California Strat Neck Color Match

[Eric Jones]

Fixing a major ding, I managed to sand through the finish on my Cali Strat neck. I would like to do a touch-up and avoid a complete respray, if possible. I have tried different dye mixtures, but haven't been able to come close to matching the existing color. Also considered just leaving as is and just spraying neck with clear gloss. pics

thanks

[Roger Häggström]

You could try Potassium permanganate. It's a quick oxidizing chemical making maple "age" and gives it an orange hue. Sometimes on old parlor guitars, white patches after sanding becomes totally invisible.

[Eric Jones]

Thanks for the great tip.

Once I knew what to look for, I found this StewMac video on YouTube with Mamie showing how to use potassium permanganate and oxalic acid (thought I'd seen all StewMac videos. Not sure how I missed this one). Anyway, I've ordered both chemicals from ebay and hopefully will get my guitar back together soon.

thanks again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tViTWUL8Was

[Roger Häggström]

Let us know how it turned out!

[Eric Jones]

Will do. Both items are four day shipping, so I'll be able to test it out this weekend. I'll post pics.