First chip/gash-From heartbreak to amazement

[NRBQ]

Last night I got the first real chip on my guitar and it broke my heart. I wasn't even playing it, just being carless and knocked it into the corner of one of my other guitars and man it hurt. Today I touched base with a wood finishing guy and he just happened to be passing thru my town on some business so he stopped by the house to have a look. He told me it was a fairly easy do it yourself fix and should be pretty cheap. He gave me the lowdown and this is what I did.

I got a wood stain pen from home depot and a small can of clear nitro from a wood working shop and got to work. I used the wood stain pen to darken the area where the finish was gone to match the color of the stain on the side of the guitar. I then dipped the tip of a pencil/pen without the led in it in the nitro and touched it to the nick to fill in the divit so to speak. About an hour later it had soaked in the wood and I did another application. An hour after that the nitro had soaked again but less then the first time but it still needed another application which I applied. One hour later I began to apply Turtle Wax/Rubbing Compound (which btw is silicone free) to smooth out the surface. Many people wet sand to smooth out the surface but I didn't want to be that invasive and it turned out that the rubbing compound did the trick. The spot needed one more drip of nitro to fill completely and then after it dried I did several very extensive compound applications followed by an application of Turtle Wax's polishing compound. After all was said and done, you can't even tell there was ever a gash in the first place AMAZING!!!!!!!. As a matter of fact, the closer to completion I got the harder it became to find the spot. Eventually it was prettu much gone with the wind. Happy Happy Joy Joy!!

Apologies to any readers as I was so discusted by what I had done that I never thought to take a before picture. Truth be known if I had owned this guitar for more then like two weeks before chipping the thing, it wouldn't have been such a big deal but I just got the freakin thing. Now that lump in my throat is as long gone as the chip. It's pretty close to a pro fix and it wasn't really that hard to work with the nitro. I'm gonna try not to screw it up again for at least 6 months and I'll be over the "new sneaker" phase of ownership. Then again, now that I know I can pull off a near pro level fix at least on the sides and back of the guitar I fear a nick or chip less then yesterday.

Dodged a bullet!

PS, Again let me apologize for not taking before pictures, I figure I might get beaten up over that. Also because in the after picture you can't really see much other then a tiny spot on picture two at the bottom of the guitar and the middle of the picture. It's amazing that the spot is so tiny now cause it couldn't be missed before.

[axepilot]

Good fix!

[strat1701]

a nic or ding here and there give character. On my first gibson, a studio I banged the edge (where binding would normally be) near the controls walking thru the doorway to the studio in the basement. Like a month after I got it! Chipped to the wood. On a black guitar. The first of a few dings over the lifetime of that guitar. it's a guitar not a pristine heirloom....Glad you got yours fixed if that's what floats your boat, but then I would gather, people who don't like chips and dings wouldn't want a CC2 Goldie then

[gtimach1]

Originally Posted by strat1701

a nic or ding here and there give character. On my first gibson, a studio I banged the edge (where binding would normally be) near the controls walking thru the doorway to the studio in the basement. Like a month after I got it! Chipped to the wood. On a black guitar. The first of a few dings over the lifetime of that guitar. it's a guitar not a pristine heirloom....Glad you got yours fixed if that's what floats your boat, but then I would gather, people who don't like chips and dings wouldn't want a CC2 Goldie then

Got you beat. Took a very small nip of blue off my 1 hour old Pelham Blue Studio whie trying to get in the freaking strap lock post screw. I got a can of GM Light Metallic Blue auto paint and touched it up. I still know its there, but it isn't obvious anymore. Fortunately it was just below the top and not noticeable from the front. But, I could see it very easily when I was playing. Now I have to really look hard to notice it. Man, was I ticked off when the screwdriver slipped.

Now, I have a unique guitar that I can easily identify if someone steals it (though not many people are looking to swipe a lefty guitar).

The initial pain of messing up my brand new guitar has passed with a successful repair and now I am enjoying playing it.