What To Do About A Monstrous Paint Scratch

[farren]

I'm familiar with filling dents/chips with CA and then working the razor and eventually 12,000 grit micromesh, but I'm at a loss as to how to deal with this deep paint scratch. I think it nearly goes down to the wood. It's a poly-based (I think) transparent green over maple. I've had this guitar for 18 years and scratched it when I was 10... What can I do about it? It's actually a nice guitar, though few would notice with this scratch. A black scratch would look better than the current white scratch...

I realize this is pretty basic stuff, but I could really use your opinion.

[westhemann]

It's a guitar.Play it.Unless you are going to replace the rusty trem,the rusty screws,the worn pickup ring,and buff out the entire finish then you are worrying over just one of many imperfections

[farren]

I'm actually in the process of doing all of that with the exception of replacing the rusty trem. I have a new pickup and bezel on the way already. I'm not replacing the rusty trem because it is not the least bit rusty. It certainly looks like that in this photo taken with my antique phone, but it isn't the case at all. It's an '80s OFR in decent condition.

Anyway, I'm not looking to make the scratch magically disappear like on a car scratch remover commercial.

Does anyone feel there's anything short of refinishing the entire body that would make any difference at all? I realize most of you may not feel it's worth the effort just to make it look a little less awful, but that's beside the point because I'm perfectly willing to waste my time on it.

[westhemann]

I realize most of you may not feel it's worth the effort just to make it look a little less awful

That's not really it...it's just that beaters are made to play and I feel guitars should start out nice when new but as they get played they "build character"

IMO people that worry too much about scratches may never learn to play very well.I was in a band in high school where the drummer bought an old set of drums to learn on(small town,no drummers).The set of drums was perfectly useable and sounded fine,but he spent every extra minute he had trying to make them look better...he painted them and every time they got a scratch he took them back apart and repainted them.

A year passed and he was still an awful drummer.He never improved in the least because his drums were always apart.We ditched him and the bassist for the same reason.

Some people want to have everything look pretty and some people want to play well...those things rarely combine.

When I first build a guitar I obsess over every imperfection...once it is built and ready to play I don't care if it gets all scratched up or even if I knock a chunk out on some furniture(has never happened in 20 years).

Having said all that,if you insist I still think the CA fill would work fine...OR there used to be colored wax that you could buy in car parts stores...you chose the color closest to the finish(in this case green),and the wax filled all of the imperfections and blended in...I used it on my main guitar and it had the added bonus of making it feel smooth as silk...once a week kept the guitar looking new always and kept my skin from grabbing on it

http://www.halfords....tegoryId_165527

I think that is your best option...wax it until it's pretty and play the hell out of it.You may be surprised how well it makes scratches disappear...don't worry it will work with translucent finishes because it will be super thin on the unscratched areas

[Tim37]

ca should do it if you are refreshing the whole guitar you could fill it with ca then scuff the whole thing and put a new coat of clear but im with wes play it enjoy it and dont fret over it. if your scared to scratch it hang it on the wall and go buy one your not scared to scratch.

[westhemann]

What is it by the way?With the finish,the neck through stringers(I think that is what I see),and the angled pup combined with it's age and hardware it for some reason reminds me of an ESP custom shop M..kind of a strange guitar to have at 10 years old.I am just curious.I'd like to see a full shot of it?

[farren]

I can understand that sentiment. I read and occasionally post on the Mesa forum, and there are countless people there who have replicated John Petrucci's entire setup who spend more time buying and selling gear than actually playing any of their $3000 EBMMs. That isn't the case with me, however. I've played a long time but have mostly had garbage gear until recent years, and since my rig is basically finished now, all I do is worry about playing lately, with the exception of this guitar which I've been fixing up (and thus learning from) lately. The quest to do something about the scratch I gave it some ~18 years ago is just another part of that. Don't think it stops me from playing, though, as I've spent at least an hour a day playing it after dressing the frets, refinishing the neck and bolting it back on recently. I started out learning to play on it, now I can play well but have returned to it to learn other things from it. The last things I'll do (someday) is totally refinish it and replace the headstock binding. I'm in no hurry, though.

It's actually an '86 or '87 American Kramer Baretta. It was gigged hard before I bought it with my parents in the '90s ($350) and I'm almost certain that isn't the original finish as I've never heard of a Baretta coming with a transparent finish. It's clearly unfigured maple so it'd be an odd decision for a production guitar straight from the factory. Original owner had replaced the JB with an EMG 85, the reason I probably wasn't a fan of the guitar as a kid, and added a tone control... I'm not sure about the gold hardware accents, but the locks and arm are still in very condition with no plating chips. Now I have a new bezel and Evo2 on the way (X2N was just temporary, something I had lying around).

Thanks, that colored wax is probably my best bet. For reference, if I fill with CA, scrape and buff, would the white appearance of the scratch fade a degree?

[Prostheta]

Pop a drop of lighter fluid/naphtha in the crack and that is how it will look at worst when CA dropfilled.

[ScottR]

If you are into the wood with the scratch you can disguise it more by fine brushing in a little green dye before the CA fill. Or drop fill a little green tinted nitro first to seal the wood off from the CA.You won't get much of a chance for a perfect match so mix your dye a little lighter than you think you need.

SR

[farren]

I'm not sure how deep it goes, but it looks like it goes all the way down to the wood...

Thanks guys, I'd have to import the Turtle Wax so I will explore the other routes before deciding.

Also, correction on the year of manufacture... It's actually circa '87-89.

"Fxxxx-Fxxxxx - late '87 - late '89 Range - F0001-13XXX (presumed)

Notes:

1986-90 "Pointy Droopy" or "Shark" headstocks(E2000s-G series) - Bodies and Necks by ESP

Die cast plates in chrome and black sporting "Neptune, NJ" on them with the banana Kramer logo."

Good call on ESP, by the way

[westhemann]

Have you checked Ebay for the turtle wax?

[farren]

Yep, ships from the UK on eBay, too, so I'm looking at $25-30 for a bottle... It's almost as if that line of Turtle Wax has no US distribution.

[westhemann]

http://www.asseenontvhotline.com/pd-turtlewax_tv_kit_green.html

[Prostheta]

What is it by the way?With the finish,the neck through stringers(I think that is what I see),and the angled pup combined with it's age and hardware it for some reason reminds me of an ESP custom shop M..kind of a strange guitar to have at 10 years old.I am just curious.I'd like to see a full shot of it?

Myself, I was thinking BC Rich Gunslinger at first. I don't recall ever seeing one with all the neck-through accoutrements so I can see why you thought ESP. I did a headstock fix on a friend's Kramer a few months back. Really nice guitar and reminded me very much of the old heavy early 90s ESP Mirages.

Oh, this might seem like it is overly obvious however you could just go to your local art store and pick up a wax crayon in a colour similar to that of the guitar and then just use a car or guitar care wax over the instrument. Not sure if all crayons are paraffin wax like Crayolas are but that is a quick fix in the absence of a coloured car wax like Turtle Wax. This is a total cheapy-amateur method unlike ScottR's better suggestion of tinted lacquer. I doubt Kramer used nitro however so you might be stuck with having to explore the fine line of dye and cyanoacrylate dropfill approach.

[ScottR]

When I was researching a fix for the scratch in the finish of that ibby acoustic, I read several places that nitro works for drop filling scratches on pretty much any clear. I ended up using it on the scratched poly of that ibby and didn't have a visible withness line. Time will tell if there is any sinking though.

I would not fill the intire scratch with tinted lacquer though--just the bottom where it contacts the wood. You need a layer of clear over it to match the finish on the guitar.

SR

[farren]

Nice, that one has the full access cutaway... Wish I had that Is that a custom (maple fingerboard)?

As Seen on TV "order now" link redirects to the root page so they may not sell it anymore. I'll probably just import it. I'm almost sure it's a poly coat, by the way.

[westhemann]

http://www.asseenontvhotline.com/pd-turtlewax_tv_kit_green.html

How about now?

It's not the other stuff,this is a different thing with the same concept,except you fill any chips with the supplied green wax pencil,then you use the color wax.

[westhemann]

This is the product

Green is just hard to find in stock for some reason.

BTW,the "neck through stringer" I thought I saw in the first pic was a shadow off a string...doh!

[farren]

Yep, just me and my horrible photography skills

Hmm what happens when you click "order now"? Tried it in two different browsers but it just redirects to the main page... Anything other than black seems pretty rare. I'll keep an eye out for it, no hurry so I can wait for it to pop up on eBay or Amazon.