One-Of-A-Kind Fingerboard Touch-Up

Fretwork involves many tools and steps, and you never know when an annoying little problem will pop up. In this case, it was a chip of finish that lifted away from the fingerboard wood at a fret end when I removed the protective masking tape I use during fret crowning and polishing. High-tack tape can pull finish, so I always use low-tack draftsman’s masking tape when working on or around lacquer and other topcoats. (Often I use extremely low-tack, latex-gummed sign painter’s tape—Transfer-Rite brand.) But when finish lifts this easily, it’s usually because of poor adhesion between the finish and the wood. Often this is caused by oil, silicone, or grease that may have been on the maker’s hands when he finished the neck.

Regardless of how this particular chip occurred, I still needed to touch it up. It’s a fairly easy task with modern glues and solvents like superglue and superglue accelerator. Here’s an easy finish touch-up approach that isn’t too difficult for a do-it-yourselfer with a steady hand.

Fig. 2 Clean the chipped area with naphtha and let it dry. Don’t try to smooth the chip’s ragged edge; instead, drop-fill it with superglue No. 20 (medium viscosity) or No. 30 (heavy viscosity). Keep the instrument in position so that the fill area is level to the ground and the liquid doesn’t flow out of the crater. Spread the liquid evenly over the chip; if it forms a lip on the edge, give the center another drop in about ten minutes. That will usually complete the drop fill, but you might have to fill the crater’s sagging center another time or two. Then let the glue dry for hours, unless you intend to speed up the drying time with superglue accelerator (see below). However, if you have never used accelerator before, practice before using it for a real job. If you apply the accelerator too heavily or too quickly, it can create a skin on top while the glue beneath remains wet. (Skip to Fig. 4 if you aren’t using accelerator.)

Fig. 3 For using accelerator, try this trick, one of my favorite superglue discoveries: Drop two large cotton balls into a plastic Nalgene bottle, spray aerosol superglue activator into the bottle, and then screw on the cap. Nalgene bottles have a tube that siphons liquid from the bottom; in this case, the tube siphons fumes from the wet cotton balls. The activating effect is slow and controlled, allowing you to harden an area without it skinning over.

Fig. 4 File the hardened mound of superglue with a smooth needle file—balancing only on the mound, and never filing the adjacent finish. It’s hard to do, but it can be done. Stop before the mound becomes level, and leave the rest for sandpaper.

Fig. 5 Pull strips of dry, non-loading (gold) sandpaper across the remaining mound. The strips shouldn’t be much wider than the mound of glue. Go through 320-, 400-, 600-, and 800-grit dry sandpapers, then switch to 1200- and 2000-grit wet sandpapers. As you pull a strip, hold the paper against the mound with a piece of foam rubber. If you do this correctly and never overuse a particular sanding grit, you can level a superglue drop fill so that it is nearly invisible compared to the surrounding finish. It might take a job or two before you know when to switch grits—it’s always sooner than you think.

Fig. 6 The finished job is not invisible because the chip’s jagged edge is filled with clear superglue, which does not melt into the adjacent finish. The finish used on this neck is catalyzed (chemically cross-linked) and cannot be dissolved by solvent or superglue once it has hardened. After hand-buffing with fine-grit polishing compound, I ended up with a smooth, texture-free touch-up that couldn’t be felt when playing. Mission accomplished!

Fig. 7 Viewed from any angle, Butch’s design flows. It has the look of designer ice cream or candy.

Fig. 8 Butch made the matching control knobs using an electric hand drill, plug cutter, drill bit, files, and sandpaper, but they look like they were machined on a lathe.

Fig. 9 Butch managed to extract wood from the original top piece and used this wood to cover the pickups, so the finished product has a contiguous grain and color match. The pickups are both Bartolini-made: a Dual-Humbucker in the neck position, and a Tri-Coil in the bridge.

Fig. 10 The control-cavity cover plate was another wood-matching masterpiece. It fit so well that I had to use a suction cup to remove it.

Fig. 11 Butch’s electronics are high-tech, and nicely wired! They afford so many options that I’d need an entire column to explain the electronics alone.

Fig. 12 I couldn’t help but add a little color by decorating the cover-plate mounting screws; this is Colortone Liquid Pigment in water-base form, added to Colortone water-base lacquer. The screws now have a high-gloss look that matches the epoxy finish.

Fig. 13 Congratulations, Butch—you have a special gift.