Battle Scar - Repair advice

slinky005

Power User
My 3 week old beautiful Olympic white Strat just got a nice chip taken out of it a gig. Only noticed it after the fact.
Is this something that can be fixed without re-painting the entire body?
 
It is fixable by a good guitar shop. Of course, if you ask me, a chip makes a Strat better. Nothing better than a nice, legitimate (not factory relic) battle scar on your axe.

If your Strat has a nitro finish, then you'll just have to learn to live with chips and dings. I have 2 Strats with nitro and they ding when you look at them.
 
Shouldn't need to refinish the whole body. For a small chip, a little color matched drop filling and a bit of sanding and buffing should fix it right up. May not be completely invisible since poly repairs don't melt in the way nitro ones do, but a good refinisher can work miracles. Is it down to the wood?
 
Shouldn't need to refinish the whole body. For a small chip, a little color matched drop filling and a bit of sanding and buffing should fix it right up. May not be completely invisible since poly repairs don't melt in the way nitro ones do, but a good refinisher can work miracles. Is it down to the wood?

Yes.
It's a Urethane finish.

*Edit: Just priced the repair - $200 - $275
All of a sudden I love that worn look.
 
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A small spot repair is all you need to fix up that chip. I'm not sure of your painting experience, but you could probably do it yourself with minimal investment. The correct way would be a bit more involved and would require you to have an airbrush or micro HVLP gun to do the job right, as I would recommend using a good 2-part AE for your clear. Very volatile stuff and takes some experience to work with, but it would give you a hard, durable repair.

If you're interested in just making it not-as-noticeable, you can just get some nail polish, fill in the chip with a close-match color coat and then add a few light coats of clear enamel (nail enamel) over that and nobody would probably notice. I've done so many small repairs in this manner and most all my customers can't even tell that it ever happened. The key is finding a good color match. It's the cheap way, but it works wonders if you take your time and buff it out with some compound/polish afterwards. :)
 
Testor's model paint is a good source for finish patching too. It comes in a ton of different colors and you can buy tiny bottles so there's very little waste. You can find it at hobby shops everywhere here in the US.
 
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I take very good care of my guitars. But they live in the real world, and despite my zealous caution, wear and damage are realities for me. I do my best to live with the occasional scratch or whatever, but they still make me feel a little sick when they happen. My primary guitar is a black strat that has been all over the world with me for 20+ years; it is still in very good condition but has a few "down to the wood" dings. I don't make any attempt to cover or repair those areas. I don't artificially "relic" my guitars, but I also don't feel strongly compelled to hide normal wear... for pretty much the same reason that I don't try to hide my gray hair... we come by those "wisdom indicators" honestly :)
 
I take very good care of my guitars. But they live in the real world, and despite my zealous caution, wear and damage are realities for me. I do my best to live with the occasional scratch or whatever, but they still make me feel a little sick when they happen. My primary guitar is a black strat that has been all over the world with me for 20+ years; it is still in very good condition but has a few "down to the wood" dings. I don't make any attempt to cover or repair those areas. I don't artificially "relic" my guitars, but I also don't feel strongly compelled to hide normal wear... for pretty much the same reason that I don't try to hide my gray hair... we come by those "wisdom indicators" honestly :)
Let's go with that!
 
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