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Post subject: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refinish
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:07 pm
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This refinish is going to be totally amateur and was totally unplanned but may as well post the progress. I make no guarantees on the results. Wish me luck. It started when a weeping angel statue fell from the mantle and dinged the crap out of my partocaster. Would have left it but this ding had less mojo than my playing.

Smack Dab in the middle like a zit on a teens forehead

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Last edited by captainc on Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:13 pm
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So i decided since this is a partscaster and my beater guitar i'd just attempt a fix myself. Stumbled upon a stewmac video on drop fill repair using superglue so gave it a whirl.

That really works well.

In this pic it looks pretty good but you can see in the center where i applied it a little too thick so some bubbles appeared. For those of you that might attempt this, my advice to you ... PATIENCE and THIN applications. But i didn't get discouraged. I carefully sliced out the center with a razor and treated it like a smaller drop fill which did the trick.

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That worked out alright and here it is. The ding looked pretty darn good in dim light but this pic really brought out the worst in the 20 year old amateur finish i did back in 1994. And in the brighter light you could make out the faint circular outline of the cracked poly. This is where it goes south. I should have just wetsanded and buffed it and lived with it but it was just eating at me... "I can do better" lol

lesson here.... quit while your ahead.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:32 pm
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I ended up sanding down the ding again. The good news is i got the cracked poly off but the bad news was now that i'm down to the bare ash... i soon realized.... "Crap, now i have to match this green!" yeah good luck with that. Tried it and yeah... not so much.

so while at the local Luthier getting my daughter set up with a Cello, i decided to ask how much he'd charge for a proper repair. $180 to fix the ding or $350 for a refinish. While i don't doubt that's a fair price, i just don't have it in the budget right now so i guess i'm on my own. But i'm going to turn this into a positive thing. This will give me a chance to do that fix that cockeyed crooked bridge and I can do a burst finish which will look better, what i wanted to begin with, and will allow me to leave the back and i'll only have to refinish the top.

Palm sander came out and away we go....

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too late to turn back now...

Luckily a friend has a drill press so hey... why not fix the crooked bridge. Doweled the holes and after measuring and marking about 30,000 times i worked up the courage to do the deed. This is probably the most difficult part in my opinion... and it is for this very reason i will probably never do a build again. I'll solder til the cows come home but I will never claim to be a luthier.

and after 20 years with a crooked bridge... finally captainc's bridge is pretty straight. In the pic the screws look a little off but its because they are not screwed in all the way. Once they were in all the way everything looks good. Phew...

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:39 pm
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And here we are today. Sanded it down a bit more to get rid of some of the remaining green to hopefully avoid any excessive blotches through the new finish. The rest will ether be covered by the burst or the pick guard. Hopefully this turns out ok. This strat only has to last me a couple of years so as long as it looks and plays half decent and stays in tune i'm happy.

Hope you enjoy this for the comedy of it if nothing else. This is what NOT to do when you get a ding :lol:

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wish me luck...

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:41 pm
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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

:wink:

The re-installed bridge -- now correctly situated -- takes a lot of the bite out of what would've otherwise been a steep learning curve. Once re-finned in a proper burst motif, you'll soon forget about minor tribulations like a ding.

Rawk on!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:45 pm
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captainc, good job, you have spent some quality time with your guitar. :D

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:52 pm
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thanks guys.

I got two shades of green... might make it a 3 tone burst and really give myself a challenge :lol:

hopefully will start the color tonight. I'll post more pics when i have more progress to report.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 4:51 am
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We all learn from our mistakes. Carry on and definitely give us the play by play!

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:58 am
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Martian wrote:
We all learn from our mistakes. Carry on and definitely give us the play by play!


+1

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 8:19 am
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captainc wrote:
This is what NOT to do when you get a ding :lol:

Probably not - but in my book, yes yes yes!

Cap'n, I love your attitude. And if it was you who did the original fine looking green finish in the '90s then I can only imagine how good the new one is going to be with 20 years more experience.

Respect! 8)

Standing by for more. Best of luck.

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 10:47 am
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Thanks all. Here's the current state of things. I used Rit Dye with Denatured Alcohol for the stain. Would have gone with something different but its what i used originally so i figured it would be easier to come close to whats on the back. I find Its easy to use and you can easily control the color by adding more or less solvent and applying multiple coats until you get the saturation you're looking for. Using Denatured alcohol as the solvent keeps the grain from raising which also helps.

I got a little nervous because the crevices where the ding was were darkening much faster than the rest. What i ended up doing was sanding it back a bit, then soaking some wood filler overnight in the dye and pressing a small amount in the cracks. That seemed to do the trick. Looks pretty even so i might just give it one more very light sand on the body and then one more coat. Then i can start thinking about the Poly. I'm on the fence as to using a spray or the Minwax Wipe on Poly. I've read some threads here and there that have good things to say about the wipe on poly for this application. I have tons of time so i think i might do better with that to avoid drips and orange peel on the clear. Maybe build up the coats with the wipe on and then one final coat with the spray. If anyone has any suggestions on that i'm all ears.

My plan is to at least get a coat or two to seal the green before i do the burst. That way if i get some overspray (which i'm sure i will) i can lightly sand it back.

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here's a test fit with the bridge and pickguard. Going for a Hunter Green look. Also wanted it a bit on the dark side so that the grain is subtle and picked up in the light. Also thinking about a pearloid pickguard but on the fence about that too.

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Thanks for all the encouragement... i'll update when i get around to the poly which will hopefully be later this week depending on when i can get to the store.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 11:58 am
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Lookin' good, Captain!

8)

For your clear sealer I'd go with multiple light coats, wet-sanding between each with 1200-grit, 1600 after the final shot followed up with polishing and waxing.

Rawk on!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:05 pm
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Martian wrote:
We all learn from our mistakes.

Speak for yourself, i have a tendency not to.

Anyway, CaptainC that looks great, love hunter green. (It never photographs quite as good as it looks in real life, so I bet she'll look even better in person when you're done.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:26 pm
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Twelvebar wrote:
Anyway, CaptainC that looks great, love hunter green. (It never photographs quite as good as it looks in real life, so I bet she'll look even better in person when you're done.

Thanks, i certainly hope so. I'm a terrible photographer. maybe 63Supro can swing by when its done :wink: He does some amazing work with a camera.

Retroverbial wrote:
Lookin' good, Captain!

8)

For your clear sealer I'd go with multiple light coats, wet-sanding between each with 1200-grit, 1600 after the final shot followed up with polishing and waxing.

Rawk on!

Arjay


Thanks Arjay. Im leaning towards the spray. I think as long as I keep the coats thin I should be able to avoid drips. I afraid if i use the wipe on stuff it might absorb unevenly on the first application and leave spots. Hopefully i can get to that soon. Anxious to get this done.

cheers.

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Post subject: Re: Evolution of a Ding... captainc's totally amateur refini
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 6:41 pm
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captainc wrote:
Anxious to get this done.


Anxiety is the antithesis of patience.

Take your time, sir.

Arjay

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