Wood filler on sides

[23scadoo]

I am building a semi hollow body ES-335. The sides are composed of 0.3mm sheets of veneer glued together, In sanding the sides to meet with the shape of the face and back, I have exposed the glue layer in some spots. I plan on painting this guitar and wondering how best to resolve the exposed glue issue to make sure that the finish adheres properly. A friend of mine suggested using a wood filler like Rubio Monocoat or something similar. I had thought about adding an extra layer of veneer but during a dry fit, trying to get it to fit tightly against the shape proved to be difficult and risky. Any ideas?

[Bizman62]

Hi and welcome!

My first thought was similar to yours, to add another veneer on top. But if the top and bottom don't have any extra width that may not be an option. But wait! There is an option even if the sides are wider than the top and bottom: Binding! They can be made out of plastic and wood and even the thinnest strips are about a mm thick which means you'd have to rout a channel that deep on the top. That said, routing a channel for binding on a shaped surface requires some special tools, the most lightweight being a Dremel attachment (Stewmac) and the more advanced consisting of a router base that elevates on rails and the guitar body attached on a tray to keep the angle consistent. And of course a channel can be carved with a chisel and a marking gauge as well.

Painting a guitar doesn't differ from any other paint jobs, be they walls, cars, motorcycles etc. so if you know anyone doing such they might give you invaluable tips. The common nominator in all painting is a proper base which means lots of sanding, filling if needed and more sanding. Every scratch on the surface will magnify!

Also, if the top and bottom have a figuration which would look gorgeous as stained, you can use paint for the sides only. And maybe do a burst on the edge of the top and bottom. Painting seams to hide imperfections is common practice even in big name guitars.

[23scadoo]

Thanks so much for your reply Bizman. 

My plan is to do binding. I've already built a jig on rails like you mentioned and was just waiting on resolving this final issue before routing the binding channel. That's also a great idea about painting the sides and staining the front and back. I hadn't thought of that. I love the idea of painting the whole guitar but also know that painting is not my specialty and I am afraid that it will turn out horribly in the end and I'll hate it. 

[henrim]

I don’t think cured glue is a problem but. when you prime the guitar you will see if the surface is flat or not. If it isn’t you can fill the spot over the primer with a filler that suits the primer. Then sand it back and prime and again. That way you start to get an idea what to expect from the end result. Of course primer is matte and if the end product will be glossy you have to look carefully before proceeding to top coat. As gloss will amplify all the mistakes.

[23scadoo]

Thanks for the tip henrim. I certainly appreciate it.

[ADFinlayson]

if you're using cellulose I don't think you will have issues with the paint sticking to the exposed glue area but I would suggest using primer first. obviously can't say for sure without seeing a photo but I suspect you can probably even get away with using a shader instead of a solid colour if you went dark enough, you would probably barely notice the exposed glue. 

If you did want to veneer over the issue, you could use the iron method which works well, you brush glue sparingly on the side and the veneer, let it dry for an hour or so, then iron the veneer on - something @Andyjr1515 taught me on here, works amazingly well.