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I want to put a tap plate on my classical guitar because I want to pursue more aggressive golpe tapping and rasgueado but the face already has some marks from rasgueado strumming. I read that putting a tap plate over these fine scratches will leave silvery lines on the face. Is there a way to prep the face so that when I put the plate on the guitar, I don't have little silvery lines?

The guitar is not high-end, and it has a laquer finish. It's not worth any intensive re-finishing but if there's a simple solution, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shane

Hmmm, first off I am not experienced enough to give great advice on this but i'll say what I think I would do and what comes to mind instantly. I wouldn't refinish something you are going to glue a tapping plate onto, unless there are a lot of scratches over a large area. If its just one spot, cut your tapping plate to size, position it, and tape around it. Then sand the finish off your gluing surface inside the tape.

By white lines, do you mean cracks in the finish? I don't really understand what you mean.

Hope that helps,
Tom

Have you tried the stickon tap plates...I forget the brand but are used when what is needed is not permanent as they dont have an adhesive to bond them to the guitar? I believe I got mine from GSI.

I've only used the self-adhesive tap plates, and you're right that these will be pretty ugly if you stick them to a surface with nail marks in it. Over at the Delcamp forum there's a discussion of tap plates now with descriptions of gluing down plain vinyl sheet with epoxy or white glue. One of these methods might work for filling in the scratches, but I haven't tried it myself.

If the guitar already has a few blemishes as you say why don't you just get a set of "Kling-on's" from Strings-in-the-Mail. They adhere with only surface adhesion and can be removed and replaced quite easily at any time. I use them on my classicals and flamencos all the time without any problems. YMMV.....

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Peter

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll go with the Kling-ons.

The Kling-ons are a soft pliable plastic and I doubt that they will give you the sound you are listening for.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Get a more expensive guitar deserving of your love and respect and then you can enjoy the liberation of that investment by inflict as much 'guilt free' brutally as you desire upon your current one. It could help the dark mood shift if you named it Ms Lacey.

Cheers

Kim

I've never seen those Kling On's before, interesting. But As was mentioned I do wonder if they would dampen the tapping sound. For the price they are worth a try.

You could always opt for an opaque tap plate. White is somewhat traditional and can actually look pretty good.