Super Glue Ain't it Great!!!

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 10 Sep 2011 1:25 am

Well Steel guitar friends and all other pickers and all other pals I have a question. I recently slipped a gear in my poor addled brain and decided to do some guitar luthier work on a brand spanking new beautiful strat that I bought from a wonderful guy here on the forum. I won't mention his name just in case that's not a good thing to do according to any rules I might be behind on.

So to skip all of the unimportant dribble I somehow spilled a drop or two of super glue which ended up spreading out to be about the size of a dime. The glue that spilled and dried on the guitar is right between the plug in jack and the very bottom tone knob and if it was just about anyone except for me they would probably just let it be, but I am no doubt the worst worrier and the most insane person when it comes to a blemish on a brand new guitar

If I would have had this guitar for a few years it wouldn't even make me think twice

But this guitar is beyond a doubt in the top 2 or 3 prettiest guitars I have ever bought, so I am close to admitting myself to the 8th floor at Baptist Hospital LOL (the Psych ward)

So after reading many fixes for my mistake I have read fixes all the way from completely taking the glue off with Acetone and then refinishing the spot with a big cost of lots of bucks all the way to just lightly scraping the glue off with a blade which is said not to take off much of the ntiro finish and then buffing and polishing it right back to "like new" condition.

The glue is not very thick so I'm wondering if you guys think I could get by with a very careful and light scraping off of the glue and then buffing and polishing the possibly small dull spot from where the glue was very carefully scraped off?

As usual guys I didn't know where to post this question so I hope this forum will be ok but if not please move or delete this post! Thanks for any help guys!

Big Bob

Bill Ladd · Post by **Bill Ladd** » 10 Sep 2011 6:50 am

Auto body pros use a small paint run scraper -- hopefully would work in your case...

http://www.amazon.com/Motor-Guard-RR-1- ... B002XMP05S

Marvin Born · Post by **Marvin Born** » 10 Sep 2011 2:28 pm

Take the guitar to a really good guitar shop. Let them take it off and buff out the finish. I suggest you not try it yourself. One slip of the scraper and you have a scratch, which is much worse than the glue. You are in TN, so there should be some really top notch repair shops there.

Marvin

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 12 Sep 2011 7:28 pm

if it's that pretty blue strat i feel your pain. hope you can get it cleaned up. but then, most important is that you play it pretty.

the 'super glue' part made me think of a friend of mine from rio linda that kept his tooth glued in with that stuff.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Sep 2011 4:57 am

The first "commercial" use of super glue was to glue injured soldiers together in Vietnam* enough to get them back to a base, and it's been used by every guitarist I know for gluing your fingertips back together if they crack or split (especially in winter). Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for gluing his callouses right back on.

To fix the glue spot on the Strat, tie a rope around it and drag it around behind your truck for a week and you can sell it for three times what you paid. Especially in Nashvile, somebody's always making a video.

*(Not to each other)

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 15 Sep 2011 4:26 am

Bob Martin wrote

so I am close to admitting myself to the 8th floor at Baptist Hospital LOL (the Psych ward)

....8th floor has a great view though..

Tony Farr · Post by **Tony Farr** » 15 Sep 2011 5:15 am

Bob, take it to Turner Miers in Rivergate. He'll take good care of it.

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 15 Sep 2011 5:32 am

615-855-6457. Turner is the best.

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 23 Sep 2011 7:04 pm

Thanks so much to everyone, sorry I've been so long getting back to this request. I will no doubt take it to Turner here in town but I don't have his number.

This spot is so small you can barely see it but it bothers the heck out of me

and yes Chris it's the purdy blue one dang it!!

Thanks Mikey for his number!!

Big Bob

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 23 Sep 2011 7:11 pm

Larry Miller wrote:Bob Martin wrote
so I am close to admitting myself to the 8th floor at Baptist Hospital LOL (the Psych ward)
....8th floor has a great view though..

LOL good one!!!

Big Bob

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 23 Sep 2011 7:31 pm

chris ivey wrote:if it's that pretty blue strat i feel your pain. hope you can get it cleaned up. but then, most important is that you play it pretty.

the 'super glue' part made me think of a friend of mine from rio linda that kept his tooth glued in with that stuff.

Hey Chris, yes it's the Blue one and I am going to promise myself never ever never ever ever to use super glue on an instrument again.

The problem was due to this "Players Deluxe Strat" MIM having a push button down between the bottom tone knob and the Strat gtr. in jack. The reason for the push button is so that you can get an almost infinite combination of PUP's on or off at the same time.

So when Fender made this push button they used some kind of epoxy glue to mount the bracket to the back of the pick guard. All I had to do was heat up the epoxy glue around the housing of the push button and pry it off which was very easy and after carefully marking the new pick guard from the hole in the original one the hole was easy to drill.

This is where the sad part starts, it wasn't really that I had squirted super glue on the top of my guitar it's just that the directions of the glue promised that the glue would be completely dry within 30 mins. Well I am here to tell you it was not because as I laid the new pick guard down to put the screws back in and finish my job there must have been a miniscule drop of glue that had not dried and it barely touched that spot as I aligned the guard to the guitar and I did not notice it until I had the pick guard completely screwed back on and that's when I noticed that darn dried spot of glue!!

Big Bob

here's a pic

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 26 Sep 2011 6:38 am

Is this a "before" picture? I don't see the spot in the location you describe.

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 27 Sep 2011 3:14 pm

Hi Barry, no it was taken after the mishap. That might give you an idea how persnickety I am LOL. If you look real close just about in the middle of the input jack right above it and right between the tone nob you might see a slight discoloration the pic doesn't show it as bad as it really is. But even as bad as it is no one would ever notice it in person unless they picked up the guitar and really gave it a good look, but I can't stand having a new pretty guitar with a blemish on it

Bob

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 29 Sep 2011 3:55 pm

i use super glue to fix finish dings..you better be good! can be a disaster if you arent. before...

after..

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 29 Sep 2011 7:09 pm

Cool, Bill! Can you explain the process, (and can we see the rest of that beautiful guitar?)

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 30 Sep 2011 8:43 am

its an eastman t166. i have been looking for some guitars with 1 3/4" nut width and 25" scale. the eastman guitars have that. i had a gibson chet atkins CG in a bag. forgot the zipper was open..guitars were on a bed. gibson neck hit the eastman top bout. machine heads gouged the maple top.

as for the repair. you start with an excellent grade of super glue. 1/2 sec cure stuff. find it at hobby shops. dont even use the drug store variety. find out how fresh the glue is too. keep it in a baggie in the fridge when not using it.
takes a couple of applications to fill in the dent. let it dry overnight!! has to be hard all the way through.
only use just enough to fill and give you a little to sand. the most important thing is to only work on the glue and NOT the finish around the glue. save that till the very end. the glue is harder than the lacquer or poly finish. you must level that first and not cut into the finish around it. the idea is to level the glue to the finish and then use 1200 grit paper to blend a little past the glue area and then start in with rubbing compound to finish the repair.
use a square eraser to back the sandpaper on flat surfaces and be careful when using the paper with fingers only. keep it moving and not in one place only. use very light grits. start with 400 then to 600 and then to 1200.

practice on something before you try it on your expensive guitar!

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 30 Sep 2011 2:37 pm

Thanx, Bill.

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 17 Oct 2011 9:43 pm

Sorry, but can't agree. The only thing I've ever seen SuperGlue hold together is any two fingers.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 18 Oct 2011 7:06 am

That "drop fill" superglue technique is pretty standard procedure. Two things that make it easier are superglue accelerator and toothpicks. The accelerator is like water, and it doesn't do anything until the superglue contacts it. Is is quite reactive with nice finishes, but it lets you use a thicker grade of glue. This may seem contradictory, but the medium thickness glue can be picked up with the tip of a toothpick, the thinnest stuff can't (there's also a really thick grade available that's used as a space filler). Dan erlewine covers this in his "Guitar Player Repair Guide", a book which should be required for guitar owners.

So, the procedure is to put a tiny drop of accelerator into the ding, then a toothpick-drop of the medium glue. In a case like Bill's above, you do them one at a time, plz. Be careful. If you're a dribbly sort by nature, don't do this. For flattening it out, I find a flat little triangular file helpful to get really close, and watch that the sandpaper is tight across your "block" so it doesn't pooch out and sand things you don't like.

My left thumb has an obsessive complex about guitar neck dings, so I learned this stuff out of necessity.

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 18 Oct 2011 8:32 am

You can also fix a small divot in a guitar fret with this super glue method.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 20 Oct 2011 8:58 am

Another good use of Super (or Krazy) glue is nut repair. I have a nut fettish with my fretted instruments as I like very low action and sometimes I tend to file them a little too deep. A repairman I know told me of a technique he uses where he'll just get a small toothpick and put some baking soda in the nut slot, he'll then add a drop of superglue and let it dry a few hours. Then you can refile the slot and it's like new again. I've tried this several times and it works great. On one guitar I couldn't find any baking soda so I used some powdered coffee creamer and that worked just as well as the baking soda........JH in Va.

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 20 Oct 2011 9:01 am

I'll have to try it.
I went a little overboard on the string 1 (high E) string-slot in the bridge of my acoustic.
It doesn't buzz untill you get a ways up there, but it is a cutaway so...

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 20 Oct 2011 9:10 am

Before you do any work with any sort of fixative or glue, put masking tape around the area you're working on, and lay a towel between you and the masking tape. Then if you drip it won't touch the surface of the guitar.

The same thing holds for fret work, too. It's all too easy to slip with a screwdriver or a file or an Xacto knife. Masking tape won't guard against a heavy stab with a tool, but it gets 90% of them.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 20 Oct 2011 9:59 am

I've used paper on nuts instead of the baking soda, with equally useful results. I tend to cut my treble strings to near zero fret height, so every few years they just wear low. If you've "blown the nut" bad enough to need cardboard or a business card you probably ought to start over, but a little tiny piece of toilet paper folded over and jammed in with a pin works great. And if you don't know you're supposed to mask things over before you... ack. There is no such thing as "foolproof"... there's a million of these things, like don't tack down a nice piece of carpet to your workbench - to gradually accumulate sanding grit and particles that can't be vacuumed out, go to the carpet store and buy a stack of samples for $1 each, lay down a towel each time, wash the towel and throw out the carpet now and then. Kitchen plastic wrap - wrap up the guitar like a big ol' chicken, leaving open the space you need to work on...