More Refin Questions

[Dolan]

First off, I'm looking for someone who does guitar refins, any suggestions? Someone who specializes in graphics. Second, I let my son borrow this guitar (Charvel) and he took it apart and sanded down the finish and though he did a nice job for the most part, there are some gouges and dips that need some attention. I hope that wont pose a major problem.

It also has a route for a neck pup which is not original as well as a tone knob hole and three small holes from switchs used for on/off and various other trick stuff. Think Bondo would work for the neck pup hole and a small piece of wood glued to the inside of the control cavity and Bondo those holes or? I'd like to take care of the Bondo stuff myself and have the finisher to the rest of the prepping. Suggestions?

[catzodellamarina]

Re: More Refin Questions

I've heard Bondo is good for small holes but not sure about larger fills. My neighbor made a nicely shaped block of wood to fit in the routed humbucker cavity of my Charvel Fusion. It fits tightly and leaves about 1/8 inch space to be filled in to make level. What should I use? My plan is to fill in the hole and router it all over again for 2 angled singles like it came stock.

[pebber]

Re: More Refin Questions

I want to add that Bondo can't be stained like certain other wood fillers, and I certainly don't want to use it for filling a pickup cavity. For those larger holes, I route them square so I can glue in a block of wood, and use Stewmac woodfiller round the edges.

[Dolan]

Re: More Refin Questions

Ok, the wood block in the hole seems logical but my question now is....the cracks around the wood block, when filled with whatever, whats going to stop it from cracking?

[sully]

Re: More Refin Questions

using the correct product. covering up that stuff isn't always the easiest thing to do. i'd almost expect that you're gonna see it, and be pleasantly surprised if you don't.

how are you finishing the guitar? are you having it pro shot, or using spray cans?

sully

[sully]

Re: More Refin Questions

wow, i did NOT mean to come off sounding like a tool on that. sorry!

there's a product that's like bondo, but it's a polyester glaze that's made by evercoat. it works like bondo, but it's a little thinner, and seems to work better. mm2002 should chime in soon, he's the man with this stuff.

sully

[Newc]

Re: More Refin Questions

That guy with the How To Krylon Your Guitar book on Ebay (John Gleneicki) says to use bondo for small holes, and that it can be painted or primered over.
Probably depends on the type of paint you're using as well (acrylic lacquer vs...?) - hey if it works for cars....

For the switch holes, you can dowel each one and seal them with wood filler or bondo but make sure it's sanded as smooth as possible, and let it completely dry. I have no idea how long wood filler/putty takes to dry, especially in tight fitting areas like a doweled hole, but whatever the can says, I'd give it twice that or more.

[Dolan]

Re: More Refin Questions

[ QUOTE ]
wow, i did NOT mean to come off sounding like a tool on that. sorry!

there's a product that's like bondo, but it's a polyester glaze that's made by evercoat. it works like bondo, but it's a little thinner, and seems to work better. mm2002 should chime in soon, he's the man with this stuff.

sully

[/ QUOTE ]

Hehehe..............I'm gonna have a pro shoot it. I'm a house painter so that stuff is better left to the pros who do it for a living. I believe, from my experience painting interior woods that, you wont be able to tell where the patches were if done correctly.

NewC.....dont think I'll be able to dowel because of the thinness of the wood where the cavity is. Might be able to though, I guess I could try it?

[sully]

Re: More Refin Questions

rattle cans over bondo will show seams. for sure. no doubt in my mind.

the key phrase there is "if done correctly." one of the difference between house paint and eurethane is that the house paint is way thicker, and may build up more over a patch than eurethane will. eurethane is water thin, and you don't really use it to build up to a level finish; that's gotta be done with the primer. however, you can do your patchwork, primer over it, wetsand the primer, and go with your color. the thing that blows, though, is that sometimes you won't see the seams underneath the primer, but once you get some color or clear on there, guess who shows up? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] sound like experience typing? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

anyway, there's people here way more qualified than i am to talk about this topic, but if you're having a pro do it, i'm sure you'll get the results you're lookin for.

sully

[VulfgangPfuck]

Re: More Refin Questions

Stuff that I have had excellent results with over Bondo, is ROCK HARD PUTTY. You mix it with water, and it dries practically concrete solid! Sandable and paintable too! I'd look into that before Bondo.
Ask Newc....I used that on his Bullseye Explorer to eliminate the seams where the Kahler route was filled.