Ibanez Lonestar LE405-WN missing a portion of the top lamination.

[John Yungbluth]

Pleased to present for your consideration. . . . . . . . .

Round 2 on my project.  Andrew and Paul got me through the saddle issue and making a new bone piece.  This improvement in overall sound makes me want to keep going and work on the top.  Thank you both.

When I purchased this guitar a previous owner had cut into the laminated top and removed a portion the top layer.  Structurally the top is sound.  Just a bit butt ugly.

I know it is not cost effective to do this in a business situation, but I am a hobbyist, it's my guitar, and have the time and interest in trying this.  If I FUBAR it, I have only myself to explain it to.  Then I can try again.

The guitar most likely winds up being donated to an elementary school music program or  Studio Spectrum in Omaha, they provide instruments to autistic people to explore music.  So at the end of the line it will wind up in the hands of a person who may not be able to acquire one on their own. 

I can fix the loose binding and drop in a replacement piece for the missing white purfling.  But I want to lay down a replacement piece of wood, solid or laminate to fill in the missing space.  The grain on this laminated top is very tight and I have nothing in my cadaver corner even close.

Is there veneers available?  Spruce or something visually close?  I've seen birch, oak and maybe walnut at Lowes and stores like that. 

 

So do I glue in a solid piece, and plane it down, and scrape level?   Do I take a piece of a laminated top and remove the bottom layers, and sand from the back to draw just a bit proud, thickness of the old finish of the top.  Glue down and scrape level.  Then stain a French polish a coat to seal.

I don't want to cut out the piece and splice in a completely new one.  It's over about 80-90% of the tail block.  I'm afraid that may structurally compromise the top too much.

Thanks in advance.

John

don't think I can find a piece to make a great match. 

[Ned Knepp]

 I think I'd do a decorative inlay rather than try to match the wood grain. Probably something in a arch to cover the missing area, rather than trying to fit a square. It wouldn't have to be too fancy. Do some searching on veneer on the web and you will find that there is a lot more selection than you will find at the local building center. If you want color, look for pressure dyed veneers. 

BTW, if you haven't already, you should check on the inside to insure that the tail block is properly positioned and secured. That looks like the guitar was dropped so the block may have been broken loose.

[Mark Pollock]

Inlay some tortoise pickguard material? 

[Mark Fogleman]

I would try something like this that I found somewhere surfing the net:

[Ned Knepp]

That's the ticket I'm talking about, Mark (s).  It's not too hard to find other examples on the WWW. You can find a lot of ideas for this sort of thing by searching for fine furniture inlay designs. 

I suppose another option would be to do a fill with wood that wouldn't blend with the existing top then apply a thin overlay of some sort. Material to match the existing pickguard (perhaps the tortoise shell look, Mark mentioned) might look good with a simple inlay. If the existing P.G. is semi-transparent some color may be needed on the patch to make it look right but is should be fairly straight forward.