Chipped finish

[C Desborough]

Hello,

I recently took my guitar to my local luthier for a fret level and polish (which went well, albeit they are very low now). Upon getting my guitar home however, I was disappointed to see that the finish at the edges of the fingerboard has been chipped away in numerous places- I have included a photograph. I think that it is polyurethane and fender refer to it as satin polyurethane and I am worried that it may chip further now. Is there anything I can do to rectify this or fill it in/refinish?  

Many thanks,

Chris

[C Desborough]

Yes John, you are right they are the original frets. The guitar is a 2010 model but thanks to my gorilla grip and obsessive practice they got worn very quickly. I am currently in Bristol and was recommended this luthier service by a couple of the guitar shops here. What I expect happened is the guy did the work, strung it up and found that the notes were still choking out and buzzing in places as I had worn the frets down so much. But, as I was playing a gig the night it was due to be picked up and needed it, he couldnt afford the right amount of time to rectify it properly so quickly took the strings off, re-levelled (in doing so cut corners) and then gladly took my money. I will call them today and let you know the outcome- thank you again for all of your replies.

If you could recommend any reputable luthiers in the Bristol area, I would greatly appreciate it.

Chris

[Robert May]

Hey Bristol England has the most people in the world with my last name. I'll live in shame if there's not somebody there who knows what they're doing.

Super-glue painted on with a cotton swab. Just revealed one of my great secrets.

[Gary Fried]

Well seeing as everybody else noticed the poorly finished fret ends I might as well comment. I held my tongue because I didn't want to seem aggressive, but work like this annoys me. I painstakingly polish frets and fret edges even if the guitar comes in just for a setup. One of my first customers back in Brooklyn came in to my shop with a thin-line tele that had taken a tumble and the plain strings cut into the frets leaving some deep gouges that only a fret replacement would fix. He asked me if I could make a new neck for him because the shop he had previously brought it to told him that the only remedy was to drop fill the gouges with super glue. As you can guess it didn't take more than a second for the fill to fall out. I asked him how much he paid and he told me $60.00. I charged him the same to replace to frets and dress the edges. 

My whole point of the story is that these amatuer techs really make a bad name for those of us that are professionals.

Any way C the CA glue is available from stew-mac as well as many hobby supply stores. The thin CA can and will run if applied haphazardly so if you use it be careful. 

Gary

[Frank Ford]

Well, it seems we all see a slightly different view of things.  My first impression on seeing the photo is that there's a finish adhesion problem on that neck.  I'd say it's so easily chipped that it may flake at a fairly light touch.  If you look closely at the upper fret end, you can see that the fret has actually poked out a bit on the end and loosened the finish in that area all by itself.  It may be nearly impossible to work on the edge of that fingerboard without chipping the finish!

That said, it might be reasonable to touch up and get some adhesion in the chipped areas with some thin viscosity cyanoacrylate, but even working carefully it can be difficult to avoid further chipping.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

I've held back on a reply to this post as it seemed to me that everyone was jumping way too deep into the quality of work issue here. I've had several continuing customers over the years who are serious giggers and at times they've needed things "done right now cause there's a gig in two hours", so I've roughed in the repair with the caveat that a return of the instrument at their earliest convenience for completion of the job is recommended. Now what if they were to post a photo of said work as a way to ask a question about an issue they were having with the guitar and maybe even posted my name as being their luthier, and these kinds of posts were the response.......... Without the full context and having never held said instrument in your hands, and without the luthier himself presenting his side, could you honestly say he is a "hack". Just my thoughts. Oh and I go with Frank on the finish, she was loose to begin with.

[C Desborough]

Thank you for your response Eric, I have deliberately not mentioned any names in my post as I am contacting the luthier in question to hopefully sort the problem out. You mentioned that you have had musicians needing a job done within hours- in this case I gave the guitar to him a with a week to spare, surely that would have been enough time. I think my main gripe really is that I now have a guitar which is going to last a relatively short amount of time before a total refret is needed and is also in worse condition than when I originally gave it to him (AND I paid a lot of money for that privilege).

[Paul Verticchio]

Eric,

Here's how I deal with the last minute customer:

If I cannot complete the job in the allotted time, I won't begin working on the instrument.

I've been a gigging musician since 1965 and have a philosophy that if you're working in a band or as a free lance sideman, you have to keep your 'tools' kept-up, maintained and ready to go on a moment's notice. And for it being an emergency...what gigging guitarist doesn't have a back-up axe or two?

I will personally not put half done/incomplete work out there for anyone to see.  To me, that's like putting flour, eggs, water & sugar in a bowl and calling it a cake.

My customers in similar situations often hear the old cliche: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".

Now, before I'm accused of being the repair nazi, I offer to loan or rent (depending on the personal relationship I have with the player) them one of my back-up guitars to get them through their gig if they're in a pinch.  I even adjust the action to their preference and restring them with their string preference (a definite charge for new strings). I simply will not let an unfinished job leave the shop for a public performance. So, the customer is happy and I have a great example of my work out there for anyone, who cares, to see. I consider my "personal & professional policy" not only good business, but my customers view it as a gesture of goodwill.

My experience has taught me that guitarists seldom follow up (in a timely manner), on the "it also needs x?x?x?x, so bring it back when you have the time" advisement.  I won't risk an incomplete fretwork job to potentially reflect poorly upon the quality of my work, precisely as has been done in the instant case.

But then again, those are only my personal standards.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

And as always I respect them and understand them perfectly. I see this a little differently is all. To me I think I relish the challenge and can understand the players desire to have #1 always ready. I like movies like "Tucker" and "Apollo 13" because it's real seat of your pants and get it done now sort of stuff LOL. I've learned there are those for whom deliberate and measured action is best, and those for whom pressure and time constraints are a motivator, with a few falling in between those extremes. When I am totally done with a project it's right, or I make it so, but in between the car just might leave the garage with the hood off until we finish making tuning adjustments, if you get my drift.

[C Desborough]

Once again thank you all for your advice, my last question is regarding that a few of you have mentioned that it looks like a finish adhesion problem on the neck itself and that it looks like it will chip too easily. what can I do about this? If I run some CA along the hole length of the edge of the finish, do you think that it will serve to hold it in place so that nothing can get 'underneath' it to chip or pull it off in the future? I looked on the fender website for my local service centre but they don't seem to have any in the UK, only USA and Canada, but I would really have liked to ask them if it was meant to be like this.

Best,

Chris

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Chris, My post was a general thought not meant to be specific to your situation. Regarding your finish, I personally dislike Poly finishes because of the tendency to lose adhesion in areas of expansion and contraction. That said you will extend the life by re-bonding with CA along the edge but great care is needed and it's not a silver bullet. If it were me I'd wait for the refret down the road as you'll lose more finish when that's done. Deal only with the chipped area for now and let the rest wait. Just a thought.

[Robert May]

CA won't seep through uncracked finish, so it only does good where you see chipping really happening. Plus it would not feel very good to have CA laying above finish. When you use CA to replace missing finish, you sand and buff to blend in with the surrounding finish and then it feels like it's supposed to, as if nothing ever happened.