Touching up finish on guitar?

[KingYosef]

What do you guys do to touch up a chip in a gloss finish on a guitar. Can I use gloss enamel paint? The finish I have is black gloss.

[Canine]

I'm sure somebody will give you some helpful advice. Me, I'd leave the guitar be, some scratches here and there show character!

 

Would you pay thousands for the Gibson BFG or for those signature Strats that look like were used and abused before leaving the factory? I guess it's all a matter of taste, but I care more about how the guitar sounds than I care about how it looks.

[midiman56]

I'm of the opinion that if you're gonna have a guitar with a dent of a chunk taken out of it, you should also have the pleasure of telling the story of how it got there!

 

MIDI

[BSAKing]

I recollect seeing in some previous posts that folks had used fingernail polish I think it was. No doubt there is a technique to it and then smooth it I guess.

 

Try search the forums, as I have never tried it, but I think that more than one person had used this approach.

[Nic]

What do you guys do to touch up a chip in a gloss finish on a guitar. Can I use gloss enamel paint? The finish I have is black gloss.

 

I don't think there is anything you can do, as an amateur, that wouldn't make it worse.

[Dave]

Personally, I think about my guitar's finish the way I think about the paint job on my car, I wouldn't buy a car that already looked like it had been through a sandstorm, but that's just me. I like 'em shiny.

[bluesman345]

I usually use a black felt pen - it looks ok as long as you are not too close. Otherwise, you can always use duct tape!

[Just Strum]

Leave it and if you sell it, instead of saying "...in fair condition" note it as "...relic in great condition"

[rextasy]

I'm building up layers of fingernail polish to fill a small chip on the back of the neck of my cherry G-400. My worry is that the polish is going to be too soft to sand.

[TWANG]

In the late 70s.. I bought a new rick 4001

brand new out of the box, I went to hand to a guy to look at..

turned it slighlty and the lower bout hit the coffee table edge.

five minutes old and it had a thumbnail size chip all the way to the wood.

 

I used nail polish.. looked every bit as bad as the chip.

 

I've tried spot repair a couple of time since then..

 

and the best I can do, remembering it turns out paint is my main area of suckage,

is mask off the chip area.

spray it gloss black in your case..

then use min wax wipe on poly, gloss finish

then buff it out after it drys enough.. overnight for the paint overnight for the gloss.

and it should match fairly well.. better than my nail polish job..

 

but that's a hack repair.. I do stink at paint.. still, it's better than a big ol chip..and looks just more like a normal ding.

 

TWANG