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Post subject: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:00 am
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I have a super small chip on the edge of my vintage AVRI maple lacquer fretboard, down towards the 20th fret. The chip is not on top of the board, it is right on the edge of the fret board and neck.
It is probably the size of the end tip of a marker, if that makes sense.

Should I worry about this chip? Should I seal the chip? How?

My worry is that I clean the guitar a lot because I sweat and play a lot of gigs...I don't want the cleaner/polish solution (Gibson Pump Polish) ruining the finish in anyway.


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Post subject: Re: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:34 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Hello teleric.

For a small chip first clean/degrease the area with methylated spirit/denatured alcohol, available cheaply from any hardware shop, paint store or similar. Then build up the gap left by the missing chip of lacquer with cyanoacrylate glue, AKA superglue. Do this in successive layers till you have a small raised bump. Let that harden, then knock it back flat with wet-and-dry paper. Finishing with P2000 wet-and-dry and then a good polish will bring the surface back to a mirror gloss and, done well, you can get an invisible mend.

That's the official luthier method in this situation.

Or, if you can't be bothered with all of that, leave it and call it mojo.

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:43 am
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Ceri wrote:
Hello teleric.

For a small chip first clean/degrease the area with methylated spirit/denatured alcohol, available cheaply from any hardware shop, paint store or similar. Then build up the gap left by the missing chip of lacquer with cyanoacrylate glue, AKA superglue. Do this in successive layers till you have a small raised bump. Let that harden, then knock it back flat with wet-and-dry paper. Finishing with P2000 wet-and-dry and then a good polish will bring the surface back to a mirror gloss and, done well, you can get an invisible mend.

That's the official luthier method in this situation.

Or, if you can't be bothered with all of that, leave it and call it mojo.

Cheers - C


Thanks...if I leave it, will it get worst over time? Or is the rest of the neck still sealed properly? I always thought if exposed maple gets liquid (sweat, cleaning solution, polish, whiskey, etc) on it that it can cause damage to the whole neck...

I don't now how comfortable I feel pretending to be a luthier, but I feel like I could do what you instructed. I don't want the chip to grow onto the actual fret board and I also don't want to ruin the finish by leaving it.


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Post subject: Re: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:56 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
teleric wrote:
if I leave it, will it get worst over time?

Depends. Sometimes the lacquer chipped because you gave it a sharp knock, but the rest of the lacquer in that area is stuck good and fast and won't shift. Other times, one bit of lacquer flaking off is a sign that more is to follow.

For that reason if it were my guitar I'd do the repair. So long as you degrease the surface well first, like I described, the glue should then not only fill the gap but also consolidate the existing lacquer around it.

Also, sometimes a chip on the neck can just feel a bit uncomfortable and distracting under the fretting hand.

I'd do the quick, easy, cheap mend. But others might leave it. Personal choice.

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:02 am
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It won't eventually cause damage to the whole neck.

I have a few severely damaged surface necks. But they're still very straight and the frets are still level. A small pencil-head type ding on a guitar neck is like a small scar on a person's skin. The damage has been done.

However, in the case of a guitar neck, you can make the scar disappear as Ceri has pointed out.

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Post subject: Re: Chip on lacquer fretboard - advice needed!
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:43 pm
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+1 on Ceri's repair advice. The Stew-Mac website recommends the same thing. :)

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