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Hi guys , My customer has a paisley front tele bass from 1968 . Rare ! But the paisley overlay is cracking and lifting a little . Does anyone have experience of a repair for this ? I'm thinking of injecting epoxy or C.A. into the cracks then clamping down with a waxed plexi caul . Thanks .

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From the net: "In 1968 and 1969, Fender produced the Telecaster (and Telecaster Bass) with a set of floral finishes. These were actually applied by coating the guitar in wallpaper and covering it in clear coat with a sunburst-like fade."

So no one has tried reglueing the paisley ?

Try using wallpaper paste, Len (;
Seriously though, you should also post your question on some dedicated Fender forums.
As a historical note, the lifting of the cosmetic paisley paper began as soon as they were delivered to dealers. That was a driving factor in that finish only being offered for a couple/few years.
If anyone has the definitive answer, my money would be on Rusty Vance.
May you have great success with this repair and take care.

thanks Paul , your input is always very enlightening . I will experiment and post my results for posterity .

I used Titebond...First , I used some diluted with a bit of water....Then I followed with full strength...Used a suction cup tp work the glue in everywhere...Clamped with waxed plexi...So far , it's held up for 6 years..

Hi Len,

The assumption is that the owner would like the repair to be permanent and for similar future degradation to be halted.   Also that the original look is maintained.  I think (and I have not done this particular repair) that your idea and that of the OP (TFM) described down is a a safe risk free solution.  If the repair is only a small area I'd use thin and medium thickness Ca - thin first to wick in and then a medium to fill the remaining cracks a bit.  Otherwize for a larger area the following.

I would lean toward West Systems epoxy with a finish coat containing a touch of type 406 thickening agent (to fill the cracks better) - firstly injecting straight epoxy to get the wetting and capillary action happening under the finish and then squeegy on a thickened finish coat while everything is still wet to form a good bond.    I use shiny brown packing tape as a release medium on cauls as its tougher when maneuvering the caul onto the epoxy.   I have a vacuum system which would be my preferred clamp but any number of clamp types will do the trick.

Note: unthickened West system wicks and responds to gravity so make sure everything is flat and keep an eye out for the first 20 minutes for it appearing at the edges of the caul.

Further, Thickened WS as a finish coat will cure flat and somewhat shiny ready for any sanding that is possible:  if the rest of the guitar finish adjacent is rough or undulating it'll look new where the repair is done. I would use a large sheet across the area to help blend in this repair agent.  I buy the 406 colloidal silica thickening agent from WS and it comes in a large bag.   If you want some gratis tell me and I'll send a small bag that'll get you across the line.  Hope the fires up north aren't giving you any grief Len. 

Regards,

Rusty. 

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