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Problems with inlays popping up.

davebc

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May 7, 2002
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3,361
Hey guys, two of the inlays (G & A positions)on my R9 are starting to pop up.
This is something I've never experienced, definitely a nusance.
Is there a quick fix?
 

Dino_k

Active member
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
1,000
Replace them with real 50's celluloid!

Well, when life hands you lemons ...

I say make the upgrade. But if you're happy with the current inlays, the folkd at StewMac will be more than happy to sell you a little glue and provide some free advice.
 

les strat

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Aug 22, 2004
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5,194
Might as well.

I had a couple lift last year on my R8. My local Gibson dealer shipped it to them free and I had it back in two weeks. They also treated the fingerboard with some kind of pore treatment. Chalk one up for Gibson warranty work.
 

Buzz

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Get some water thin superglue, the Titebond brand is good from Lowe's. With strings off, put a small droplet on the corner of the effected inlay letting it run into the cavity. Than with a piece of wax paper over it, press down on it holding till it's dry. It is of supreme importance not to get any on the lacquer finish, as it will eat it on contact. Do not use too much or the squeeze out could run over the board, onto the neck and eat the lacquer on contact. This exact mistake happened to me when I first started to experiment with superglue, it also happened to Dan Erelwine, but on a real Burst.

Than scrape off excess with a straight edge razor, polish off any residue with 0000 steel wool, apply a bit of fingerboard oil. Done
 

DANELECTRO

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Feb 24, 2003
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6,318
Get some water thin superglue, the Titebond brand is good from Lowe's. With strings off, put a small droplet on the corner of the effected inlay letting it run into the cavity. Than with a piece of wax paper over it, press down on it holding till it's dry. It is of supreme importance not to get any on the lacquer finish, as it will eat it on contact. Do not use too much or the squeeze out could run over the board, onto the neck and eat the lacquer on contact. This exact mistake happened to me when I first started to experiment with superglue, it also happened to Dan Erelwine, but on a real Burst.

Than scrape off excess with a straight edge razor, polish off any residue with 0000 steel wool, apply a bit of fingerboard oil. Done

I know this is a technique used by some, but I would never do it. I've used the thin superglue many times building RC airplanes and it is my experience that:

a: It is actually thinner than water and thus it runs very quickly. Simply tilting the bottle usually results in a droplet of two jumping out and most likely landing somewhere that you don't want it to

b. Thin superglue wicks very quickly through the grain of wood. So quickly, that balsa wood heats up and sometimes even emits a tiny puff of smoke. The problem is, if you're applying the glue to the surface of the rosewood, its also soaking into the grain. I would be worried about it leaving a shiny spot that cannot be scraped off or sanded clean.

I've had a couple of inlays pop loose on my Historics. I used an exacto knife to get up under the inlay and pop it completely out. I then applied medium superglue in the bottom of the pocket, spread it evenly with a toothpick, and then pressed the inlay into place. This was there's no glue on the visible surface of the rosewood that you have to worry about cleaning up.
 

davebc

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May 7, 2002
Messages
3,361
Lots of great advice guys.
Nothing feels as frigged up as pulling a string and feeling your finger hit the edge of the inlay.
I was like WTF!
 

cherrick

Les Paul Froum Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2002
Messages
5,730
...soon...or troll ebay...got a set of buzzy's on friday,(hope they fit)...

Historic Makeovers is going to carry entire sets of inlays. Knowing these guys, the sets will be fantastic.

Buzzy's inlays have always been "the nuts" but it seems he has become transcendent in the projects he likes to do, so if you can find a set, well PBUH as they say in the land of beheading.

Google Historic Makeovers and send Kim an email.
 

NOSBIG

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Jul 31, 2003
Messages
287
I know this is a technique used by some, but I would never do it. I've used the thin superglue many times building RC airplanes and it is my experience that:

a: It is actually thinner than water and thus it runs very quickly. Simply tilting the bottle usually results in a droplet of two jumping out and most likely landing somewhere that you don't want it to

b. Thin superglue wicks very quickly through the grain of wood. So quickly, that balsa wood heats up and sometimes even emits a tiny puff of smoke. The problem is, if you're applying the glue to the surface of the rosewood, its also soaking into the grain. I would be worried about it leaving a shiny spot that cannot be scraped off or sanded clean.

I've had a couple of inlays pop loose on my Historics. I used an exacto knife to get up under the inlay and pop it completely out. I then applied medium superglue in the bottom of the pocket, spread it evenly with a toothpick, and then pressed the inlay into place. This was there's no glue on the visible surface of the rosewood that you have to worry about cleaning up.

Super thin super glue is the only way to go IMO.
Not all inlays pop out cleanly,I know from experience.As for it leaving a shiny spot simple,use a small scraper to clean surplus and a light rub with 0000 wire wool does the job.I wouldnt use the thicker stuff because if it oozes out of the edges you got a lot more cleaning up to do!!
Also superglue does NOT eat into the finish its used a lot by guitar techs (me included) for drop filling dings and dents and finished properly you would never tell there was any damage in the first place.
 

Buzz

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Super thin super glue is the only way to go IMO.
Not all inlays pop out cleanly,I know from experience.As for it leaving a shiny spot simple,use a small scraper to clean surplus and a light rub with 0000 wire wool does the job.I wouldnt use the thicker stuff because if it oozes out of the edges you got a lot more cleaning up to do!!
Also superglue does NOT eat into the finish its used a lot by guitar techs (me included) for drop filling dings and dents and finished properly you would never tell there was any damage in the first place.

O.K, me and all my personal experiences, every book and post about it eating into the lacqer is wrong and your right.
:applaude In fact it has the same effect as dripping acetone on it, but only 10x faster and deeper. I'm not arguing it can't be used to drop fill chips in much the same way lacquer can, but to say it does not eat into lacquer is just pure wrong. It's like saying fire won't burn your skin, but baking makes meat edible.
 

NOSBIG

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Jul 31, 2003
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O.K, me and all my personal experiences, every book and post about it eating into the lacqer is wrong and your right.
:applaude In fact it has the same effect as dripping acetone on it, but only 10x faster and deeper. I'm not arguing it can't be used to drop fill chips in much the same way lacquer can, but to say it does not eat into lacquer is just pure wrong. It's like saying fire won't burn your skin, but baking makes meat edible.

Buzz ,I think youll find that if you were to drop some on the finish,its not the end of the world as it can be smoothed and polished out.
If superglue is 10x faster how does it get the chance to eat into the finish?
Yes it will mar the finish if you try to wipe it of straight away as it will smear and harden but can still be polished out etc.
 

82 Silverburst

Les Paul Froum Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Messages
677
It's a common problem, my R7 did it.
Basically fixed with thin glue and a clamp, no problems since.

"Upgrade inlays" you must be fawked in the head.
Do they sound upgraded?
 

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
"Upgrade inlays" you must be fawked in the head.
Do they sound upgraded?

No, but they sure look it.
GibsonLesPaul0559MurphyBuzzyInla-2.jpg
 

Gold Tone

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Apr 2, 2002
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Buzz is right about the superglue eating finish. The reason you can use it to drop fill is that you are setting a tiny drop into a dent or hole in the finish and then polishing it up. So any laquer damage is covered by the superglue sitting on top of it.

If you've ever spilled super glue on a laquer finish and then removed it (wet or dry) it leaves a small indent behind. Eating, sinking, corroding, whatever its called....it does leaf behind a fingerprint that it was there.

Again, you don't see the damage on drop filling since the damage is under the fill spot.
 

Buzz

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Buzz is right about the superglue eating finish. The reason you can use it to drop fill is that you are setting a tiny drop into a dent or hole in the finish and then polishing it up. So any laquer damage is covered by the superglue sitting on top of it.

If you've ever spilled super glue on a laquer finish and then removed it (wet or dry) it leaves a small indent behind. Eating, sinking, corroding, whatever its called....it does leaf behind a fingerprint that it was there.

Again, you don't see the damage on drop filling since the damage is under the fill spot.

Dissolves, melts, eats, they all mean the same thing, it's not "on the surface" as if it could be removed without permanant damage. It is probabbly safer to do it as Dan perscribed, by removing the inlay or at least prying it up enough to insert medium thick superglue. There isn't enough space or time to warn about every potential dissaster that can happen with the thin stuff, at first I thought it was made from Satan's sweat. But now I am obsessed with endless potentials it has that no other glue comes close to. I've evan wondered if it's possible to use it as a finish, it does polish up just like lacquer, but this is another topic. My biggest grip now is that there should be a bottle to put it in that never clogs or runs out of the tip.

Buy the small bottles as it gets thicker and dries slower the older it gets, I've got some "thin" that is now thicker than medium. Nest time you strip a screw hole in wood, try putting a bit of saw dust in the hole and a drop of thin superglue, this is the only thing that works in my personal experiences. Evan buggered out strap buttons that would normally require a drill and plug are repaired permanantly using that method. It evan sticks good enough to metal that my '61' Srat's wobbly trem arm is held tight with a drop over the threads every few months.

On the comment by Siverburst ,. I'd feel insulted if there was any merit to it. It implies that if you care about the appearance of your guitar, you are somewhat vein or your playing talent (if any) is tapped by obsessions with the looks.
 

Buzz

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Buzz ,I think youll find that if you were to drop some on the finish,its not the end of the world as it can be smoothed and polished out.
If superglue is 10x faster how does it get the chance to eat into the finish?
Yes it will mar the finish if you try to wipe it of straight away as it will smear and harden but can still be polished out etc.

I thought about your earlier comment before reading your reply, and thought maybe if it does run on the lacquer it's best NOT to wipe it off, but let it dry than carefully remove it. Is this correct? Because it is not possible to wipe it off of lacquer fast enough, the damage occurs on contact. If you wipe it off while it's wet, a certain amount of lacquer is coming off too. Since some finishes are thicker, and certain areas of a finish are thicker or thinner, than there are various degrees of the damage. In the incident I mentioned earlier, the superglue ate all the way thru the finish, right down to the bare wood, gone!!

This goes against all warnings by Dan E. such as to allways keep something absorbant at hand while using it. I've never heard any advise about letting it dry if it runs on a finish. If I remember correctly, I've tried to remove dried superglue from various areas on a lacquer finish, and since it's harder than lacquer, the finish around it gets sanded off while the super glue sits there just about as thick as if it was never touched. I don't see how to get it off without causing the removal of the surrounding lacquer. If I was to try that right now, I'd start by putting tape around the area, than a straight edge razor scraping, than using finish grades of sandpaper, than micromeshing. I've heard a neat trick is to put brown binding tape around the ends of the blade so only the high part is hit. All work would be done wearing a 2x magnifier headband and surgically bright lighting.

In some cases, the thin stuff can be on your hands un-aware, next thing you know your thumb is stuck to the neck, this usually happens when it runs out of the tip of the bottle, you can't evan feel it. This is especially a danger with a new full bottle.
 
Last edited:

NOSBIG

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Jul 31, 2003
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I thought about your earlier comment before reading your reply, and thought maybe if it does run on the lacquer it's best NOT to wipe it off, but let it dry than carefully remove it. Is this correct? Because it is not possible to wipe it off of lacquer fast enough, the damage occurs on contact. If you wipe it off while it's wet, a certain amount of lacquer is coming off too. Since some finishes are thicker, and certain areas of a finish are thicker or thinner, than there are various degrees of the damage. In the incident I mentioned earlier, the superglue ate all the way thru the finish, right down to the bare wood, gone!!

This goes against all warnings by Dan E. such as to allways keep something absorbant at hand while using it. I've never heard any advise about letting it dry if it runs on a finish. If I remember correctly, I've tried to remove dried superglue from various areas on a lacquer finish, and since it's harder than lacquer, the finish around it gets sanded off while the super glue sits there just about as thick as if it was never touched. I don't see how to get it off without causing the removal of the surrounding lacquer. If I was to try that right now, I'd start by putting tape around the area, than a straight edge razor scraping, than using finish grades of sandpaper, than micromeshing. I've heard a neat trick is to put brown binding tape around the ends of the blade so only the high part is hit. All work would be done wearing a 2x magnifier headband and surgically bright lighting.

In some cases, the thin stuff can be on your hands un-aware, next thing you know your thumb is stuck to the neck, this usually happens when it runs out of the tip of the bottle, you can't evan feel it. This is especially a danger with a new full bottle.

Hi Buzz If there is a hard blob of glue on the surface there are a few ways to remove or blend it in. I use a micro scraper being careful not to touch the laquer and when its nearly flush I use "micro mesh" supplied by Stewmacs etc. and by carefully pressing down with your finger you "draw" the paper out and keep repeating going through various paper grits till its gone. If its smeared you just use the paper without the scraper.
it takes a bit of practice but it works fine.
Oh yeh I agree with what you say about the bottles clogging!!
My ambition is to finish a bottle before it clogs,thickens or just hardens completely!!!!
 

NOSBIG

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its basically the same as what you suggested??
Although its better not to get this stuff on your guitar, accidents happen as you described with the full bottle etc etc!! and its handy to know that you can do something about it?
 
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