Ive got a big ding in a Talman

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Author Message   Bambusa Username: Bambusa Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 5:58 am:    I have a pretty good condition 95 Talman, except that the black paint has a big ding in it. I have lived with it like that for a little while but because I am playing it more now I would like to know how to fix it. Its about 1.5cm x 1cm and I can see the wood in the middle of it. Luckily its on the top edge so it doesnt affect the way the guitar looks when being played. My question is how can I fill/ touch it up so that it is not so obvious? Also the chrome on the lipsticks has seen better days...can I get replacement chrome covers?   Talmanut Username: Talmanut Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 8:28 pm:    I have repaired serious chips in two Talmans using auto touch-up paint. I think it's an acrylic lacquer. The brand I use is Plasti-Kote, but my guess is most of these auto touch-up paints are similar. On my black Talman, I first ground out the loose edges of the chip with a tiny Dremel bit. After cleaning the hole with acetone on a small brush, I applied at least eight layers of the touch-up paint, at three-hour intervals, until it had filled the hole and then some. The paint was allowed to harden and shrink for three days. I wet-sanded with 400 grit, found a few low spots, filled them with paint and waited a couple more days before going through the grits to 2000 and polishing it all out with 3M Finesse-it II. You cannot see that repair. The paint is Plasti-Kote Black 3700 in a 1oz brush-cap bottle. I also made a nearly invisible repair on a blue-sparkle Talman. The guitar had been sprayed with an adhesive coat and dusted with glitter before the blue-tinted topcoats were applied. The damage had chipped the topcoat and some of the glitter. I was able to find a small amount of glitter in the output jack cavity that hadn't been cover coated, and scraped it onto printer paper. I used clear Plasti-Kote 3701 auto touch-up paint to adhere it to the body, and allowed it to dry overnight. I tinted the clear with a small amount of Plasti-Kote FM 3961 (blue), and began the build-up process. There wasn't enough glitter to do it perfectly, but most people have a hard time locating the repair, even when I give them a hint. Experimenting with the Plasti-Kote clear on other dings, I've found it can be tinted with Prismacolor Marker. Good stuff.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 9:44 pm:    Welcome Bambusa and Talmanut, Nice to see that two newbees found each other so quickly. Excellent work Talmanut. For a Dutchman, the word "ding" reads like "thing". Chuck Berry seems to have other associations: http://boelan.punt.nl/index.php?r=1&id=376174&tbl_ archief=0 Ginger   Bambusa Username: Bambusa Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 11:35 pm:    What my local luthier recommended and what i have done is use some filler/ bog to fill the hole. I then sanded it down to just below the edge and have used black nail polish (Don't chringe!! - it matches nicely) to fill the last bit. Finally Ive wet/dry'd and then swirl polished the finish. It has come up really good as far as I am concerned. It is not invisible but it certainly is not noticeable.   Guitarwhisperer Username: Guitarwhisperer Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 12:18 am:    I use nail polish to repair chips all the time. A good nail laquer will contain nitrocellulose. Sometimes I can find a near perfect match for the candy apple red and similar finishes. I've fixed many a Jackson with it.   Talmanut Username: Talmanut Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 7:45 am:    Yeah, I've used nail polish, too. It's basically nitrocellulose lacquer, and can be thinned with acetone, as can the auto touch-up paint (Plasti-Kote) mentioned above. I've also used wood fillers that thin with acetone, such as the one sold under the Ace Hardware brand, to bring up the surface a bit on a deep ding. Allow plenty of drying time (a couple of days) when overcoating wood fillers, as the solvent in the paint can re-soften them. Acetone, by the way, is a fairly benign solvent as far as toxicity goes (I've researched this), but use some kind of ventilation anyway. And be careful with it around vintage guitars or those refinished with nitrocellulose lacquers, which it will quickly soften. I mentioned using felt-tip marker ink as a tinting pigment. What I do is rub the marker on a piece of glass (I have some old microscope slides) and mix it into the clearcoat using a small brush. Placing the glass on white paper helps me to see the strength of the tint. It dries fast, so a drop of acetone can be added along the way.

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