Veneer has a raised/unglued spot

[HooligansMusicLab]

Hi all,

Our second kit, a spalted maple LP-1S just arrived in the mail. It's beautiful, but there's an issue we're not quite sure how to address. The veneer has a spot near the bottom edge of the guitar where it apparently didn't get enough glue. There's a bubble about 1.5" by .75", about 3/4" away from the edge of the guitar. I'd guess the bubble is raised about .100", maybe a bit less. You can push it down into it's proper position with moderate finger pressure.

We're not quite sure what to do about it. We could try to poke into it with a hypodermic needle and squirt in some glue, then clamp it down, but that would leave a hole in the veneer and glue smeared on the face of the guitar. We could...try to pull off the binding? and try to get into the bubble from the edge, but we'd have to go through a solid 3/4" of wood (at least) to get to it. And we haven't done any work with removing/replacing binding, so we're not excited about that prospect.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

[Zandit75]

If it's within a few days of you receiving it, then you can return it for a replacement.
For what I've heard, Adam is really good in that regards.
Send him an email, he is normally very quick to get back to you.

[HooligansMusicLab]

Thanks for the tip Zandit. The only reason I hesitate is that we're in the US, and return shipping would be very expensive...

[Zandit75]

Oh ok, yes, that does make things a little more difficult.
Hopefully you can get it sorted out.

[WeirdBits]

Can you post some images of the bubble (if it'll show in a photo) and surrounding area. It's better to see the problem before trying to suggest solutions.

[dingobass]

Try dampening the bubble then lay a damp cloth on it and gently heat it with u our soldering iron.
This may shrink the bubbled area so it sits flat.
Otherwise the needle and syringe idea will work. You should only need a tiny amount of glue, which will stop the glue getting everywhere.

[HooligansMusicLab]

Thanks for the tips, Dingobass. I don't have a soldering iron of that caliber handy (the guitar is with me at home, not at our shop two hours away), so I guess I'll go with the syringe of glue trick. I'm having considerable trouble finding a syringe, though. The local drug store would give me the syringe but not a needle. Looks like I'm going to have to order one from amazon.

I'll keep you posted on how it works.

BTW, WierdBits, I thought about posting a pic, but the bubble is entirely invisible. You can't even see it from the side. The only reason I knew it was there is because I was running my hands over the guitar and heard (and felt) it.

[WeirdBits]

Yep, that's what I suspected. It was more to try and see if there was a optimal spot for a glue injection, like a spalt line etc., where you could hide any potential marks.

[HooligansMusicLab]

OK! I'm back! Sorry for the long delay before this update. I've been too busy for forum posting lately.

I ordered a glue injection syringe from Amazon and had it in two days, as usual. I decided that making a slit in the veneer would likely glue closed less noticeably than drilling a hole to inject the glue, so I started poking at the bubble with my pocket knife.



I got the syringe loaded up and steeled my nerves:



I found that the little slit didn't give me much room for wiggling around the syringe to make sure I got glue all through the bubble, but a little twist of the knife got the veneer to split along the grain--much too easily, and almost too far. This was the nerve wracking part because I was afraid the veneer would just keep splitting. Luckily, it didn't get out of hand, and I felt like I got a good coating of glue in there.



Then I slapped on a plastic bag (to prevent sticking) and a clamp.


And here's my mistake (luckily, a minor one). I didn't put any sort of block of wood to spread the force of the clamp. I didn't think I had the clamp very tight anyway, so I didn't think it necessary. But once the glue had dried and I removed the clamp, I definitely had a dimple in the veneer where the clamp had been. I've been busy with other projects, so I let it sit for a week hoping the wood would fluff itself up a bit if left alone, and I feel like it did (though it might just be wishful thinking). I finally sanded the area tonight and was able to sand out most of the dimple. The bubble in the veneer is gone, and I don't think what little is left of the dimple will be too noticeable.

Thanks for the tips, everyone! Light brown mahogany Solar Lux arrives tomorrow, and she'll be dyed and the oiling process will begin! Time to start a build diary!

[FrankenWashie]

Nice save er, I want to say Hooligan Jnr but I'm not sure that is entirely appropriate?