finish out of sight. Then take a Q tip with some denatured alcohol and rub it in a small spot. If its poly nothing will happen. If its Lacquer, it will eat a hole into the finish. (Lacquer is alcohol based)

 

Since the guitar is white, it would be very difficult to simply repair the old finish. You could re-liquefy the outer surface like Freeman said, by over coating it, but that would only rejoin the cracks. Any yellowing of the paint below the cracks would still be visible and likely look worse then leaving it alone.

 

You can go to the Stuart McDonalds' site and look through their repair tip archive. I remember reading an article that gave tips on these kinds of repairs which was excelent.

 

 

[b12670]

Good insight. While I'm not overly opposed to just letting it be, I got the guitar for next to nothing, so I feel a bit less hesitant to try some entry-level restoration tricks on it. I guess the main thing at this point is to determine just what the finish is on it.(and yes, the splits are near the neck joint.)

I am hoping it is a lacquer finish since from what I am understanding based on the feedback I'm getting, lacquer finishes are easier to touch up.

I don't mind a slightly dinged up instrument. But a full on relic'd look just holds no appeal to me. I just prefer an overall cleaner looking guitar.

 

On the flip-side, while there is definitely a built in ceiling to what a vintage Cort guitar will ever be worth, I am seeing a pretty big uptick in asking prices for their models from the early to mid 80's. Which is the time period that this V is from. If I botch this repair, I could be looking at really hurting the overall value.

 

I'll mull it over a bit. Thanks.

[Emory]

If it is driving you nuts, how about getting some tape and making a racing stripe over the offending area? Cheap, easily undone, what the heck. Oh, maybe also post of photo of your guitar.

[b12670]

If it is driving you nuts' date=' how about getting some tape and making a racing stripe over the offending area? Cheap, easily undone, what the heck. Oh, maybe also post of photo of your guitar.[/quote']

Yeah, I guess pics would help a bit. I'll post some when I get home tonight.

[b12670]

Well here she is warts n all. Not bad for sixty bucks I guess. So what say you? Repair or just throw on a new bridge, nut, and some speed knobs and be done with it?

[mrbrown49]

Looks pretty cool to me. I'd rock the piss out of it as is.

[Emory]

Like it. Keep the cracks, hope those listening don't notice whilst playing, then when done some comment like "That rock was so hard.. LOOK! it cracked the guitar...."

[Freeman Keller]

Well here she is warts n all. Not bad for sixty bucks I guess. So what say you? Repair or just throw on a new bridge' date=' nut, and some speed knobs and be done with it?[/quote']

 

 

The only "fix" for that is stripping and refinishing from bare wood, and frankly, you don't want to do that. Anything else will just make it worse. String it up and play it.

[badpenguin]

Hey all, sorry I was late to the party, but I had an uninvited guest stay over, and really screw my life. Yep, got hit with Hurricane Irma, and she was nasty here in northern Florida. After 5 days, just got power back.

 

So, where were we?

​Don't refinish it. You may have plywood there, it IS a Hondo after all. And you can't repair the finish, so either deal with it, cover it in stickers, (Did I just hear someone in the Philippines jump for joy? ​) or get creative with a thin brush, and make the entire body look that distressed.

[b12670]

The masses have spoken. I will not attempt a refurb.

As you can see though, I do have to drop a new bridge and nut in and put some period correct speed knobs on it. Bridge was rusted all to hell and the original nut and knobs have been lost to time. But that's all I'll do to it. Promise! You convinced me. No touch ups.

[jtr654]

Leave it Alone more guitars have been destroyed buy messing with small flaws. Although Corts are Junk anyways.

[6down1togo]

If the finish splits are into the base coat (color), leave it alone. If the cracks are only in the clearcoat and you have time to burn, you can fill cracks in the clear coat with Crazy Glue. It is pretty simple to do. You just fill the crack with a thin bead of Crazy Glue by running the applicator tip along the crack. Once it has dried, You use a single edge razor blade to scrape the glue near flush with the surface, followed by wet sanding with 800-1600 grit sandpaper and a proper sanding block. Wrap a single layer of scotch tape around either end of the blade, leaving just the center of the blade exposed. The tape protects the finish of the guitar during the scraping process and leaves a layer of glue the thickness of the scotch tape to be sanded away. I use the fuzzy self-adhesive chair leg pads as a sanding block. I stick the sand paper to the self adhesive side and trim it in a circle with an exacto knife. You sand very lightly, checking progress frequently.. Once level, the fill and the adjacent surfaces are uniformly dull. I hand buff with with "Scratch Out" compound from the auto store and a soft cloth. If I am feeling lazy, I use a 5" foam buffing pad on my drill.

 

​Go to stewmac.com and Dan Erlewine has a video on the process. He details out the scotch tape trick in the vid. Dan also uses a sanding strip which he presses against the repair and pulls the strip through. That technique is more suited for spot repairs (kicks, dings, etc.)

 

​It isn't terrible difficult, but is very time consuming. You can restore the finish to look like new though.

 

[b12670]

Yeah, I saw Stew's repair on that acoustic. Can't even tell there was ever a ding in the finish. My splits go all the way to the paint though. So I'm SOL on that front. I'll learn to love it the way it is. And try not to bang it up any further.