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Thread: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

  1. #1
    Registered User
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    Default Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Non Mando- I have a killer sounding '53 D-18. I have lived with the poor touch-up a PO did some years ago. My searches for a way to safely remove it have not been successful. Is there a way? Thanks and Happy 2021!

  2. #2

    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Pictures are always helpful.

    Len B.
    Clearwater, FL

  3. #3
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob_d View Post
    Is there a way?
    Maybe.
    What do you mean by "touch-up"?
    Is it a spot where lacquer was oversprayed? Was the whole thing oversprayed? Is it on the top? Sides? Back? Is it applied by a method other than spray? Is it something other than lacquer? Is the color of the back/side wood undisturbed?
    Any other info can be helpful too.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    It appears to have been brushed on several years ago. Looks like s@*t. Listening to it while I played it, I got past the looks pretty quick. I've always wondered if it was possible to remove safely. It is hard to photograph without getting a reflection. Having trouble attaching pics. I hit the icon and nothing happened.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Finish work is tricky. I am a violin maker and do lots of this. Sometimes more damage is done by attempting to "fix" the bad touch-up. First thing to do is figure out what substance was used. I recall a restoration friend purchasing a very valuable Italian violin that had been varathaned over the orig. varnish. He spent a few years, 15 minutes of fresh eyes in the mornings, slowly and carefully scraping the overcoat off. That isn't always possible, be it what was used, cost prohibitive issues, or skill related issues.

    If you can figure out what substance was used, you can find a solvent for it, maybe...Things like this are best left to those of us who do it regularly. I have known people to strip an entire top to eliminate a bad cosmetic repair, thus damaging the value of the instrument as a whole. I have spent weeks with solvents and q-tips removing overvarnish one roll of the q-tip at a time.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Thanks 88. The brushed "touch-up" covers the played in areas around the pickguard and over the original finish also. Some dings are covered as well. I still can't figure out how to post pics. The guitar sounds too good. The touch-up is the only down side. She is a keeper.

  7. #7
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: Removing "Touch-Up" from a Spruce Top

    Finish repair is a job for an expert.
    I've been working on instruments for decades, and still sometimes refer or farm out finish work to others. Something Sunburst [John Hamlett] has often said is "It's easier to make it look worse than it is to make it look better."

    The work can be difficult and time consuming under the best of circumstances. And if there has been previous work done by an amateur, it sometimes is not possible to get good results without stripping the entire surface to bare wood and applying a new finish, which I generally do not recommend on a '50's Martin.

    If you're lucky, it may be possible to level the brush marks and buff it out. The problem with that is that it may look better, or it may look worse. And such work should only be performed by someone with considerable experience.

    It might be best to leave it alone.
    If you do decide to proceed with the work, be prepared to leave your guitar with the repairman for several months.

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