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Not much explanation here, just a bone-headed goof up, and then pig-headed insistence that "it won't look that bad." Had a nice piece of quartersawn beech that I used to face a weight-relieved pine body and make a matching neck. Problem in the bad placement of biscuits which I know aren't needed. They revealed themselves after sawing out the body. I've tried masking off the top and back to paint the edges a solid color, but can't get tape to stick to the rounded edges. Looking for ideas/inspiration on how to fix. Thanks for any help or ideas.     

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You know what? I like it. Leave it like that. It has character. Otherwise the workmanship looks very good. Who's to know you didn't get the wood already jointed?

I went to an art exhibition that explored designs that originated as mistakes. I'd say go with it or maybe do a sunburst.

Put some mop inlay over the rectangles :D.

Theyre really not that bad looking though.

I'm with Ron. There's nothing wrong with that. Just tell any potential detractors it part of a proprietary internal resonance adjusting system. It looks VERY cool :)

Now, if the instrument was commissioned for a customer, that advice may not apply.

Alternately, to get tape to stick to the rounded edges, lightly roughen the edges with 600 grit paper to give the tape an irregular substrate to grip to. I'm pretty well in love with the ubiquitous 3M GREEN auto painting tape. It has superior adhesion properties and won't eat into lacquer like the BLUE painters' tape.

And don't worry about those biscuit joints. The only folks that would find fault with those are players with POS guitars. A REAL player will appreciate the fact that you built the guitar from scratch..and will likely dig the look of the joints.

Nice work, man :)

Watch out for that green tape.  I have an old roll and it says it's OK for Lacquer.  I went to buy a new roll of different width and NOW it says don't use on lacquer.  Maybe they changed the formula?

Re the guitar, I also say leave it.  If someone questions it, it's a necessary reinforcement to enable high power playing.  Like Frank's mandolin headstock scroll reinforcement (see previous thread...).

Larry

Hi Larry.

I buy mine at the local pro Auto Paint supplier (3M #401).  I just checked the spec's at 3M and it's still recommended for lac.as of 2014. Huh?

My favorite 3M tape is their white rubber backed paper tape (#256  known in the MI trade as 'console tape') but it's cost prohibitive.

Thanks for the heads-up on the green stuff. I'll carefully monitor its use :)

The stuff I was looking at (3M) was from an Ace Hardware.  It may be a different product than the #401.  I can't compare the product number because I didn't buy it once I saw the recommendation not to use with lacquer.  I'll look into it further.

I tend to alert about this particular issue because I once had a nitro finished archtop guitar shipped to me with post-it notes in place to mark the bridge position.  There were nice little squares of damaged lacquer under the sticky part of the notes.  Unfortunately, they were outside the line of the bridge alignment so they still show on the finish.  I've spent a lot of time since reading the labels on the inside of tape rolls when I'm considering what to buy.

Larry

Error. What error?

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I'm sanding it to 600 as we speak, and will try the 3M green stuff. I tried the green, but it's the big box stuff, and doesn't want to stick to much of anything. I just noticed it's Painters' Mate brand, "delicate" grade. I have got to start paying attention. Will stop at the auto supply store for the real thing. I build on speculation between repairs, but I hate to offer something that's not top notch. Thanks again for the help.    

Hi Randall,

There isn't a cabinet maker alive who hasn't unearthed a biscuit in the most obvious place.  And I'm no fan of making a fork-up into a feature,although it can sometime be brilliant. 

This is a guitar, you are a maker,  and you will be judged by all and sundry as long as this guitar exists on this most obvious error.   But, its fine to cover or mask a cosmetic blemish that does not affect the tone or the serviceability of an instrument (with some professional exceptions).

My course of action would be to sunburst it from black (ish) through tobacco brown through to whatever (standard Fender schedule) or paint the whole thing.  Remember to flood the biscuit area with superglue to stabilize the biscuit which will want to pop out when the weather changes because of the grain orientation of the body to the biscuit.  

Paul V; Comrade, brother luthier, mate, we will agree to disagree on this one - guitar making is a harsh master, a robust teacher,  and takes no prisoners.

Rusty.

"Guitar making is a harsh master, a robust teacher, and takes no prisoners."

Amen.

Rusty,

I'm always open (and eager) to having my head turned around to look in the correct direction.  I'd never even considered that the biscuits would creep. A MAJOR oversight on my part. :)

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