dougrun

so far holding strings fine. sounds amazing.

actually, i think marker may work

getting ready to apply strings and would like to clean up the fretboard. Since its painted aluminum, is there a special paint for it? Its got some scratches sowing the metal underneath.

all done, hopeffully...  waiting until march to string it though.

It wasn't the ONLY thing we played. lots of country and some early eagles stuff.

ha, yeah, i had some leftover metallic blue left so i sanded down until it started to peek through and will re-coat the clear starting today, covered up the cracks but I expect theyll come back.

the # of underlying cracks are multiplying. now about 12. I think i'll have no choice but to leave them and just finish it up. Already sanded a lot of the top clear down and they still show at a certain angle so must be at the metallic or white layers. I guess it'll just add character.

surface crack in last layer on bottom appeared, runs from bottom to bridge. will wet sand to 400 and try again..

i like the bevels.

final coat tonight. there were  lots of runs and uneven coats it kind of lends itself to the "liquid metallic" look i was going for. I'll wait a month and then test it with strings, then decide whether or not to sand/buff, leave it, or make it a decoration.

do people ever not sand/buff lacquer finishes? Most of the top seems like glass now.

nevermind, someone took it before i could nab it. thanks though.

Local CL has a celebrity with a cracked bridge for $40. I imagine it would cost more than its worth to repair but I kinda like repairing ovations now. Any ideas?

as i've learned recently, sometimes its what you learn from the process that outweighs the cost of the repair.

deciding to leave the trim white (or off white as it is). latest..

I'm undecided on whether to clear coat it up to the edge or leave it just under. I have a few layers still before the rosette is level with the middle. I have an artist friend who can hand paint the edge binding with acrylic. I photoshopped it with blue to see if i'd like the edge colored but I think it looks better not.

so, a little history. I got this guitar when i was about 12. I think it's a 79 or 80. My stepdad got it for me to play in his bluegrass band. I did for a few years then it just went with me off to college(s). One day i come home from studying in the library until 8pm (masters work) and water is flowing out my front door. Bathroom sink line broke. This guitar was sitting on the carpet at that time. It soaked up a lot and the cracks show it. I didn't really start playing it a lot again until 2 years ago and thought i'd try and glue the cracks but that didn't hold. I was doing an open mic night in a friends backyard and tripped and fell on it, poking a tear in the back shell. I used fibergalss epoxy on that which turned out ok. While repairing it, i bought a balladeer to play in the mean time. So now that i had a nicer guitar, I thought i'd attempt a refinish on it, Now having a little experience with lacquer, I decided on a blue metallic so I could nto find a Poly like that, i went the lacquer route. Getting the poly finish off was a pain though, Had to dremel near the edges. The rosette (i hate to even call a colored plastic circle connected to the pick guard a real rosette) came off and so I started sanding away. The photos show the cheap wood under it, and how badly i had to sand down to get the cracks out. I won't be surprised if it doesn't hold string tension when i'm finished but at this point, its all for fun anyway. With the cheap wood used, I could have just gotten hardware store metallic paint then did poly over that I guess. So far i love the look but need more clear coats to make the rosette (laid on top, not inlayed) level enough with the clear.

all done. buffed with fine compound and i'm happy with the results.

1st attempt with ca glue got a little crazy, went a bit wide, 2nd attempt was cleaner. this is wet sanded to 1500, good enough for my standards.

the crack is not deep enough for that. no indication underneath of any crack. it is exactly on the middle though. CA glue maybe?

while wet sanding, i noticed a crack in the finish, (see photo). Not sure how to proceed. Most of the top is sanded to P2000.

so I do have a drill-bit style buffing wheel and I ordered some fine compound. But I also have a wide array of stewmac and other polishing compounds (removed minor scratched from my solid black balladeer 12 string). I've never power buffed before, any tutorials?

she currently is strung again while I decide. had to learn how to tie nylons.

I'm a newbie when it comes to working on guitars. At 13 yrs old, my step-dad gave me an ovation applause 12 string in 79 to play in his band. Thats been the only guitar i played until my 50's (started playing it again at 50, now 52), but that project will be another thread. I inherited this G-10 from my great aunt and the golpeador on it (white) was peeling off (see the outline). When I removed it (no heating, just a razor), it dug into the finish as shown. One of the tuner pegs was also bent and the neck had both dirt and wear on it. I wound up sanding it down while I evaluated the finishing options. Several folks suggested tru-oil but its unavailable here in CA. Others suggested a wipe-on poly. I wound up using the wipe-on poly as a leveler, sanded down that to minimum, then lacquered the top. Its been about 2 months since i finished it and am wondering it I should even bother with wet-sand/buffing or leave it as is? The finish is smooth but its not glossy hard. I have some clear pickguard material as well that i feel I should use for protection. Thoughts? 

Thanks for reading.