Finishing disaster

[David Herring]

[img][img /img] Where do I go from here. I patched the hole up and think it looks worse than with hole (trigger). I used Multifill filler then tried a few Feast Watson stains. Last effort was with Copic textas. I dont want to strip whole top and restain. May still not take to the filler. Am now thinking only bet is to use closest artists acrylic paint and then spray varnish. If I can just get close to colour I would be happy. Guitar came from the tip but is a nice old Suzuki. Any suggestions please.

[simso]

Do you have any photos of the before filler point.

Side note, any solid filler will never blend into a guitars finish

Subject to how bad it looked post repair, you may have to simply solid colour the top

Steve

[Mark McLean]

It is an old Suzuki from the tip? So why not go to town with the coptic textas and give it some really outrageous artwork?

[kiwigeo]

Unfortunately they don't make grain filler with a grain in it

The easiest option.....do a Willy Nelson and leave the gaping holes. They made Willy famous...maybe they'll make you famous too

[David Herring]

Thanks for your replies. So it seems unless I start from bare wood or stained wood I've got no chance of getting a reasonable result. I cant get rid of the filler so have bought closest artists acrylic paint and used that. Waiting for it to dry now. This is one of the reasons I don't do repairs for people. I just fix up broken guitars and give them away. No one has complained about getting a free guitar. Thanks again people.

[seeaxe]

Hi David, don't be too hard on yourself mate.

I have tidied up a few old guitars and given them away too, know where you are coming from re no complaints.
My first thought was solid colour but that's actually a lot of work too, by the time you commit to doing it properly.

I think you just have to chalk this one up to experience and get it as best you can without too much more work, take Elsa's advice and let it go. No point spending hours more because you wont be able to fix it/hide the repair. The guitar will still sound good.

Good for you for having a go. Its just another reminder (as if we needed it) of how good you need to be to make any money out of making or repairing guitars. Kudos to those who are.

PS if I was the recipient and the repairs bothered me I'd probably just find some nice stickers and cover them up.

[David Herring]

[img] [/img Thanks for your words of encouragement Richard. You are right. The sound is the important thing. I have been hung up on this guitar for a couple of weeks now and going nowhere. I have 22 more in the shed awaiting attention so time to bite the bullet and get fixing.

[David Herring]

I had one more go and sratched out old filler and played around with varnish and stain and built up with layers of varnish. Although nowhere near a pro job it looks much better under the varnish and to me reflects the battered and interesting life it has led. It had a name engraved on the neck and I was able to track down the original owner and gave it to him yesterday. He was overjoyed and loved the 'character' and sound. He and family are having a great time now filling in the gaps and writing up the history of it. It was made in Japan in 1973. So struggle with it was not in vain.

[seeaxe]

Nice! 22 more!! Crikey.