Neck Ding Repair - Help!

[PostApocalypso]

I probably didn't need the exclaimation point in the title, but I do need a little advice.

A little backgound in to why I have a problem and what that problem is; those without a tolerance for needless blather can just skip to the end of my tale...

I don't like fretboard inlays. It's a serious disfunction, but I really can't stand dot inlays. To my eyes, the obnoxious little dots screams "putcher fingurs here, goobah" and detract from the beauty of the instrument. They add nothing but insist upon taking center stage on the neck. Rude! In fact, 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed supported a non-binding United Nations motion resolving the following preferences of inlay styles from super awesome to mega lame: no inlay, those sharktoothy triangles, trapezoids, blocks, little space ships, unicorns, that intricate ivy type thing, dots.

That said, I decided that I wanted to remove the dots from my Fender Jazz bass the only way possible, extreme and utter neck annihillation. By which I mean a simple neck replacement (thus avoiding the resulting mutual assured distruction by me trying the remove and fill the inlays myself). The perfect mate to the Standard Jazz body is, of course, an Aerodyne Jazz neck. Not only would an Aerodyne neck save the Jazz from the dot curse, I'd also be saving the Aerdyne neck from a life with an Aerodyne body. AND I would get a matching black headstock to boot!

So I purchased a used Aerodyne neck off ebay. It's in good shape but it has two problems. The first issue is that the frets will need a refretting soon--I am saving that for a winter project. The second problem is that the back of the neck has a couple dings. Nothing major, except...

There is a single nick in the finish right where my thumb hits between first and second position. The wood underneath the finish has a very light ding, but the finish itself is scared and raised. It is like someone roughly dropped the neck against a sharp table edge, it is a small mark that just happens to be in a very bad position.

My thinking is to very lightly sand the raised bit out then very lightly go over the ding and sanded area with a poly gloss. Then wait for the finishes to melt together, fine sand, polish and rock out.

I'm pretty brave when it comes to doing stupid things, but I figured I should ask for advice before I wreck a fine piece of Japanese craftsmanship.

So... any advice? The finish is polyurethane lacquer, right?

[SurferJoe46]

I've painted a lot of cars and trucks, but the terms 'polyurethane' and 'lacquer' are not used in the same sentence.

Poly is not gonna 'melt' together with another dose of it, as the old poly is already hardened chemically and by age by now and your chances of melting them together are zilch in my experience.

Lacquer is always kinda 'melt-able' even when it's very old as the thinner will attack the material and it might somewhat fuse to the old stuff - but it may or may not be pretty.

Are you stuck with that neck or can you return it for credit since it's so buggered up?

Bondo is your friend otherwise.

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Got a little more info for you - but it's not simple:

The damaged/repaired area can be over sprayed with clear nitrocellulose lacquer to return to the Fender finish again.

You're gonna need to level out the surface to make it playable but you gotta do that after the neck ding/repair and the repair is coated with a clear coat and then another coat of nitrocellulose to make it a contiguous surface.

You can do this by shooting the repair coat with conventional clear nitrocellulose lacquer.

NOTE: There is no EPA proprietorial law concerning the illegal use of clear nitrocellulose lacquer and can find them almost anywhere since there are no VOC restrictions for a proprietary user.

And by using a now-revealed-to-you-otherwise-secret-and-undocumented-trick - you can make this product even easier and lots cheaper to use for guitar refinishing.

The final new surface over the repair you will make is so hard that you must clear nitro-coat the base repair coat within 24 hours. If you don't, the base coat will be like Teflon - HARD Teflon - and your nitro clear coat will not adhere and it will actually run right off the base coat as it is applied!

You have a few 'other' considerations though:

1) You want to and WILL be able to simulate lacquer and its solvents as closely as possible, making the repaired surface contiguous and smooth - almost invisible even. .
2) It would be nice to not have the 24 hour clear coat application window.
3) Buying and using reactive reducer is expensive - which you will NOT have to buy.

You can eliminate these problems by just using regular automotive lacquer thinner (or acetone plus some hi-temp retarder) instead of reactive reducer.

If you use any acetone, also buy an organic respirator - it will make you sick to your guts! Been there - done that!

The paint manufacturers don't mention this alternative in any of their literature - nor will the paint shop tell you without fear of prison terms and repeated beatings at sunrise by the EPA.

Your 24 hour time factor will then be removed - and expenses are greatly cut. The repair coat under the final coat may not be very hard, but the top coat will fix that when it fires off.

It's always more important for the final clear coat to get hard.

Once you've put on the lower, repair coat just wait at least six hours before applying your nitrocellulose clear coats - longer if you can wait.
.

[praisegig]

IMHO. Simply sand the neck back to bare wood. Where the dings are, I would try to steam out the dings as much as possible, re sand to level and apply a Tru-oil finish.

[FunkMetalBass]

Superglue, man. For small dents, it's a wonderful tool that dries smoothly and is easy to control.

[202dy]

The first order of business is to clean up any chipped finish. Once that is complete, it is time to steam out the dents. Using a soldering iron or other suitable heat source, wrap a damp (not wet) cloth around the hot tip and touch to the bare wood. The wood fibers will expand with the steam created by the makeshift pinpoint steam tool. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get the wood to return to the original level.

Drop filling is the standard protocol for this repair. Here are three links that detail the technique. The first is from Frank Ford of Gryphon Guitars. This is the repair done with nitro cellulose lacquer. Note the razor blade scraper. The next two links are from Dan Erlewine. One gives the details on making the scraper. The other deals specifically with CA glue.

Drop filling links:

Frank Ford
Dan Erlewine scraper
Dan Erlewine CA glue

Here are a few notes on technique.

For a poly finish, CA glue is the material of choice. Use nitro on nitro. Use medium viscosity glue. Liquid thin is impossible to control and will run all over the bench. Be patient. Allow the drop fill to fully cure before adding another. If you choose to use accelerator, do so sparingly. When filing, scraping and sanding, the repair area will grow larger. This is normal. Buff the entire area when finished rubbing out.

Good luck.

[PostApocalypso]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Are you stuck with that neck or can you return it for credit since it's so buggered up?

It's not "so buggered up". It's not really bad, the ding just annoys me but it's not deep and has no impact on playability at all.

Originally Posted by Lon

IMHO. Simply sand the neck back to bare wood. Where the dings are, I would try to steam out the dings as much as possible, re sand to level and apply a Tru-oil finish.

That's my fallback position. It's a little more effort in sanding than I want to do in the summer. I still might do that over a couple slow winter weekends since a tru-oiled neck feels so good.

I think the glue guys win. I'd never heard of that method, but it seems easy enough. A $2 tube of Krazy glue gel and some patience should do the job.

Thanks a bunch all!