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Hey folks,

I've just finished buffing and finishing another guitar. I went and bolted on the neck, and the lacq. must have compressed and there is a white (lifted area in pic) along the neck joint. What is the best way to fix this? will applying more lacquer with an artist brush re adhere this? Or, Do I have to sand it down and blend it in? Thanks in advance.

was this neck glued in prior to finishing? That lifting sure is reminiscent of glue blockage causing the sealer and finish not to adhere

No Michael, the neck has not been glued at all. It's just bolted on. It was fine until I tightened it down. The Lacq has lifted off causing these light marks.

I knew the lacquer had flaked off I was just wondering if maybe glue on the wood might be the culprit for the lack of bonding there.

I would sand or scrape back for a little bit past the problem area and touch up with a brush, maybe 3 coats.

Other than something on you buffer wheel that beat it off. (which if the case would have happened elsewhere as well) something has had to cause the lack of adherence. It even looks as if your sealer is is missing a well.

Terry, where can I get that but. cell. At a hardware or auto paint store? Sounds like it might be the way to go if it's worked for you.

Thin superglue will wick under the lifted lacquer and reattach it. Obviously, you should remove the neck before you attempt this.

Bolting the neck down must have put pressure on the edge of the lacquer to cause this. You might want to sand the leading edge of the lacquer on the inner face of the heel slightly so it doesn't happen again.

One thing further about the superglue application. It needs to be applied at the point where the separation has occurred and you should try to keep it off the surface of the finish to prevent damage. So in this case, apply the CA to the inner face of the heel, along a line about 1/16" back from the edge. Apply enough that it flows over the the edge and wicks into the crack.

I have repaired lots of lifted lacquer chips this way and when it works, it can make for an almost invisible repair. Make sure your CA is fresh and is the thin kind.

I've seen this happen after wet sanding pre-drilled tuner holes...water gets under the surface and lifts up the finish. Looks like it might be the same thing happening here.

In the case of my experience with tuner holes, the bushings covered it up. I've never had it happen at the neck location you show here.

Barry's super glue trick sounds reasonable.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Todd, I used Mcfaddens vyn. sealer.

I have had the same thing happen to me... Fresh, thin super glue did the trick, but there is a danger that the glue will seal the void before it creeps all the way to the bottom. On my neck, there was one spot that didn't get the glue & I had to pick off the loose flake of lacquer & drop fill the blemish.
If you work carefully from one end, perhaps holding the lacquer away from the heel with a thin Xacto blade (or even better, a fine scalpel) You can probably pull off an invisible repair.
These days, I chisel off that little ridge of lacquer before bolting on the neck.
If you slip & put a tiny nick in the lacquer at the edge of the heel, it will show... But, one or two drops of Tru-Oil trickled down the heel to side joint will disappear tiny imperfections.

What Barry said. Before you try superglue, you might see if you can wick in lacquer thinner from the end of a fine brush--also right on the corner, where it can wick under the lifted lacquer.

This may indicate that you are lacquering too thick, or using an inflexible lacquer that is not formulated for guitars. And do sand that leading edge so that the lacquer is flush to the surface before bolting. I actually find that no matter how well I fet the enck to the sides before lacquering, I need to do a little refitting afterwards, so that edge will be sanded as part of the final neck fitting process.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

In addition to what others have said about butyl cellosolve, lacquer thinner or acetone be sure to let the lacquer cure for a couple weeks before resanding and buffing. Otherwise it will shrink back over time and reveal the repair.