PRS SE SC Korina (Honey) - now a Mod/Refinish thread

Jalapeno

So I got this 18months ago to leave at the hotel where I was staying regularly (for months on end). A wide-fat neck. It's actually great to play.

Unfortunately I seemed to have chipped the gloopy poly finish, probably on the train journey home, and only just noticed.

It looks like I probably need to re-finish it. (Unless anyone has some ace repair tips).

Set neck,  so hours of hand-sanding fun no doubt

Fretwired

Leave it as it is .. the odd scar looks cool.

TTony

Yup.  Leave as is.

That doesn't look like just a paint chip - looks like you've dinged the wood too.

To get it refinned properly (ie so that it doesn't look refinned), you'd be better off buying a new one.  If you try to do the job yourself (with all respect) you'll not get it looking right.

I have a travel guitar that lives in the boot of my car and hotel rooms.  It's my travel guitar because (a) it's nice to play and (b) I don't care if it gets bashed.

Jalapeno

yeah a dent, probably a couple of millimetres

Fretwired

Jalapeno said:

yeah a dent, probably a couple of millimetres

I did it to my US Deluxe Strat .. smashed the wood as well as the finish. A big ding .. just left it.

Jalapeno

Well that was hard ....  I foresee a future of modding it

Jalapeno

Not going to attempt anything silly, the dent is there for good.  But I am going to apply a bit of amber stain to the bare wood, and layer some nail polish, don't want the finish to start flaking off from that excellent start.

Will report back.

ChrisMusic

Would a judicious bit of steaming not fluff the wood grain back up a bit ?

Calling @WezV and others who understand these things...

TTony

ChrisMusic said:

Would a judicious bit of steaming not fluff the wood grain back up a bit ?

I'd be worried about the steam getting under the finish and causing further problems.

Steaming works well where you've dented something, where all the wood fibres are still in place (they're just depressed), and where there's no finish in the area for the steam to penetrate.  Also, the flatter the surface, the better - so think the top face of a guitar rather than a curved edge!

Maynehead

I tried a steaming a dent out of a poly finished maple neck once... was going at it for half an hour with a soldering iron and wet tissue but in the end it made absolutely bugger all difference.

I think steaming is only useful for less dense woods with thin/no finish.

WezV

steaming works best when no finish is there.  you can try it where there is finish but it can be risky.   steaming works on dense woods as well as softer woods,  i have just had great success steaming dents out of rosewood.  as tony says, its works best when wood fibers remain intact, but squashed, not so effective once they are torn

WezV

as for repairing it.   If you did decide to do it i would be going for coloured epoxy suck as z-poxy of west systems.  

these can be tinted to the desired shade, will drop fill in one go and can then be sanded back and buffed to a good repair.  

but with it usually being harder than the existing finish they may not age the same and you do need to be careful not to sand through existing finish when leveling off.  

Jalapeno

This stuff ?

WezV

yeah, mixes really nicely if you warm the bottles in hot water first

WezV

this is the idea

http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Finishing/Mixing_red_epoxy_for_cherry-finish_repairs.html

Jalapeno

Ta

Jalapeno

Necro bump .....

The PRS SE translucent lacquer contained the tint and it was nigh on impossible to match.

Finally made some progress.  I used the soldering iron & wet rag to get the majority of the dent out successfully. repaired the surface with superglue and lots of sanding elbow grease. (There's an attempt to tame the girth of the neck, to be continued before I go with an overall clear coat).

I've had a fair bit of poly rattle can experimentation over the intervening 2yrs, but yesterday sanded it all right back (gawd Korina is an extremely dull pale white colour and very dusty to sand - mask needed.

Anywho ... red & translucent gold burst is the result, pretty pleased with it.

Got a Mojo Mojotron for the neck and a Goldfoil for the bridge incoming.

Jalapeno

Couple more coats of red needed to cover up sanding scars (plus that front looks a bit lopsided )

Oh I also forgot, my Black & Decker "Mouse" sander blew up yesterday - big cloud of blue smoke ! - I wasn't pressing hard or putting any strain on it. Local Screwfix to the rescue !!!!!

Jalapeno

Got the hot air gun out and re-started - much lighter spraying.  I've learned an awful lot about sanding

Jalapeno

So also managed to assemble the bits today for soldering - then I'm done (bar a couple more coats of gun oil on the neck).

Looks a bit Cherry Sunburst I suppose - it's actually Montana Acrylic Translucent Tomato Ketchup and Translucent Gold, with Acrylic clear varnish.



Have to say I'm rather pleased with my spraying/sanding handiwork !

chrispy108

That's really nice!