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Hi brains trust, I had the neck on my Les Paul refinished about a year ago (another story altogether) in nitro, and subsequently lent it to a friend who somehow managed to put a significant ding in the back of the neck. I drop filled this with nitro, levelled it with a razor and then blocked it back with 800, subsequently going straight through what turned out to be an incredibly thin layer of clear. I should have stopped straight away but didn’t. The photo shows where it’s at now. I’ve previously done successful tint touch ups but looking at this do you reckon I’ll ever get it close to invisible, or am I going to have to strip the neck and start again?

If the latter, do Gibson use a tinted grain filler that adds a base colour to the mahogany on their cherry red finishes, or do they grain fill, rub back to bare wood and then shoot sealer and cherry red followed by clear?

I haven’t gone through to wood yet on this.


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I've been working on something similar with decent results. Same color and everything.

But that acoustic is a maple neck. While done with the same materials at hand they are finished differently.

Neck was refinished? Then what big G does at the factory when they finish may not even be relevant anymore.....

What I see is a dark brown grain filler with a cherry tint sprayed over. If you stop right there, do minor prep work, this should be able to be touched up and blended out with an airbrush. I would then likely shoot a large portion of the back of the neck again with clear before buffing. Keep sanding and you will need to deal with the filler too.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thanks very much, that was my sense. Should have cleared over my drop fill but I didn’t realise the clear was so thin. Having just stripped a Studio it seems Gibson put it on quite thick.


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Pretty happy with that! The original repair is still slightly visible but I think that’s unavoidable due to the depth of the ding. I guess I could have steamed it out but then you’re getting into back to bare wood territory, and I doubt the job would look anywhere near as good. By the time I shoot some clear over this and flat it off / polish back up I reckon it will be good.


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You're hired, Bosco!!!!!!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Looks good!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Haha thanks, Chris! I’ll be honest in saying I’m pretty sure I just lucked out and ordered the exact same pre-tinted heritage cherry red nitro that the previous repairer used. I was expecting to have to add some yellow but I just diluted it with clear and shot until it blended.

TRADE SECRET: I used Blu-Tack to mask off the area of the ding that retained its colour to avoid making it darker. It actually worked amazingly well!

I can’t recommend the ANI R150 mini gun enough btw


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