Need help with a finish problem

[Relsom]

I think it's cool as it is, and looks like it has a story to tell rather than some relic application.
On the bright side at least, since it's a solid color, if you want to refin, you can fill the gouges.

 

[Ostie]

By the time I've had it a couple of years I'll have told the story so often I'll believe it myself!

Oh, I’d enhance the story: “she came at me with a knife at a gig. Good thing I wear my guitar slung low or I’d have taken one right in the nasty bits!”

 

[fhm555]

Strip it and go from there. No expert but i’ve done a lot of painting on motorcycles and prep is where it’s at in terms of good looking when it’s done. No matter how good the paint turns out if it’s shot over a gouged up surface or a half assed attempt to fill the gouges without some serious edge feathering and bodywork, not to mention the ton of bondo it would involve, it’s still gonna look like a turd. I’d say learn to love it or strip it and redo it.

 

[Dean N]

“Karen edition”

Karen Edition is hilarious. But I'd strip and refin. Upside: You get Any Colour You Like.

That Tele isn't relic'd, it's maimed.

 

[bcbassman]

I once saw a block neck sunburst Jazz bass that had half of its finish dissolved off of it in a really weird pattern. The story was that a previous owner's wife got mad after he cheated with a girl he met at a gig and she dumped a vat of hot chicken soup over the bass. That's called a buck and cluck relic!
Where are all of the relic fans? I think you just got a great start on a legit relic finish. LOL

Seriously though. If want to fix it and if its a lacquer finish, it can be done by a pro- if he can exactly match that color. The good ones can do this.

Otherwise, you have to pay to get it refinished, or live with it.
Its still a cool guitar. Have fun with it.

 

[lfmn16]

I called the Fender Custom Shop. They said that there are some pretty insane levels of relics out there and requested that I send them pics to see if it was done in house. I'll report back when they get back to me.

 

[Ripthorn]

It has a very rock and roll look, for sure. With the constraints being "novice" and "not make it worse" I would say the degree of difficulty is incredibly high. Anything you do to cover it up with your current skill set is not likely to succeed. That's not a knock on you, it's a reflection of just how much of an art finishing work is.

 

[lfmn16]

It has a very rock and roll look, for sure. With the constraints being "novice" and "not make it worse" I would say the degree of difficulty is incredibly high. Anything you do to cover it up with your current skill set is not likely to succeed. That's not a knock on you, it's a reflection of just how much of an art finishing work is.

No insult taken. I freely admit I'm clueless about this.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Live with it, it's actually a true relic.

The only way to repair it is, get rid of all the old finish, take it to bare wood, and then refinish. That's what I'd do.

You could theoretically sand down just the scratched areas and build up primer to level everything, and then refinish. That's not what I would do.

Good luck,
Dirk

 

[Pings Bass]

Sounds like the subject line of a memo from Stalin ca. 1939

 

[lethargytartare]

There were two solid "how to try" answers above, so I'll only add that the lines of the gouges are conveniently straight and arranged in a way that you could do a frankenstrat black-line pattern over them that would look pretty intentional. So do a bit of filling and sanding to level them out a bit, and by putting them under dark contrasting strips, you could make them virtually impossible to see. Good finishing is art and science, and is labor-intensive. It's like mudding drywall -- if I want a great job, I get a pro, because my best effort will take a LOT of work and will still be visibly inferior to the pro's job.

 

[Diamond_Dave]

The "screwdriver marks" on the guitar look too clean to be damage to me--it almost like someone pulled away wet paint with a tool. Wouldn't the poly crack? Wouldn't we see flaking? And wouldn't there be more wood gouges? Especially if it's a thinner nitro finish.

Wouldn't an angry girlfriend have beaten the thing on the ground or against a wall or something? I'd expect to see some circular blunt force impacts.

This still looks to me like a carefully done relic job.

 

[BassUrges]

1) That looks like a simulated “angry ex” job rather than a real one to me. Too little wood damage, no bits of primer showing.

2) The idea of filling with red really appeals to me. I’d recommend leather dye. Eco-Flo red is a great color and wood takes it well—assuming that’s bare wood and not clear-coated before the relicing.

 

[Killing Floor]

That makes me sad.

 

[dwizum]

Get a (non-permanent?) marker and draw little dotted "stitch" marks along the gouges. It is now a pirate guit-arrrrr.

Put a bandaid on one of the scratches.

Keep a tube of neosporin in your gig bag, and when you're sound checking, rub some of it into the cracks. See if anyone notices.

Write a country song about how your girlfriend dumped you and trashed all your stuff, and then when you perform it live, point to the scratch marks at strategic moments during the chorus. You could call it, "She Took the Dog, subtitle: and all I got was this broken guitar"

It's easy to get wrapped up in the idea of wanting everything in life to be perfect, but sometimes the imperfections are the fun part. Way back in the day I had a brief moment of glory in a pop punk band. Our drummer broke one of his cymbal stands, so we wrapped duct tape around it to get through the rest of that (disappointing, poorly attended) gig. The fact that the crowd was so small and uninterested that we could afford to stop playing and screw around with duct tape turned into the central joke of the band, and from that point forwards, before/during/after every gig we'd add more duct tape to it. That band didn't last long, but by the time we stopped playing, there was a basketball sized glob of duct tape on that cymbal stand. That broken piece of equipment was more fun than whatever crappy music we were playing.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

1) That looks like a simulated “angry ex” job rather than a real one to me. Too little wood damage, no bits of primer showing.

2) The idea of filling with red really appeals to me. I’d recommend leather dye. Eco-Flo red is a great color and wood takes it well—assuming that’s bare wood and not clear-coated before the relicing.

If you're going to touch it up with red, make the scratches and gouges look like they're dripping blood. Maybe add a bandaid here or there. Then call it the "EX"-Factor Edition. However, I think that name is already taken.

 

[diegom]

I'd leave as-is.
Either that of FrankenTele stripes, as in Need help with a finish problem

 

[HardNHeavy]

wow, keep pet tigers away from gear..you could try matching that color and drop fill it, then some lacquer, but prolly take forever and may not match......oofa!..just leave it...or refin if it means that much to ya

 

[JoeWPgh]

Rub some dirt in it and take a lap! I'm only 1/2 kidding. Short of a complete paint job, darkening the bright wood might be your best bet. Not black, just 'dirty'. I'm kind of leery of spot repairs in general. Yes they can be done very well and practically invisible, but will the repair age the same as the original paint? And to me, there are just too many spots to repair here.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I posted this on another forum, but didn't really get what I was looking for. Not a bass, but close enough.

I picked up a Custom Shop tele cheap because it looks like a mad girlfriend took a screwdriver to it. I have no experience working with wood, so maybe the best advice would be to leave it alone, however, I'm asking the experts if there is anything that can be done here by a novice WITHOUT MAKING IT WORSE. I have no delusions of making it look new, but would like to know if there is anything I could do to make it look better, or protect the bare wood. My worst fear would be to take it to a professional and have him say, "If only you hadn't ..."

I appreciate any advice anyone would like to offer, including leave it the hell alone.

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Looks like you can just keep removing nm it, sand it, and oil it. Brand new. You could also stain it, or decide to paint it. But, oil. Wipe on, wipe off, and done.