Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: spacebran Sep 1 2011, 02:37 AM

Hello, I know I've been very quiet lately (busy, but still practicing away!).

Today, I opened my guitar case with the intentions of changing the strings on my guitar, and even though I'm always very, very careful with my guitar: *whack* against the corner of a wall. I hit the bottom part where your guitar rests on your thigh, right near the front. I have a Jackson SL-1 soloist with a Nebulah finish - this guitar is my absolute baby. I wouldn't be so upset, but I can see the wood. The wood only shows in two very small spots (about 1 or 2 mm wide), but the paint is obviously ruined in the surrounding area (probably about a 3/4 cm wide dent).

I know, I know - guitars are going to get scratched, but I'm very picky about this kind of stuff. I can deal with a few minor scratches, but this is an eye sore to me.

How do I fix this? I've tried looking online, but the information available is very limited. The scratch isn't near any of the fancy paintwork. If I take it to my guitar shop, will they be able to fix it for me?

And no, I did not change the strings. I looked at the scratch for about 5 minutes, put my guitar away, and then came on here to try and find a solution.

Thanks.

Posted by: JaxN4 Sep 1 2011, 03:22 AM

Take a photo and post it here mate, it will help to see tha damage before seeing if it can be fixed

Posted by: spacebran Sep 1 2011, 03:51 AM

Okay, here is the picture. Its hard to see how deep the scratch is, but it basically just goes down to the wood. The wood isn't damaged, basically the paint has been scratched away. I would have provided a higher quality image, but I don't have my camera here and had to use a phone.

Posted by: JaxN4 Sep 1 2011, 04:12 AM

I honestly dont think it's that bad at all mate. If it's just the paint then it will be superficial, as in on;y socmestic and can be eaisly fixed if you have a good guitar tech in your location....

Don't stress too much, its only paint and can be touched up....

Posted by: kahall Sep 1 2011, 04:20 AM

I know how you feel. I remember when one of my better guitars fell off the stand for the first time and nicked the neck. I was sick. Now I just look at it as character. I only wish I had a good story to go with it.

Posted by: spacebran Sep 1 2011, 04:23 AM

Thanks for the replies - so basically it looks like it can have paint applied and then resealed once its dried?

I read a couple sites where they talked about using detailing paint for cars to fix guitar scratches, but I wasn't sure if that was okay if the wood was showing. I am really good friends with a guy who owns his own studio and guitar school, and all my stuff is done by his tech.

And yea, I do agree that scratches give guitars character, and I wouldn't normally fix a scratch, but this one is a bit of an eye sore for me and I know it will bother me if I don't fix it.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 1 2011, 08:00 AM

It's like a battle scar don't fuss over it too much man!

Posted by: Fran Sep 1 2011, 08:03 AM

Doesn't look that bad, though I feel your pain

Just look at the battle scars on many of our instructors guitars, it's just what happens with things we use often. Having said that I bet it's easy to have it repaired on a good guitar tech

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 1 2011, 11:56 AM

That's not so bad

You're lucky your guitar is black, so you can repaint the scratch easily.

Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 1 2011, 05:25 PM

ouch! i feel ya, but come on dude, look at my strat

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Sep 2 2011, 01:47 AM

i love scratchs they look so badass! Take a look at Adrian's Strat : o it's so so so freakky badass!


BUT, imo there are 3 things of scratchs -
STUPID : You scratch your guitar on porpuse and some1 should break your neck if you do them "
ACCIDNT: for example, you just grabbed the guiitar, a friend calls you, you turn around and BANG the guitar hit the door! : c
LIVE: Those are the est kind, they are the proof a battle!!!

Posted by: jstcrsn Sep 2 2011, 01:51 AM

here is what to do
this takes a few steps, but is easy
first try to match the paint as close as you can
then try to put masking tape , as close as possible to the shape of the ding
paint with small brush,once the paint is dry you will need to start filling it with polyurethane-oil based
you can use your brush for this or buy a spray can which will take longer because it has has alot of thinner in it needing more coats
everytime a layer is cured put on another layer until you build up the poly to match the guitar(hint) hold the guitar so the poly will run into the desired shape,but do not over fill and cause runs outside the tape-if so just wipe of with paint thinner before it dries- paint thinner will have no effect on your guitar or cured poly- but it is always good to check in an inconspicuos area
once you build it up, pull the tape and it should be vertiually unnoticable
if you are feeling frothy,you can wet sand starting at 400 grit then 800 then 1500 and finally 2000 grit after this polish with polishing compound and even an expert might not know

p.sp-do not paint your tape under the poly as then you willhave to sand poly down to remove the tape- if you want you can pull the tape off after every coat of poly before it is cuered and then retape before the next coat
and looking at the picture,you might need to clean any loose debris

Posted by: JaxN4 Sep 2 2011, 06:26 AM

Speaking of your start...can u tell me a bit about it? Custom job? What pickups you have? What wood is the neck and fingerboard?

Posted by: HungryForHeaven Sep 2 2011, 08:02 AM

If someone asks, just go "You should see the other guitar!".

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Sep 2 2011, 05:19 PM

Posted by: Nihilist1 Sep 3 2011, 04:30 AM

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 3 2011, 10:20 AM

C'moon, you call that damaged guitar, check this out

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Sep 3 2011, 10:19 PM

After two-three scratches you will stop to paying attention !

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Sep 4 2011, 07:58 AM

as I said...real battle scars



Poor Epiphone it looks like a Godin though...

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 4 2011, 02:33 PM

Whatever it is - it's been mistreated

Posted by: moleman Sep 7 2011, 11:25 AM

This thread is super sad.
I have one of those picks with a rough sandpaper-y coating and I accidentally scraped it across my (guitar) body. Almost cried man.

You aren't alone space

I'm glad Adrian showed up in this thread too, as his guitar is super impressive to me. It looks so ... played. I love it.
Can't bring myself to do that to my beloved axe.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 7 2011, 12:56 PM

It's great to have a relic guitar, but the job of creating a relic is a bit tricky.

Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 7 2011, 03:17 PM

that guitar always turns heads , the body is a 70's american standard, and the neck is an 80's replacement neck, alder body, flamed maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard.

i got a dimarzio chopper on the bridge, an old ibanez on the mid and the stock fender on the neck.

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Sep 23 2011, 10:47 PM

wow Ivan, that must've been intentional!