Scaly clearcoat

[Diggydude]

Hello everyone,

I have recently assembled this telecaster and after not even a week of playing it has developed this odd scaly pattern. It is along the top and bottom of the neck but not so much in the middle.


What is this? What causes it? How do I fix it? Finally, I’ve used the same clear coat on the fretboard- it hasn’t got this yet, is this next?

Thanks in advance,
Dylan

[Sonic Mountain]

Can we see some more pics? Hard to make out in that one. What kind of clear coat was it?

[McCreed]

It will be hard to give you definitive answer without knowing exactly what your step-by step process was, and even then, it may come down to simply guessing.

Unfortunately with finishing, sometimes sh*t happens (weird, inexplicable sh*t).

If it was from a rattle can, it could have been a bad batch. You never know.

Last year I used Dulux Duramax base coat then clear coated with their Duramx 2k (allegedly completely compatible per their support) and it WRINKLED like buggery! Also worth noting I followed their instructions to the letter. I won't touch their stuff with a barge pole now.

As Sonic said, a clearer close up pic would be more helpful. Hopefully the BYOG brains trust can offer some insight & help.

Me, I'd just be stripping it and starting over. Sometimes it's all you can do...

[BigDaddy]

Perhaps the last coat has de-laminated? I've heard this can happen if there is too much time between coats without scuff sanding to help the subsequent/final coat bind.

[Diggydude]

BigDaddy I have a suspicion this is the reason. The final clearcoat I put on was a few weeks after the previous and the previous was already wet sanded to 2000. On the weekend I might try to fix this up. I can just rough it up a bit and re polish, correct?

Here’s some more pictures



Another point is that it doesn’t feel any different to the rest of the neck.

[BigDaddy]

I reckon it may well be. Perhaps give it a good going over with 600grit and reapply. Did the same thing happen on the fretboard?

[Diggydude]

BigDaddy no, not yet, but from memory I didn’t spray the fretboard a second time. I may just re spray it again anyway, just to be sure

[BigDaddy]

Sanding is fun! At least it is a light scuff only...

[McCreed]

One thought I had was "What did the neck come in contact with in the weeks between the wet sanding and the last coat?"

Is it possible you handled the neck with something on your hands (any kind of grease/oil, guitar polish, KFC???)

I agree that re-shooting it is probably the best route. However I would go a little heavier grit (maybe 400) and be sure to give it a thorough sanding. Not DEEP, so you risk sand-through, but ensure you get the whole surface area (not just the problem areas).
After sanding give it a wipe down with a rag dampened with naptha (shellite), maybe a couple wipe downs, then re-spray.

[Diggydude]

Thanks everyone for the tips and help, I’ll try light sanding it, respraying and polishing again.

Hopefully that works and I’ll post the results later