Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: daveo on February 27, 2006, 01:34:13 PM
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Do I need to do anything to the deep mark that is almost right between the 2 purple wood stripes? I'm worried that the finish might crack here and/or that moisture could get inside the neck. Anyone have thoughts about this? Thanks!!
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David,
If you could post a few pictures of the spot that took the hit, I'm sure someone here would be able to give you some pretty good advice. I would think that if the finish wasn't broken, then you should be alright as long as it doesn't bother you when you play.
Regards,
Pete
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Dave - bring it by next time you are in the neighborhood. You can always do an emergency fill with superglue if you have a breach.
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OK, I'll work on the photos and keeep the superglue in mind. It may be hard for me to make it to the factory for a while as my wife and I just had a daughter (our 1st) 2 weeks ago. Thanks all!
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I've tried to take the smallest size picture my camera allows, but they come out to 450 kb or larger, and the limit is 150 kb. So I can't share a picture with you unless I figure out a way to reduce the pixels in my Cannon Rebel or something.
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Dave; open the picture up in a graphics program. There's probably one on your computer; most come with one. Sometimes just opening it and then saving it as a jpg, even it's a jpg to begin with, is enough to reduce the size substantially. If that doesn't do it, the graphics software will have tools for changing the physical size of the picture and probably for changing the resolution as well. Both will change the size of the file. And if that doesn't do it, email the picture to me and I will post it for you.
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Thanks for the support Dave, I'll see what I can do with the picture. Or I'll email you, I appreciate your help.
It's not such a bad dent that it breaks through the wood, but I just worry the finish may degrade and/or crack off around it in time.
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Here are Dave's pics.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/25855.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/25856.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/25857.jpg)
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Ouch! You may get lucky with the superglue...it's worth a shot.
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Hi David,
I showed the photo to James and to Bob. Bob said a small amount of thin superglue on the edge of a razor blade or a toothpick toughed right on one of the white fractures should wick it in to fill the crack.
James said that if the dent is bothersome to your playing, he would fill the whole dent with glue, then sand it smooth. You won't feel it much if at all, and it will look a good bit better, though not invisible. This is something that we could do while you wait next time you swing by.
To make it look like it never happened, we'd have to refinish the neck.
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I have some vague recollection of applying heat and moisture to raise the wood that was compressed in the impact. Like ironing it lightly over a damp cloth, maybe?
Am I nuts?
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You can steam it up to fluff the cells. That works on unfinished wood.
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Might it bring this ding back closer to the original shape before sealing? That would mean less glue, if any, to fill in the dent.
Is there any risk or down side to trying this?
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We would evaluate this procedure only if David wanted the neck refinished.
The downside is that you have to sand all the paint off the neck to make a nice refinishing, and that's an added expense and time away from the guitar.
The glue is a great way to get it functioning quickly, and then it can always be refinished later. If the wood is damaged (it may not be), then it can be steamed, blended or filled as is appropriate.
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Thanks for all your ideas. I think I'll go with Bob's suggestion of a small amount of superglue on the edge of a blade touched right on the fractures.
It doesn't bother my playing so I'm not worried about filling the dent with glue.
Thanks!!!
DaveO