Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys!

With a little help from my fellow Canadian Tony Karol I created a jig and fixed up my first broken headstock with 2 splines made from some purple heart I had lying around. The jig still needs some adjustments, I think the slots are too far apart , and I probably should of made the slots smaller... but it did the job. Now I come into the problem of refinishing.

I only have experience in lacquer, so I was curious to how one can tell what finish is on their guitar and what can be used over top of those finishes in order to repair. The only information I have found online is that the solvents in lacquer can make other finishes wrinkle or lift up....So there goes my idea of just using some lacquer with black dye in it. What else could it be.... polyester, polyurethane, and how can you tell? Can one be used on top of the other or will you come into problems with bonding and discoloration?

Also I thought this would be a good thread to start as far as touch up techniques go because everyone has little trade secrets they could share

Thanks in advance guys... this forum has helped me out a few times!

Cheers!

Rick

Rick, What brand of guitar is it? From my experience, none of the standard solvents will effect a cured polyester finish. Pick a spot that will normally be covered by hardware, like under one of the tuners, and wipe the spot with a little acetone on a swab. If the finish doesn't haze or smear then you probably have a poly finish. You could also use a little lacquer thinner.

Thanks for the replys guys

It's a vagabond and looks to be a pretty cheep guitar...I did try to put some lacquer thinner on it to see if it got sticky, didn't think about looking for a haze at the time but I think I would of noticed if I saw one..... I was just going by what I read but if you say you haven't had that experience happen to you regarding the lacquer over the poly then I will take your word for it and try it.

Also I had no idea there were 3 different kinds of lacquer till todd said cat lacquer..that had me puzzled for a bit till I found this page.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/Material ... px?id=2948

I think I may be switching to Acrylic lacquer next time because of its flexibility and less brittle finish.