Whoops! What would you do?

[Andrew]

A ridiculous mistake I made that Im paying for at the staining stage. I dont think I need to tell you what I did, thats pretty obvious...

Im wondering what other builders here might do in this situation (beside not f***ing up to begin with :p). Ive considered inlays or a plate of some kind (the neck/headstock inlays are nickel silver thats a very close colour match to chrome), racing stripes (lol), trying to dye the guitar dark enough that the glue line doesnt stand out so much, or simply continue on with the process as planned and see how it looks/live with it and sell the guitar at a discounted price and just be honest about the flaw. Maybe theres something that hasnt occurred to me.

In the finishing process I still have to sand/scrape back the dye followed by a second dyeing, followed by sealing and shading. The back gets grain filler too but that doesnt apply here really.

Im trying to stay positive here. Perfection would be an affront to nature anyway :p.

Id like to hear from Russel Vance in particular. Your dye work on a guitar pictured in a recent thread was fantastic, I could certainly benefit from your experience.

[Andrew]

Me mum suggested the same thing :).

So, think I ought to wait til after the dye is sealed to route the recess? Considering ill be using double sided tape for the template, maybe ontop of masking tape. Ill have to chisel/knife the last little bit of the corners after routing as well.

[Russell Vance]

Hi Andrew, do all your machining before you seal anything - that way you can finish edges and gaps with the original wipe on dye which will blend into the existing unfinished dye.  

If you are going to use masking tape to protect the dye finish before applying the double sided tape (which is a good idea - do it myself) ) please use a quality blue or green 3M low stick tape which won't leave residue on the surface when you remove it and interfere with the finish coats - you don't have to press seal the masking tape too much either because the surface area will provide plenty of grip - that way its easy to remove the template, the double sided tape and masking tape all as one without too much drama. R.

[Andrew]

Will do. I was just paranoid about contaminating the surface with the tape, but I did go out and get a selection of the good stuff before I started dying, so Ill do that. I suppose if Im going to be sanding back the first round of dye anyway, it shouldnt really be an issue. Ill make up my template and get it routed etc. tomorrow. Thanks again :)

[John]

You could inlay a pair of chrome washers one at either end, the ones from the Dunlop strap locks might work.

[Andrew]

So Ive routed the recess for my concealer plate, that all went well. Got back to dyeing today. Ill post some pics again soon :).