Basic chip repair - options?

Crazyblue1779

I’m picking up a somewhat battered Jackson in a couple of days, with some pretty hefty chips in the lacquer!

It’s not an expensive guitar so I don’t want to spend a lot of time / money on fixing it up ( I don’t want to start sanding it or anything), but I’d like to at least try and improve it a bit. 

I’ve seen little pots of proper guitar touch up paint (albeit in a lighter shade of grey), or ( and this might be a daft idea) I had wondered if something like car touch up paint might work as a quick fix?

Any other suggestions?

ICBM

Car touch-up paint is ideal for this. It’s very hard to make it completely invisible but it will make a big difference to how bad it looks from a distance.

You should be able to identify the colour fairly easily if you just look at a lot of cars until you spot something similar. I think I’ve seen that colour on Toyotas, in fact...

Crazyblue1779

ICBM said:

Car touch-up paint is ideal for this. It’s very hard to make it completely invisible but it will make a big difference to how bad it looks from a distance.

You should be able to identify the colour fairly easily if you just look at a lot of cars until you spot something similar. I think I’ve seen that colour on Toyotas, in fact...

Good to hear!

It’s quite an automotive colour which is what made me think of that option in the first place. 

TDubs

If you can get hold of a RAL or Pantone chart  in person then you can find the colour code for the colour you have and then you can usually order any type of paint (I would have thought automotive paint too) online for the colour code required. You should then get a pretty accurate match.

You can order the colour charts online but they can be expensive if you get the large ones. It’s tempting to look at the colour charts online for free on your phone or computer and match these to the colour required but keep in mind the colours shown on your phone/computer screen will vary because of screen calibrations. The most accurate way is to have the printed cards but this does add cost.

Crazyblue1779

I’m also wondering if nail varnish might work? 

Any thoughts?

Sync

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

Either buy ones in better condition that won't bug you, live with it as above or do a decent repair. 

ICBM

It would, but that's not a very common type of colour for nail varnish.

While I was out walking the other day I definitely saw that sort of colour on Toyota, Honda and Ford cars - and a slightly paler version (I think, it depends how strong the lighting is in your pics) on a Merc.

Go for a walk with it in a gig bag and hold it up against any likely contenders .

TINMAN82

Sync said:

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

Either buy ones in better condition that won't bug you, live with it as above or do a decent repair. 

100x this. You’ll make a mess of it unless the colour match is perfect and even then it’ll look shit. Full refin or leave as it.

ICBM

TINMAN82 said:

Sync said:

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

100x this. You’ll make a mess of it unless the colour match is perfect and even then it’ll look shit. Full refin or leave as it.

Totally disagree. It looks terrible with the bare wood showing. Anything close to the same colour so it's not easily visible from a few feet away will look miles better.

Yes, a full refinish would look better still, but it's unlikely to be economical.

On the other hand I don't like the 'roadkill' look , and I've always touched up most of the damage on my guitars so I'm probably coming at it from a different viewpoint...

Crazyblue1779

Sync said:

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

Either buy ones in better condition that won't bug you, live with it as above or do a decent repair. 

It doesn’t bug me, it was just on the off chance I could do something. 

I suppose you’re right. People pay for brand new guitars to look like this lol. 

TINMAN82

ICBM said:

TINMAN82 said:

Sync said:

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

100x this. You’ll make a mess of it unless the colour match is perfect and even then it’ll look shit. Full refin or leave as it.

Totally disagree. It looks terrible with the bare wood showing. Anything close to the same colour so it's not easily visible from a few feet away will look miles better.

Yes, a full refinish would look better still, but it's unlikely to be economical.

On the other hand I don't like the 'roadkill' look , and I've always touched up most of the damage on my guitars so I'm probably coming at it from a different viewpoint...

It probably looks ok from a few feet away as it is now!

Crazyblue1779

I’m picking it up tonight so I’ll see what it’s like in the flesh. I think a blob or two of similarly coloured nail polish / car paint will probably be the way I go.

It’s never going to be perfect but I’m not one for case queens anyway. Id not have agreed a trade for this one if I was!

Teflon

Pop into your nearest Halfords with the guitar and compare the colour to the range of aerosols they have (most branches have a good range of colours), or, if you want to be sure, pop into a local car body shop and ask nicely. A good finish will be difficult to obtain though, so don't expect too much.

Johnnyseven

Crazyblue1779 said:

I’m also wondering if nail varnish might work? 

Any thoughts?

I've used nail varnish before with mixed results. On a black guitar for a small chip it worked great. On a dark red guitar with 2 cm chip I had to mix 2 colours together, the colour looks ok but it's a bit messy and won't fool anyone up close - from a distance it'll be fine though. Mine was only 1 chip though, as yours is all over it may turn out looking worse than it is now.

RaymondLin

My PRS has a TINY chip at the bottom, it happened with the previous owner.  I don't care, battle scars, even on a PRS.

Sync

Sync

ICBM said:

TINMAN82 said:

Sync said:

That's bad enough to look authentically roadworn and good enough to look authentically roadworn.

A bargain basement touch up effort would far look worse imo.

100x this. You’ll make a mess of it unless the colour match is perfect and even then it’ll look shit. Full refin or leave as it.

Totally disagree. It looks terrible with the bare wood showing. Anything close to the same colour so it's not easily visible from a few feet away will look miles better.

Yes, a full refinish would look better still, but it's unlikely to be economical.

On the other hand I don't like the 'roadkill' look , and I've always touched up most of the damage on my guitars so I'm probably coming at it from a different viewpoint...

From the photos, it's not just a small area for repair though.

It's not going to look ok with a quick nail varnish or spray can repair.

It may cover the wood but it won't really improve it. 

ICBM

Sync said:

It's not going to look ok with a quick nail varnish or spray can repair.

It may cover the wood but it won't really improve it. 

Don't use a spray can - use the little cans or bottles of touch-up paint with a brush.

I have done this a lot, both with car paint and nail varnish, and I can guarantee that covering the wood *does* improve it - it takes away the obvious contrast between the colour and the pale wood, even if the colour match isn't 100% spot on.

Both these have paint touch-ups - the Rick with black Tamiya model paint, the PRS with translucent red nail varnish.





They're obvious when you're holding the guitars, but can you see them in the pics?

Teflon

ICBM said:

Don't use a spray can - use the little cans or bottles of touch-up paint with a brush.

I have done this a lot, both with car paint and nail varnish, and I can guarantee that covering the wood *does* improve it - it takes away the obvious contrast between the colour and the pale wood, even if the colour match isn't 100% spot on............

They're obvious when you're holding the guitars, but can you see them in the pics?

A good example of what I'd call a 10 foot repair  .  If using a spray can, best approach is to spray some into the cans cap and use a small artists brush to apply in layers.

Flanging_Fred

You may want to check out the StewMac channel on YouTube. They had some great videos on how to do drop fill repairs using superglue. I followed the advice on a couple of guitars and it works really well. It might be a lot more tricky on the edge of the guitar though.

BloodEagle

if you try to touch it up it will look really shit and desperate, just leave it as it is.