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Reed Spaulding writes:
I rescued a 1968 Ovation 1511 from a uncertian fate at a yard sale
($25!). This is the guitar that my bride of 21 years really wanted
when she bought something shiny made in Japan that fit her budget.
The finish is cracked right down to the wood in many places
on the top of the guitar and in a few places on the neck.
It is interesting to see the tension that the finish has created in the
top as there is a shallow washboard effect in response to the cracks.
The 1999 archives have a thread about using Bruce Hamilton's
method on using retarder, thinner and Amalgimator to re-flow
and soften the lacquer, threby eliminating the cracks.
I think this will work fine. The question is...
How will the plastic band around the perimiter of the top and
the plastic rosette arount the sound hole respond to the mixture?
It appears the both are on top of the finish. I am concerned that
the solvents will work their way under the masking then under
the plastic and loosen them.
The other option is to brush some fresh lacquer in the cracks
to fill them, then sand and topcoat and buff up the gloss.
I think the cracks will still show with this method.
My bride will not let me put the new strings in it until the finish
is beautiful. I told her about Willie Nelson's guitar with the
extra hole worn through the top, but Julie was not impressed.
The guitar has been played, as the frets are noticeably worn
and the fingerboard between then shows wear.
Does anybody know of a good source of information on this type of repair?
Does any Groop menber do this kind of repair?
Reed -- dying to hear how it sounds -- Spaulding
NH
