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I was cleaning up some HHG around a bridge and some water wicked under the bridge. This raised the grain under the finish to a point where it is noticeable to the touch and eye. Other than sanding to re-level, is there any way to fix this?

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Chris,
First, I guess you just found out why it is best to clamp your bridge in a way that allows you to clean up the squeeze out when it turns to gel before it hardens. A trick that I learned is to wait until the glue is solid but not yet hard and then use a tooth pick to slide it all around the seam between the bridge and body to remove the squeeze out. If there is anything remaining I use a damp (almost dry) Q-tip to remove anything on the finish.

But to answer your question, I would try using a hair dryer set on low to try to dry the water out from under the finish. It just may be enough to take care of the raised grain. If that doesn't work then I would probably try putting the guitar in a room with a de-humidifier and try and see if that doesn't pull the moisture out.

Other than that it may just disappear on its own after some time as long as you don't keep the guitar in a humid place.

Bob

Don't use a hair dryer! You can damage the finish and dry out the guitar. Just give it time, it should go away on its own

+1. Fairly common and typically short lived problem. Taking any drastic measure now will make matters worse once things dry out.

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Aaron Craig

If you noticed I said:



I am not sure if maybe you are thinking I said "heat gun" which is a completely different thing. A regular hair dryer set on low will only heat something up to about 70 or 80 degrees which will certainly not damage any finish...

The hair dryer I use has 3 settings high, med and low. The low setting is just warm air and it is not "drastic" by any means.

I use it on medium (which is about 100 degrees) to heat up parts before applying HHG to extend the open time. I have read a number of times that people do the same thing and I have never heard of it drying out a guitar or damaging a finish...or have I ever had any problems doing it.

I think you are over reacting a bit don't you?

Bob

I use a hair dryer all the time to speed up drop fills. In this case, however, I would probably blow warm air into the sound hole.

Mike

Get the Fox bridge clamp from LMI.

I wouldn't use a hair dryer simply because the moisture I assume Chris is seeing most likely won't be driven out through use of a hair dryer on low heat for a short duration. Depending on the extent of the moisture, it could take a couple weeks in 45% humidity for things to level back out. A regular fan blowing across the top can speed things up a bit, but it's one of those things where impatience can lead to a whole lot of unnecessary work (when you don't see results using the hair dryer on low, the common temptation is to turn it to medium . . .).

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Aaron Craig

Every bridge I've ever glued on with HHG has raised the grain outside the bridge. Don't worry about it. It goes away some and after a few days of playing it evens out as the grain raises all over the top as the finish settles.

I used a fan yesterday to simply move air across the area, last I checked, the raised grain under the finish had shrunk back about 50%. Hopefully it will work itself back the rest of the way in the next few days.

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Thanks Haans! That's a relief to hear. I am new to HHG and am glad to hear I am not just messing things up.

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