Chips, Dents, Dings and Scratches. Here's a tough one, Your guitar has a chip in it from bumping into something. You have a small chip in the finish. If it is a vintage guitar or may become a vintage guitar people usually like to leave these alone because any modification to the finish will decrease the value. I personally don'eally big I leave them alone. Most amateur repairs look much wt mind small chips in my guitars and unless they are rorse than the chip itself. If its a big chip try to find the piece that fell off, in a club this is hard, but at home you can usually find the piece that chipped off. Here is a easy repair for that. You will need #1500 grit sand paper. Super glue, two wooden tooth picks and some polllhing compound.

First place the chip back into the body and hopefully it will match exactly to where it came out. Take one drop!!!!!!!! No more on a toothpick and place it in the edge of the crack so the glue runs under and in the chip. Don't use your fingers on this because super glue adheres to skin better than anything, Use the second tooth pickup with no glue on it to hold the chip in place while the glue dries.

After it is dry take a few more drops of glue and cover the chip and the line will disappear. Use the 1500 paper to wet sand the area even. A car finish compound should be used to rub the finish and bring the shine back. If you don't have the chip and want to touch up the guitar take the guitar to a auto parts store that sells touch up paint for cars. Try to match the color with a car touch up paint. Usually this paint has the clear coating mixed in, if you can't find this than maybe try to match it with nail polish from a department store. They usually don't have metallic though. Heel Cracks (Cracks around the neck joint) Heel cracks are caused almost always by some type of impact on the guitar, even if the guitar case is dropped, this can cause heel cracks. The problem seems to be that bolt on necks move separate from the body. Most heel cracks tend to be just in the finish so they are not actually effecting the guitar structure but sometimes the cracks can go right through the wood. To repair a heel crack first we need to take the neck off and check the cracked area. On small finish cracks this repair is fairly simple just make sure the crack can close back up and take a tooth pick and super glue and cover the crack with a small amount of glue. You will see the glue run in the cracked area, never use any type of setter because this dries the glue too fast and causes the glue to break down and turn white. After the glue dries wet sand the area with #800, #1000 and #1500 than buff the area with a compound or buffing wheel if one is available. On most guitars the crack will be totally invisible and don't worry the glue is stronger than the finish was. On more complicated cracks you will need to repair the crack as well as refinish the area of the crack. For this type of repair remove all the parts off the body. Close the crack the same way as before using super glue until the cracks are completely closed up. Next you will need to break the finish area that will be repainted because paint does not stick to a buffed finish. I recommend using Scotch Bright ® pads to rough up the finish in the area that will be repainted. We have what we call poly lines, this is the same as in the auto body business and you always want to refinish an area not just a spot. Always try to find an line to finish up to.On a heel we will usually refinish the entire cutaway area. This will hide the topcoat lines from being visible. To do this type of repair you need to tape off the rest of the guitar that you don't want to refinish. Once the crack is repaired use the correct color in an airbrush to repaint the repaired area and then clear the whole section. Once the paint and clear dries wet sand with #800/#1000 and #1500 and buff. See Paint and Finish

Nut Replacement If a nut is too low sometimes you can put a little drop of super glue in the slot and wait till it dries so the string does not buzz open. However you will need to replace a nut sooner or later. So the hardest part is getting the old one out. On some guitars the nut is under some clear so you will need to use an exacto blade to slice the finish. On a blank style nut I use a small metal bar to pop off the nut. With a Fender® style nut I try to wiggle it out with a pair of dull fret nippers, becareful you can easily take the wood with it. I read somewhere to saw the nut in half longways down the center. I tried this and it works however I always like to keep the original nut intact for at least marking the nut slots for the new nut.

To install a new nut measure the nut slot and nut material. Cut and shape the nut material to the exact size of the nut slot before gluing it in. I use super glue to mountthe nut but you can use white glue if you want. If you have the old nut use it to mark the slots. If you need to cut a new nut from scratch you need to think about the string spacing. Start by figuring out how far from the edge the outside strings will be. On most nuts it is usually around 3-4mm. Mark these on the nut and measure the inside distance of the two. Then depending on how many strings you have figure out the distance. For a six string divide the total width by 5 and a four string divide the total width by 3. Mark the nut and cut the slots. Make sure you hold the file straight and don't go too deep, You can put a metal thickness gauge under the file that is higher then the fret to make sure you don't go too deep. (Say is the fret is 1.0mm use a 1.5 mm thickness gauge) Loose Tremolo Studs. Since the invention of the Floyd Rose® loose tremolo studs have been a problem. This is caused by the tremolo being used and the actual area of the stud inserts can't always handle heavy use of the tremolo, of course the weaker always looses so the studs come loose or even crack the wood around the tremolo.

If the studs are just spinning but there is no structure damage around the studs you can use super glue or epoxy to permanently set the insert in the wood. Guitars that are either damaged in that area because the stud inserts have cracked the wood, or on a standard Floyd Rose® the screws are directly in the wood and the wood just can't handle the pressure, we will need to replace the wood area.

First if there are inserts in the wood remove them. To do this I use a stud extractor that is sort of like a wheel extractor. First I use a threaded bolt that fits the studs, a nut and a washer. I use a bass machine head grommet as a spacer. Place the grommet over the stud, insert the bolt through the insert with the washer and nut in place, tighten the nut into the grommet and the stud insert will be pulled out of the wood. (Stew Mac sells one of these but they are easy to make) Next you will need a wooden dowel that is larger then the hole, If the hole is 10mm I use at least a 12mm dowel. Use the correct drill size for the new dowel and drill the insert area with the drill bit. Measure the depth that you drill and mark it on the dowel and cut the dowel to the exact length that you need. Remember most drill bits drill the center of the hole deeper then the sides so measure the depth at the side of the hole not the center. Take the dowel and place it in the holes and don't hammer it in because this can cause a crack. Take it to the drill press and put a bolt in the drill press and press the wood in like an arbor. This will give you a perfect fit. If you choose to use wood glue on this it won't work because the dowel fits so tight in the hole that the glue would just be pushed out after the dowel is in, use super glue or 5 minute epoxy around the sides of the dowel to make sure it is sealed. At this point re-drill the bridge stud inserts and that's it you can touch up the area with either touch up paint or magic markers that are the correct color. Body Seam lines. Body seams mostly appear where the wood is joined together. Most bodies are two or three pieces. It is standard that on guitars with natural or sunburst this type of problem is not totally visible but on solid colors it is a big problem. From a production point we use a veneer on the top and back of all solid color alder bodies. The veneer will not show any seams after finishing.

When body seams appear on a guitar it is a fairly easy repair you just need to be careful not to sand through the finish. First take all the parts off the guitar so you have a nice flat area to work on. Next if there is any area that is open wood you should seal it so it does not swell if it gets wet. This area is usually anywhere a screw is like the pickguard, mounting rings or five way. I just seal the holes with super glue. If bare wood gets wet and swells under the finish there is nothing you can do about this. I use a palm sander with #800 dry on it and sand the area flat until all the shinny spots are gone and the seam lines disappears. Then I use #1000 and #1500 wet, then buff the area. If you don't have a palm sander just use the #800 wet with a flat block to sand out the seams then follow the #1000 and #1500 paper and buff.

Sharp Fret Ends (Fret ends that stick out)

Sharp frets are caused by the wood shrinking when moisture leaves the wood. If there is no finish on the ends of the fretboard just use a fret file to file the frets back, then a long block with #280/#500 to finish the sides and use a triangle file to remove the sharp edges from the fret ends. Use the #800 and #1000 with a short block and finish with #0000 steel wool. If the fretboard has a finish on it, and the frets finish is bubbled out. Use a Exacto blade on the side of fretboard at the top to make sure the air bubble is open and use a brand new bottle of the thinnest super glue you can find. In the states the Hot Stuff is good but I prefer the Japanese thin glue from Arron Alpha. You can not get this in the states.

Take the glue and put it on a piece of wet sand paper and use a tooth pick. Take the glue and touch it on the top of the fretboard below the fret and watch in amazement as the air bubble disappears. Then use the #280 long block to sand the fret end back,. Follow the same procedure as above to finish the frets. Sometimes the glue does not work and if the fretboard is Rosewood or Ebony than I first use a file to file the frets back than I use a scraper to scrape off the finish on the fretboard down below the fret line or the air bubble and use the same finishing procedure described above. Shielding Noisy Electronics. Shielding the cavity as well as all the electronic areas is the only thing to do. The shielding paints that they sell are OK but this hardens up if it is not used and can be a waste of money. I use these paints to seal the wood area after the body is routed then go to a auto parts store and get the silver tape they sell for doing repair work on cars. This is a great shielding tape that is cheap and easy to use. Be careful not to cut your fingers on the sharp edges this hurts like hell. Use an Exacto knife to cut out the shape of the cavity in the tape and install it in the cavity. On my guitars I prefer the copper tape but it is really expensive I get rolls from Dimarzio® and one advantage of this is you can soldier to it and run a ground line from the pots to the shielding area. I found that on bodies without pickguard's that a single coil pickup with two wires and no shield can pickup allot of noise through the drilled area that the wire runs through. This is next to impossible to use tape in so I pour the shielding paint in the hole to seal it. If I really want the guitar to be quiet I replace the two wires with a shielded two conductor wire. Cleaning Electronics Sometimes all that sweat, dirt and bar smoke get in the electronics and cause noise when you change pickups or turn the pots. You can use the compressed air in a can for cleaning computers first, I have used some contact cleaners but some tend to cause a goo that locks up the pots. What I have been using as of late is CRC with a red label, this works good. I don't like the blue stuff. If something is giving you allot of problems it may be a good idea just to replace it so it does not go down again. If you are a vintage guy save the old parts in case you want to sell it, but just because its a vintage pot does not mean it is good, although it may ad to the value. Electronic Problems Some time in your life you will encounter some type of electronic problems from noisey pots, bad pickups, distorting electronics to jacks that crackle when the cord is moved and everything in between. First before you read this remember as we say in the repair world. (Keen Eye For The Obvious!!!) What this means is first try to figure out what happened and usually the answer is right there under your nose. A simple example is maybe a dead battery or the pot turned and is touching the side of the cavity that is shielded and intern is sending the signal to ground. No Sound from the electronics passive instrument (No Batteries) First things first make sure the amp and cord are good. Then ask yourself or whoever's guitar it is when did this happen and what where you doing. Did the knob turn all all the way around, This may be a loose nut and when knob turned it took the pot with it and the wire snapped off, or even the lugs for the wires could be touching ground somewhere. Look all around for things loose or touching or broke off. Try to figure out where they came from and return the wires to that location.

Cold soldier joints. Basically this is a soldier joint that has lost its conductivity, usually they are not shinny. A quick touch with a hot soldier iron and a new piece of soldier usually fixes this up quick.

Bad pickup? A pickup that has an internal ground problem will send the signal to ground. You can use a multi meter to check the pickup's output using DC resistance ohms, it should read between 5.0K to 18.0K OHMs, depending on the pickup style or output. if it reads 0 it is open or if it reads more then 100000 or something it is also bad. Your best chance on fixing the pickup is to hope that the only problem is that the wire leads that are attached to the beginning and end of the coil are somehow not connected. Anything else is almost impossible to fix because it is inside the coil winds. The wiggle test Grab the wires when the instrument is plugged in and tug on each one just a little and wiggle them, any sound come out? Trace the wire back to the problem. The by pass What I do sometimes is by pass different parts of the circuit to see if I can find the problem. First wire a pickup straight to the jack , the hot wire from the pickup goes to the hot lug on the jack and the ground goes to the ground on the jack. Is there any output? If yes the problem is in the other part of the circuit if no sound comes out it is either the pickup or the jack. This works really good with active electronics because sometimes you have no idea where the problem is coming from. Volume pots that don't turn off This is usually caused by the lug not being grounded (See Wiring) Pots that keep turning. Well this could be a loose nut but sometimes if you look at the top of some pots there is a bent piece of metal that goes into the pot, this is the piece that stops the pot from turning make sure it is all the way down. Guitar is noisy even when your hands are not on the strings? Check the bridge ground at the claw hook, stud or pot. Active Electronics First check the battery, then perform the wiggle test as above. If there is a PC board also do the by pass test as above. Check the PC board for broken traces, This is where a small trace may have lifted off the board and broke contact, if you find on of these you can hardwire the connection. Just find the beginning and end of the trace and put a jumper on. If the electronics are distorting this is many times a loose trace, bad op amp or a low battery under 9 volts. (Some electronics are very sensitive to voltage and as a battery looses its power the output will distort.) Batteries that die too fast? Usually electronics today are optimized for at least 20 hours or so of usage, However remember that whenever the instrument is plugged in the circuit may be on so keep the instrument unplugged when not in use. If the problem occurs check the circuit with a meter to see if the battery shuts off when the instrument is unplugged. Do this by touching the red to the battery red and the black to the jack ground, when you pull out the cord it should have no DC volts when it is plugged in it should read the value of the battery (9 volts or so) Cracked Fretboard or Bridges. On acoustic bridges, arch top bridges or even ebony fretboard's that are not properly kept moisturized with oil can crack. These types of cracks are usually structure cracks and need to be repaired well. For a bridge crack I use wood glue in the crack and a clamp to hold the crack closed. After the glue dries I use #280 sand paper to sand the area and get some wood powder, then I seal the top of the crack with super glue and while the glue is wet, sand the area with #280. This mixes the glue and wood powder together and seals the crack to a invisible repair. On a cracked fretboard I do the same as above however I use a thin sanding block and a scraper to sand between the frets. This is a pain and if the fretboard is cracked allot or the length of the board I pull the frets repair the cracks as above and then re-fret it. I also tell the guy that owns it how to moisture the fretboard from cracking. Acoustic Guitar Bridges. Since the invention of the acoustic there has been lifting bridges. On most American guitars the bridge is glued to the wood. But on almost all foreign guitars the bridge is glued on the top over the finish with super glue they use the Arron Alpha the strongest super glue in the world. If the bridge is just lifting in the back you can sometimes just put glue under the bridge and clamp it back on. On foreign guitars use super glue on American guitars use wood glue. To remove a bridge it depends on if I will replace the bridge with a new one or not. Usually if I am going to take the bridge off I will always replace it with a new bridge or make a new bridge if I can't find one. Sometimes the bridge is almost falling off in this case you can usually work the bridge loose using a pallet knife and heat. For super glued on bridges I use the Super Solvent that I get from Stewart MacDonald and squirt it under the bridge and wait for the glue to break down and remove the bridge. Before you try this make sure the super solvent won't melt the finish. On lacquer finishes and some urethanes this can happen. Here is the factory way to replace a bridge. We always put a new bridge on so I use a hand router and a jig that sits on the top of the guitar that has a hole in it around the bridge shape, I use a router to rout the bridge off the guitar until it is flush with the top. Simple than I re-glue a new bridge on and that's it. Acoustic Guitar High Action. This is usually simple, just remove the saddle and sand the bottom of the saddle down to lower the action. Use a belt sander to do this and I just hold it in my fingers. (What's left of my finger tips) I found that holding it any other way will cause the saddle to sand uneven. This is because sometimes one side of the saddle will need to be sanded more than the other most jigs will cause the saddle to be sanded even thus defeating the purpose.If you don't have a belt sander you can tape a piece of 220 paper to a flat surface and move the saddle back and forth until the saddle its the correct height. John Lomas at Ibanez showed me a way where you take a flat block and lay it against the side of the belt sander. This keeps the saddle bottom flat, use your finger to push the saddle against the belt and sand it. Of course until you get good at it the saddles tend to fly off the belt. Always make sure the saddle bottom is flat and not on any angle this will cause less string transfer from the saddle to the bridge and will also cause many problems with the output on Piezo pickups. To fix this use a piece of sand paper on a flat service and hold the saddle evenly and move it back and forth until the bottom is flat. Sometimes no matter how low you sand the saddle the bridge is too high and needs to come down. This is what has become known as a bad neck angle. Usually the guitars neck angle is fine when it was made but because wood moves and settles the angle can change a little. To fix this remove the strings, lay a piece of thick cardboard over the top with the shape of the bridge cut out of it and use #80 paper on a long block to sand down the top of the bridge. Then Use the #180/#280 and #500 to reshape the look of the bridge. In a production setting I designed a crazy way of fixing these in a few seconds. I don't recommend this unless you can replace the guitar but here it is. Once I needed to fix over 500 guitars because the bridges were too high and we could not get the action down. I first put thick masking tape on the top of the body to protect it then I put on a respirator and goggles, get on my knees and hold guitar over the belt sander and touch just the bridge on a belt . Sounds crazy but it works in seconds the only chance I have of messing up the guitar is on the outside front of the body so this is taped off. After sanding the bridge top down I use #320 on the palm sander to reshape the bridge. This process is less than five minutes to repair one guitar. Loose Braces On acoustic guitars that have a distinct rattle when played usually this can be caused by loose braces. Basically the brace is vibrating different from the top because the glue may have broken down. First tap around the top of the guitar and listen you can usually find the loose braces this way. After the loose braces are discovered reach in the sound hold and grab the braces, you can usually feel them move. If the brace pulls off then remove it and re-glue it back. If the brace does not pull off then just re-glue it. I have tried many of the clamps that they make for this but I prefer to take paint sticks and cut them to the correct size to fit up under the brace. Then I use a tooth pick to get the wood glue between the brace and the top or back and wedge the paint sticks in there on an angle this works great and does not dent the bracing like some of the metal clamps can. Cracked Necks or Headstock's. If the guitar has a detachable neck and a new neck is available I always replace them no questions asked. However on many guitars that you run into the necks just are not available so in this case we will glue it back together. Hopefully the crack will be clean and when you close the crack up all the pieces fall back in place, in this case use wood glue and clamps to glue the cracks. On some guitars that the crack is on say the headstock or a scarf joint I use either wooden dowels or wooden splints depending on the crack. To strengthen the area just for safety after the cracks are glued I drill the 1/4" holes at the weakest part of the crack and insert dowels in the hole. I use the same material as the neck for this. If the neck is Mahogany I make the dowels from mahogany. If you are making a dowel make sure the grain of the wood is the same as the area the dowel will go in or you will wind up with a different grain that will stain different. For really bad cracks that are in areas that are weak I use what they call splints. Basically this is a small piece of the same wood as the neck cut to run about 3/4" above the crack. I use a mill and a 1/4" router bit at the cracked area. The wooden splints should be shaped the same as the rout with a rounded top like a popsickel stick has. The depth on the splints depends on the headstock but usually around 5mm or so. Glue this in with wood glue and clamps. Don't worry about the height at this time we will file and sand them after the glue dries. If the neck has a finish hopefully it has a sunburst right at the area of the repair. Then I will blow the burst in and refinish the whole neck. Replacing a Acoustic Bridge I have read many peoples ideas for this and I have tried all of them. The results are good but it takes time and the chance of putting a putty knife through the top is fairly great. In the old days I used heat and a putty knife. I heat the bridge with a my neck heating block and use a Wagner power stripper to heat the putty knife and work the bridge off, a little at a time. If you are not careful and patient a little more then the bridge comes off. I also found all kinds of ways that bridges are attached, some are glued to the wood under the finish like a Martin , most Asian guitars are glued directly on top of the finish with super glue. Some bridges have hidden dowel set pins to line up the bridge, if you do not know that they are there this is a real pain. So what do I do today? Well if I will completely replace the bridge with a new one then I rout it off with a hand router. I made a simple bridge template that I double stick tape on the top and I just use a standard hand router and slowly rout down the bridge until it is just a micro thin piece over the top and the last piece just peels off leaving the top perfect for the new bridge. To install a new bridge I like to have an exact one made before I rout the old one off, you can sometimes buy them or just simply make it out of Rosewood or Ebony. If I am making a new bridge I usually increase the outside diameter by a 1mm or so just to cover up any bad area from the old bridge. Once you have a new bridg, place it on the guitar and put the bridge pins in through the top. This will line up the bridge, Next place the saddle in the slot and measure from the nut to the high E string saddle it should sit at the scale length plus 1-1.5 mm back from scale for intonation. Most bridges have the slot already compensated for the low E string. If the measurement is off the intonation will be off. Your best bet is to make a new bridge that has the correct saddle placement. Mainly because the saddle needs to sit correctly over the bridge plate under the top. If it does not the top can buckle. Once the bridge is positioned correctly think about how to glue it on. If the finish is there and you are going to glue it on top of the finish with super glue like the factories do, you need really strong super glue not just Hot stuff thin. I use a special super glue that I get from Japan Arron Alpha you can find an equivalent here in the states under 3M. This glue is thick but it sets in seconds so you only have one shot. You can also lay the bridge on the top with the pins and carefully trace the out line of the bridge on the top and scribe it with an exacto knife. Then take the bridge off and use the exacto knife to cut through the finish to the wood and use a sharp chisel to remove the finish. Then use wood glue to glue the bridge to the top. Good luck the chances of screwing up are good. I tried using a Dremel to rout through the finish this worked but I remember the result was not great because still the ends of the bridge did not line up exact with the old finish lines. Most repairs I do need to look like they just left the factory. Once the bridge is all set to go I scratch the bridge on the bottom and also the area that it will be glued on with a scribe to make sure it adhears well, I also wet the bridge bottom to raise the grain up to also get a good adhesion. Put a good amount of wood glue on the bottom of the bridge and if you use the super glue put it on about 3mm back for all edges for the squeeze out when clamping. For wood glue this cleans up easy with a towel and water. To clamp it on I have tried a hundred ways. I lay the bridge on the guitar with the two out side bridge pins to line it up. Then you can use Clemsia clamps these are the wooden cam clamps, They need to be the correct size Stew Macs are either too long or too short at least they seem, The best ones are hand made ones from Bucks County Music, (215-345-0616) I have seen these all over the world in wood working stores or you can buy them direct or just look for the Buck Musical stamp. To get the clamps over the X bracing you should use a piece of wood in the sound hole to bring the clamp just over the X brace and them clamp. Be careful the glue that comes through the bridge pin holes will glue this block on so lay wax paper between the thickness block and the bridge plate inside the guitar. Then clamp and wait for the glue to dry.