Comments on: How to Make a Guitar Look Like New Again

By: chris

chris — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:15:41 +0000

That is amazing Bob! Just a little imagination, the right tools and patience will do it.

By: Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:15:47 +0000

I live in the UK and in 1972 my 1 year old son dropped my early 1960s Gretsch down stairs, snapping the neck at the 2nd fret. My local Scottish guitar shop owner knew a local violin maker whom he said I should try for a repair. This guy hand carved a nine inch wedge including the headstock, milled out the wood for the “Gretsch” logo and carved the remaining part of the neck to match the new wedge. How he managed the truss rod I don’t know. The actual fret board was undamaged somehow, so a refret was not needed. He did this job in three days, allowing me to use the guitar at a gig! He charged me all of £15 – about $25! I had to use car cellulose to refinish the guitar myself and he said for the next 10 years or so I’d have to rub down the join every so often. I have done this three times now and the join is now completely stable and invisible at last. I used several thin color coats and finished with several thin clear coats, using 1000 wet & dry between coats. I still use this guitar today (I am 69)and at present I am replacing the fingerboard binding which my son damaged recently – not the same son! Who’d have kids!

By: chris

chris — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:41:14 +0000

We hope that most of our repairs will be virtually undetectable to most people, but touch up work is fluid and there are too many factors that can get in the way of a “perfect” job. Color tint, where the touch up is, clear coat sheen/matte; there are too many variables to say you can make it invisible every time. When we talk about a repair affecting the value, it is usually when someone wants to modify or completely refinish an instrument. Having dings repaired professionally doesn’t usually decrease the value of an instrument, and it is always up to the owner of a guitar to tell prospective buyers whether or not an instrument has been repaired. Obviously, a Les Paul with a broken off headstock is not worth as much broken as it is repaired, but if you put a Floyd Rose on your ’65 Strat, your going to see a huge loss of value. I know that seems pretty obvious, but you would be surprised to know what people want to do to their collectible guitars!

By: chris

chris — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:34:41 +0000

What year is this guitar and is it made in Korea or is it one of the American ones?

By: John

John — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:21:02 +0000

I have an Epiphone EJ160E…(love it),that was in need of some repairs. The guitar was crunched in shipment by the volume & tone knobs. I repaired the damage by use of an internal screw jack and glue. After it was back in shape,I air brushed the area with “Mohawk” toners and Nitro clear. I wet sanded the areas and know of the ghost line that you had mentioned. With a little finess I made it virtually seamless.The problem I’m having is in the rubbing out process. After Rubbing out the repaired area is too smooth. I’ve noticed that Epiphone did some kind of texture to the top of that guitar to mimic the old nitro look. You can see what seems to be the grain of the wood…only on the top? The neck, sides and back are smooth. I was going to attempt to re-do the whole top with a brush …let it dry then shoot it with poly? Do you know what they did originally?

By: Nick Demarco

Nick Demarco — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:08:37 +0000

I have two Ernie Ball Music Man guitars in very rare colors one in pink of which only 200 were made and one in Green in which only 96 were made. The guitars are dead mint except they both have a ding in the clear coat. The Green believe it or not came from the factory with a beutiful 3D quilt top that had a small knot in the wood that looked kind of cool but I noticed the clear coat some how had a slight ding over the knot the size of a tip of a pick and just as thin. I have never played this guitar because I knew it was rare. The pink has a bigger ding in the clear about a third of an inch and in the right light angle is noticable. I used this ax in the studio and that ding was an accident. Neither one penetrates the paint or wood. I really would like to have these repaired but I thought they could be fixed with no knowledge that they were ever there.I do not want to affect the value of the guitars but there is a contradiction in what you say. If you can make it vanish how would someone know it was ever there. Or will it show a sign that there was a repair. I am in NY so I would find the best luthier here for the job if it will look like it never happened if there is going to be a trace of a repair I would rather leave it the way it is. Using your expertise the type of guitar and finish what is your opinion on the matter. Thank you for your advice.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:28 +0000

great tips! thanks