AFter Forever

Hello I got a great deal on this used guitar and want to sand it down and refinish it. The fingerboard needs some work. I have enclosed a picture of what it looks like. Keep in mind I am zoomed in a lot so it looks much worse than it does at normal viewing distance .Does anyone know what happened to it? How do I clean it?. I have tried lemon oil but it looks like the residue is in the grain of the wood. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

Hello everyone I Have a question. As some of you know I am the one who did the dime guitar. Not doing my research I mixed acrylic paint the nitro clear (deft). I have read in numerous posts that this is ill advised. I aslo e-mailed stew-mac and they confirmed saying I will have "adhesion issues". Now, as you all saw I went into this blindly and didn't have a single problem clear coating the dime. It came out excellent (more pics to come soon). But I would like something harder, and who knows what the long term effects will be(cracking etc.) I am working on my dream guitar right now, I what to use red-blue mirage duplicolor which is acrylic based. I want this finish to last forever! Can I, should I use plyurethane? What is the difference between Minwax polyurethane and ploycrylic? Do the dry equally as hard? Is one duller than the other? What about the warning about "ambering qualities" to the clear coat? Do they buff equally well? Are there any other suggestions? Sorry for all the questions but I want to be as sure as possible Thanks in advance guys, Tim

Hello, I need some advice, Here I am posting a picture of one of my shark fin (mother of pearl) inlays that is dull and turning black in some spots. This is an inlay from a 2002 Jackson USA Dave Mustaine Y2KV that I bought from guitar center for $800.00 used I think. It seems that it was thrown in a corner in their stockroom and mistreated for who knows how long, because the strings were rusted, the hardware was dull, the the finish looked like it wasn't polished in years. I have cleaned it all up to perfection except for this inlay issue. Anyone have any ideas on how I can restore this? I want to refrain from replacing the inlay if possible because this was normally a $2000.00 guitar and don't want to screw it up with my lack of experience in inlay work. Any suggestions? Thanks

Hello Metal Matt I used minwax sanding sealer to fill the grain. I found the brush on sealer to be a bit of a pain in the ass. For my second project (which is underway while my clear coat completely dries and hardens on the dime) I used Deft spray sanding sealer which I highly recommend. Much easier and more level coats. I use a gray filler primer first, to further help remove the lines of the pickup and the knob and switch holes I filled in, then went with duplicolor black sandable primer. I didn't use the one that came in the kit because I feared it wasn't going to be enough (they are small cans) I wanted to keep the primer consistent. I then sprayed on the mirage color. NOTE the mirage paint is actually a clear paint that reacts to the black of the primer so treat your primer like its your color coat. Sand it smooth, look for dust, blemishes, bloches, runs, etc. It will show on your mirage coat. I actually use 2 cans of mirage paint. The more coats-the more dramatic the color change from purple to green. Another note, I live in florida, the humidity capital of the freaking world. Make sure you do not paint in humidity above 60%, It cause horrible cloudying and had to sand, and mirage coat again. Thanks again to everyone for suggestions and praises. I am a novice to this sorta thing but I keep learning from the mistakes I make! Tim

Hello all, I am a newbie to guitar finishing. Here is the link to my first project- a dime tribute guitar project This is the first time I have tried re-finishing a guitar Dime Tribute

Here is the link to my current dime tribute guitar project Dime Tribute

Hello everyone I want to do a burst finish like the mockingbird pictured below, but I have a few questions. I have searched the forums and read the tutitorials but I need more specific questions answered. 1) Do I stain the veneer black first on this one or go with the red on the plain veneer. 2) Do I stain the veneer red before doing the burst or do the dark burst first, then stain over it with the red. 3)regarding the burst, I understand the tutitorial about cutting out the shape of the guitar, using the thumbtacks, etc. But which angle do I spray the paint on? Do I paint horizontal to the edge of the guitar? or do I come at it in an angle? I am not sure I understand how to do the "poor mans" burst. This guitar also seems to have a wide dark burst, do I acheive that by cutting the cardboard guitar smaller than the actual guitar? I know these questions may be confusing but I would appreciate any help. Thanks P.S I am finishing my first guitar- a custom washburn tribute guitar for dimebag, I will post those pics soon