Veneer to hide old screw holes?

[CoughSyrup]

How likely am I to succeed in covering old tuner screw holes and other divots/gouges, etc. by filling them flush with filler, epoxy, etc., covering with a thin piece of maple veneer, finishing that and blending the new finish with the factory finish. I don't want to refinish the whole neck if I can avoid it.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

How likely am I to succeed in covering old tuner screw holes and other divots/gouges, etc. by filling them flush with filler, epoxy, etc., covering with a thin piece of maple veneer, finishing that and blending the new finish with the factory finish. I don't want to refinish the whole neck if I can avoid it.

Well, the odds of your success will be the product of: (Odds)=(Prior knowledge/skill) x (Craftsman attitude) x (patience) x (Time available). That's the math.

Here's my recommended procedure:

Fill the holes with epoxy, tinting the epoxy with pigment to make it an off-white light tan color. The color of bare maple, not the color of the current amber finish. File the lumps of epoxy flush with the surface. Sand the whole back surface of the headstock down to the bare maple. If you do this right, the filled holes should be nearly invisible against the sanded maple. No need for a veneer cap.

Then repaint the whole back surface with a tinted finish, doing the best you can to match the amber shade of the rest of the neck. This can be the tricky part. It's best to add just a small amount of tint, and build up the shade in several light coats. Trying to match the tinted amber/yellow color in a single coat is hard.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Whichever way you go, veneer or what Bruce said, the tricky part is matching the existing finish assuming it’s an amber tinted clear. Like Mr. Bruce said, if you’re spraying a new finish tint it lighter than you think you need and build up the color in layers.

 

[Nuisance]

For a less perfect look: I've simply filled the holes with wood putty and wiped clean with a sponge. It'll make the holes far less visible, and it's a 2-minute operation that can easily be undone.

 

[CoughSyrup]

For a less perfect look: I've simply filled the holes with wood putty and wiped clean with a sponge. It'll make the holes far less visible, and it's a 2-minute operation that can easily be undone.

That's what I've done previously. Some wood putty plus a wood scratch fill pen to match the tint makes it hard to see unless you're 6 inches away, but I don't think I would be happy with that in this case.

 

[CoughSyrup]

Well, the odds of your success will be the product of: (Odds)=(Prior knowledge/skill) x (Craftsman attitude) x (patience) x (Time available). That's the math.

Here's my recommended procedure:

Fill the holes with epoxy, tinting the epoxy with pigment to make it an off-white light tan color. The color of bare maple, not the color of the current amber finish. File the lumps of epoxy flush with the surface. Sand the whole back surface of the headstock down to the bare maple. If you do this right, the filled holes should be nearly invisible against the sanded maple. No need for a veneer cap.

Then repaint the whole back surface with a tinted finish, doing the best you can to match the amber shade of the rest of the neck. This can be the tricky part. It's best to add just a small amount of tint, and build up the shade in several light coats. Trying to match the tinted amber/yellow color in a single coat is hard.

Any recommendations for tint and clear?