Wax guitar finish crack

I noticed after five months old the finish is developing cracks one just over 2 long between the pickups at the top edge of them. Obviously scratches are a part of life, but on occasion we want to spruce up our instrument and erase some of. Lacquers biggest negative is its high freezing point. The longest crack should not be in an area of high stress from the strings. Polishing will make your guitar look better, but really doesn. Polishes and waxes build up over time and can eventually dampen the sound of your guitaralmost like wrapping it in a bed sheet. Wax dos and donts discussion in techtalk started by amstratnut, jan 2, 2011. Also i tried pushing both side of the crack but apparently nothing moves.

Our gold level service centers and uv finish equipped service centers can repair cracks and, in many cases, make them disappear completely. The benefits, and the gloss finish, became the norm in the early 1800s and remained popular until the development of nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 30s. Wax hardens on your guitar, making a great protective barrier. Applied in ultrathin layers, its easy to keep a french polish finish thin, yet it still offers protection and a clear, glossy sheen without harming the guitar s delicate sound. Finish checking, or weather checking as it is also known, refers to the pattern of small cracks, usually comprising a series of parallel lines, but sometimes loosely checkered, that can appear on certain guitars with nitrocellulose finishes. Catalyzed polymer finishes work very well on fine guitars, too, because they can be applied in the same thickness and polished just like traditional lacquers. My favorite polish for gloss finishes is music nomads guitar one cleanerpolish wax. Wax and oil finishes had been the finish of choice throughout the west until that time. If your lacquerfinished guitar is exposed to temperatures below 32 degrees for any length of time, the tops finish is liable to crack or craze once the guitar is returned to a heated space. This is traditionally the most common finish used on steel string acoustic guitars. Hi all, im considering picking up an early 80s ibanez artist. There are a couple of cracks in the thick plasticy finish.

If you cant or if it gets left in the trunk of a car for many hours or days, you run the risk of damaging the gibson through finish checking. The price list how much will it cost to fix my guitar. If youve had much experience playing, collecting or repairing vintage guitars, chances are you are familiar with the sight of tiny cracks all across the finish. Abnormal winter exposure try to keep your guitar at room temperature. The effects are seen as erratic crack lines running across the coating. Most finish dings arent too concerning, but inspect the ding closely to make sure the impact didnt crack the wood.

The difference between nitro and poly guitar finishes. It has a nasty tendency to crack, craze, or check if exposed to sudden low temperatures. The wood can breath through the finish and the piece feels very natural. You will see my 1958 j35 the guitar that my musical identity sprung from and my 1936 gibson advanced jumbo. If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. Shellac was not widely accepted as a furniture finish in the west until the early 1800s. Lacquer does have a few undesirable properties, though. Naphtha is used to remove wax from the surface of instruments before.

Fender uses a variety of finish types on its instruments, from the original nitrocellulose lacquer finishes to more modern urethane and polyester finishes. Lets take a look at some of the major possibilities a luthier has when it comes to finishing a guitar. If you want the new shine finish to last a long time, as long as you have your guitar, then a poly finish is what you want. Restoring checked and crazed finishes woodworking network. Remove all the lumps, crevices, cracks and whatnots, so the lacquer can be sprayed evenly.

We round up the best guitar cleaner, best guitar polish and guitar. Options include oiling, staining, finishing in a graduated combination of colors e. I m going to share some secrets on how to keep your guitars finish spotfree. My david flammang j35 will get the call to serve tonight although i will have two old friends on stage with me for inspirations.

If your guitar has finish checking, polish will build up in the hairline cracks, and this can discolor the wood underneath or even cause the finish. Personally i dont like using the wax at all as it seems to give a finish thats not in keeping with the neck finish you get from the factory. Guitar finishing 101 the highlighted grain stain finish theres an endless list of choices available when it comes to guitar finishing. The pickups, bridge, neck wood, neck thickness, nut material, body wood, body shape, string gauge and the player himself will each have at least as much to do with the tone as the finish, if not considerably more. And i even put a strong torchlight in a dark room to see if the light went through the guitar from the inside out but it didnt.

I am hoping to conceal the crack, or at least smooth it out. I have added in some fingernail polish on 2 of my guitars chips, but would look better smoothed out. Guitars with multiple cracks will be done at a discounted rate per crack. You could put your fingers in through the crack when i got this guitar to repair. My fault for not getting more polish in the deep cracks i knew the cracks and chips would not completely go away, but i wanted to seal them up so they did not become major issues down the road. When i do a high gloss finish i will sand the guitar. In this episode ben answers a viewers question on how to repair a dent or possible crack in a guitars lacquer. Guitar finishing 101 the highlighted grain stain finish. Bottom of the guitar you can tell where the cracks and chips were. The polymer finish is far more scratch resistant than shellac or lacquer, and rarely cracks or crazes with abrupt temperature changes. That infamous nitro nitrocellulose haze on strat and les paul guitars haze, residue, and fog so common with nitrocellulose instruments like many fender strat and gibson les paul guitars is normally very resistant to cleaning due to years of playing. My unique french polish finish available on my custom guitars and also taught in the online classical guitar building course, provides a superior guitar finish that is fast to learn, easy to apply, durable and easily repairable. This gives a great finish because it is infused with a brazilian wax that leaves your instruments shiny. High gloss finishes on our guitars posted on january 29, 2015 by.

How to repair acoustic guitar finish guitar repair bench. Nitro, however, made a nicer gloss by all accounts so what to use where was an ongoing process of trial. If your guitar has what appears to be a natural finish, skip to the endto the. Remember not to use too much, as it will make the job messy and make the wax hard to remove. So to me it looks like a crack in the finish but im not 100% sure so i wanted to have some opinions. The ingredients that you need are meguiars scratchx, which comes in a black tube, and meguiars deep crystal polish step 2, which is the polish and comes in a maroon container.

Music nomad mn152 premium guitar cleaner for matte and gloss finishes 12oz. In an effort to avoid a repeat, and keep the new adhesive from pulling up wood fibers if removed again, this bare area of wood beneath the guitar is usually sealed with finish. While it is difficult to tell anything from the posted pics, there is really no such thing as a finish crack on a poly finished guitar like an epi. Cleaning your guitar without doing damage reverb news. Repairing hairline crack in poly finish telecaster. French polish, which is shellac applied by pad, became the favored finish for classical and parlor guitars, and is still common on handmade classicals today. Other brands of guitars may use different finish materials for which this process may not work, or may even be harmful to the finish. Most often, this will be caused by the finish reacting to extreme cold or rapid changes in temperature, resulting in whats generally referred to as checking, a weblike spread of damage many modern polyesterbased finishes are immune to this damage, but nitrocellulose lacquer can be very sensitive in this regard.

You can use microfiber cloth to put the wax on your guitar and after a light haze to buff it out. If the damage is extreme, we may suggest a neck or body replacement. If your guitar has finish checking, polish will build up in the hairline cracks, and this can discolor the wood underneath or even cause the finish to flake off. With all of the above facts, i have concluded it is a finish crack and not a. Repair chips and cracks in finish discussion in techtalk started by jasonyeah, mar 18, 20. Well, this one was made in 1997 this is the guitar i cut blue country heart. This is still used by a lot of guitar manufacturers. Poly finishes completely harden and solvents cannot break them down, poly finishing is very resistant to cracks, dulling and scratching while also being durable. What is the best approach for repairing poly finishes. They make a product called preservation polish, which is safe for all finish types. This is a subject ive been avoiding because you cant talk about nitrocellulose lacquer finish without talking about relicing, so im going to cover both those topics.

A noobs experience with drop fills and finish fixes. Drop fill the chips were wood shows with matching black nail polish. In fact acrylic paints were developed because they were more colourfast and didnt crack and check as easily as the older nitrocellulose paints. Does the finish on an acoustic guitar affect tone expert. Polishing a satin finish to a gloss acoustic guitars. And compared to catalyzed finishes, lacquer is easy to sand and touch up. Gibson 175 acousti guitar lacquer cracking lacquer cracks are generally caused by drastic changes in temperature or. I recommend using nonsilicon wax, as if you ever have to do any repairrefinish work, the silicon will make you curse life. Repairing cracks in acoustic guitars examples of cracks.

Repair chips and cracks in finish fender stratocaster. Luthier and instructor, robert obrien, shows how to fix hairline cracks in a brazilian rosewood guitar back and then repair the finish. Moisture in direct contact with the guitar could cause damage, as can the rubber or vinyl parts of a humidifier. What about some of the new worn or faded guitar finishes by gibson and fender.

The real truth is that the finish on an electric guitar will only play a very small role in the overall tone. Wax will protect your clean, polished paint from oxidation, light. The real challenge to repairing most tight cracks is primarily with the finish. Everything you ever wanted to know about nitro guitar finishes. I have made guitars for a full time living since 1993 and every single project i have done has had a first coat of poly oil sometimes tinted or a brownorange shellac french polish as a base for patina and then the actual finish with a hard curing paste wax.

Removing scratches from guitar finishes lacquer repair. Some products, including wax, can make guitars resistant to future polishing. Based on experience, i believe cleaning your guitar is more beneficial than polishing or waxing it. The cracks may be loosely spaced or very tight, and can appear on any part of the guitar. It can be polished and maintained by a variety of finish care products and guitar polishes. Sometimes what looks like a crack in the wood is actually just a crack in the guitar s finish. Can you damage a guitar this way cause the wood to crack, etc. The music nomad mn103 is an all in one polish and cleaner that is inexpensive, yet effective for guitars. How to buff and polish your guitar s finish duration.

Once your guitar is a bit too filled with character, its time to reach for the polish to bring back that old luster. If it is applied too thickly it can crack but when applied well and not too thickly, this is still a very good finish for acoustic guitars. Most of us have seen instruments with these unsightly finish cracks. If you own a guitar that has a hard shiny finish you want this wax, and you really do not want a cream because creams just lay on the surface and make things slippery until they are rubbed off. Gibson describe the problem of finish checking in their owners manuals as follows. If you have a hard time removing the wax, use a little cardetailing spray. Take advantage of the soft bristles to get into little cracks and crevices.

It is like being in a guitar building class designed just for youin fact, it is designed just for you. That is because poly remains more flexible than the wood, and will not crack unless there is a crack in the wood beneath it. Im assuming my best bet is to remove the finish to eliminate the cracks. I was thinking about covering the crack with some black tint stewmac super glue, and then sanding and buffing. I completed a solid body electric guitar in december of last year. You have to sand anyway, but the more time you spend sanding, the easier the lacquering becomes. Wax dos and donts fender stratocaster guitar forum. It doesnt seem like there are any cracks in the wood itself, just the clear finish. Frequently asked questions guitarscratchremover by eternashine. Literally the only factor keeping me from swarming in on the deal right now is this cr. Most often, this will be caused by the finish reacting to extreme cold or rapid changes in temperature, resulting in whats generally referred to as. If your guitar has finish checking, polish will build up in the.