Poly finish repair question.

[Kilby]

Last summer my son managed to damage the finish of my MIM strat.

Luckily the colour coat appears to have remained intach, and the clear poly literally fell off, leaving the metallic finish inderneath.

Can anybody suggest an inexpensive way of repairing this, I know the guitar isn't worth a lot but I still want the thing repaired as it was my first brand new guitar (the Hondo LP copy I once owned dosn't count as a guitar.)

Rob...

[R/2e]

How extensive is the damage? If it is just the odd spot, Superglue can be good for filling (you just keep adding a little until the surface of the repair is above the original surface then level and polish), or you can also use nitro lacquer which I prefer for slightly bigger chips and dings. Large areas are a problem and it is difficult to advise without seeing pics.

And there's nothing wrong with the MIM Strat, particularly if you treat it to a set of Bareknuckles!! It's worth repairing properly.

[Kilby]

It's nothing huge, the chip is about half an inch across but I don't like damaged things.

My son also managed to drop it on it's headstock and the neck shifted, though not serious damage seems to have been done to the neck pocket (apart from cracks in the finish).

Idealially I want to get a set of Mothers Milks installed and then get it set up properly (at the same time) but I think the pickups will have to wait for a while.

I have to say that I was shocked at the thickeness of the clearcoat and makes me think possibly the myth of poly finishes killing the sound could have some basis.

Rob...

[R/2e]

At half an inch across I would tend to use lacquer rather than superglue, particularly if it is down to the colour coat. I don't know how easy you will find it to obtain nitro lacquer, particularly in small quantities, some nail polish is nitro though a hunt through Boots found only acrylic nail polish. It might be worth experimenting with acrylic though, in theory it should work fine and won't do any damage to the existing finish. Same procedure, just paint or drip it into the hole, let it dry properly (at least a day with nitro or you end up with too much shrinkage a few months down the line) then repeat until you are slightly higher than the original finish, flat and polish. If you need any advice on the flatting and polishing process, let me know.

[monkeywalker]

you can buy touch up nitro lacquer from jaguar to touch up your car, i have used it plenty of times in the past to touch up quite large dings in the finish of my guitars. it works just fine.

i've not bought any for about five years but at the time i think it was about £8 per tube, it comes with an application brush which is very fine so you don't get a brush stroke effect on the finish.