LP-1S Second First Build

[Blueshound]

I'm just getting started on my JM-1 build and ordered a bunch of DingoTone to experiment with the colours. I figured I'd have more than enough for a second build and was curious about how wood influences tone in an electric guitar (and some of my favourite guitars have mahogany bodies).

So this arrived a few days ago:




I really liked the symmetry of the pattern on the top.

Mock build:



The screws for adjusting the pickup hight are too long for both pickup cavities so I couldn't get the stock pickups to sit on the top of the guitar, but that was really the least of my problems.

(continues...)

[Blueshound]

I gave the body a wipe down with a damp cloth to look for glue marks, and in the time it took to take the below photo of the awesome colouring in the top, the face of the guitar broke out with a massive blister like a pubescent adolescent.

You can't really see it in the photo, but I've highlighted the section.



Absolute panic.

Googled 'laminate blisters' and found a solution that involved creating a wax paper, cardboard, cloth sandwich before hitting the affected area with an iron:



It seemed to do the trick. Clamped and left for a bit more than a day.



But it didn't take, and within a few hours of unclamping, tapping on the previously blistered area I could hear the the tacky sound of glue that was making a futile attempt to keep the spalted top attached to the mahogany.

I hit it with an iron again, and a second clamp. Left for a day and a half - and it hasn't made any difference. I also noticed there's a crack in the surface (pictured below).



Any ideas?

[wokkaboy]

g'day Blueshound, nice looking kit. Bummer about the blister and the crack. Probably best thing to do is try and get some thin superglue in the cracks, let it dry and carefully sand it. THen I'd get a dark timbermate maybe ebony colour and try and fill the cracks.

[vh2580]

had Similar issue with spalted top and grabbed a syringe and needle from chemist for around a buck and thinned a bit of titebond with water (titebond recommend 5% but I think I did a little more as wasn't concerned about joint strength. Just thinned enough so could squeeze out of syringe and just injected two or three little spot in the bubble and clamped. Wasn't perfect but a lot better than it was.

[Blueshound]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll make a trip to the chemist and give the syringe method a try, and I've already got some ebony Timbermate on hand. Fingers crossed.

[wokkaboy]

good tip on the syringe. Think if you get some ebony timbermate in the small cracks they should look like spalt lines

[wazkelly]

Great looking spalt and hope you can save it with the advice from Woks & Tony.

[Swanny]

The syringe idea should work a treat, so you can get the glue inside the blister.

Beautiful looking spalt to work with, too!

[Blueshound]

So I didn't end up using the syringe method. It seems the iron had actually done a pretty good job. I went over the problem area with a damp cloth but couldn't get it to blister again. By tapping on the top I could hear that there were still small areas that weren't completely adhering to the surface, but to the touch it was flat.

I could probably have just left it alone. Probably.

But I didn't.

I'd received an order from StewMac that had some super glue with these really small nozzle attachments that seemed perfect for the job. And since the top was cracked already...

...I decided to open it up with a scalpel. I had to pry up the veneer with the scalpel while injecting glue and then moved it about with the blade. It was a two handed operation so I don't have photos. All I can say is, it's a good thing I'm not a surgeon.

I clamped it and let it sit for a day or so, then filled the cracks with ebony timbermate. The top is stuck down tight now.


Once the timbermate was sanded back it looked like this:


Even with the scar, I'm thinking a natural finish.

[wokkaboy]

nice repair job Blueshound, no one will ever know !

natural finish on the spalt will look excellent