Touch up those nicks with a Stew Mac stick - what a great gizmo!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I know I said I was fine with the patina on my newly acquired Eastman El Rey - and I am. But I thought the nicks that went to the wood deserved some TLC, and most of them were on the darkest part of the 'burst. When this was made (20+ years ago), Eastman was using nitro, and StewMac has nitro touch up sticks in a few colors. Tobacco Brown looked close enough to try, so I got one.

A word to the wise is in order. These are like magic markers with a liquid fill and a fat chisel tip that's much too big for small defects. Worse, when you depress the tip to get the nitro to fill the wick, it runs out mighty fast. There were several warnings about this in the reviews, so I was prepared to deal with it. You cannot use the felt tip to fill small defects - it's much too big, and the nitro will run all over your guitar before you even realize what's happened.

The solution to this problem is to use a very fine paintbrush instead. I held the brush tip down flat against a glossy magazine cover and pressed the felt tip of the touchup stick onto the brush to load the bristles. Then I used a magnifying loupe and gently drop-filled the defects a little at a time. The before pic was from the seller, so the lighting and exposure are a bit different from my after pic. But the result is clearly excellent, and I'm very happy with it. I highly recommend these for improving small areas of finish loss. I suspect it won't look this good for areas bigger than 2 mm, and it's best suited for marks half that size or less. In a few days when it's completely dry, I'll go over it with Virtuoso and call it a day.

BEFORE:



AFTER:

[wintermoon]

I just knew you wouldn't be able to resist.

[WilliamScott]

Impressive.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I just knew you wouldn't be able to resist.

So did I ?. But it really does look like somebody loves it now. It still has plenty of patina. But it now shows that somebody cared enough to blunt the edges.

I used it last night backing one of our local vocal treasures alone for a dinner cabaret show. It plays great & sounds even better. I LOVE this guitar!

[jazzgtrl4]

Very cool, never heard of this touch up pen. went to order one..the shipping was the same amount as the pen...lol. o well i can live with the dents

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Very cool, never heard of this touch up pen. went to order one..the shipping was the same amount as the pen...lol. o well i can live with the dents

StewMac has frequent sales - just be patient and check the site regularly. I waited until they went on sale and got 3 for about a third off. Every time I look at the guitar, the improvement was well worth not buying another case of beer.

[jads57]

So I have a 2009 Benedetto Bambino Std in a very similar finish to your Eastman El Rey. It definitely needs some touch up lacquer repairs. Just wondering did you use more than one color to repair your guitar?

[Marty Grass]

This is exactly the thread I didn't need to see. Now I'm going to try to undo the dings completely!!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

So I have a 2009 Benedetto Bambino Std in a very similar finish to your Eastman El Rey. It definitely needs some touch up lacquer repairs. Just wondering did you use more than one color to repair your guitar?

Yes I did - tobacco brown and red mahogany. I mixed a few drops of each of the two for the intermediate tone in a 5:2 ratio (dark to medium). I have to get an amber stick for the light areas.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

This is exactly the thread I didn't need to see. Now I'm going to try to undo the dings completely!!

If you really want to dive down the rabbit hole, I use a soldering iron to steam up small dings if the wood is a bit depressed. I’ve only done this a few times, and it’s been years since the last one. In the interim, soldering stations have come along with adjustable tip temperature and a set of tips from sharp point to big chisel. The old style non-adjustable soldering “pencils” we had years ago got hot enough to melt solder (at least 375 F). So a soldering station set to just above boiling temp seems a lot safer and easier to use.

If I were to do this now, I’d use a fresh, clean, flat tip the size of the ding and set the temp where it makes steam when you touch it to a wet cloth (but no higher - 225 to 235 F should do it). I’d cut a square of microfiber cloth about 1 1/2 times the size of the ding, soak it, wring it gently, lay it over / into the defect, and press the hot tip against the wet cloth patch directly over the defect. The water in the cloth will boil, the flat tip surface will keep the steam from escaping, and the steam will re-expand the dent.

Only leave the tip on the cloth for 3 seconds or so at a time once you hear the hissing / sizzling sound of vaporization. Remove the tip and the cloth, gently pat the ding dry with a clean bit of microfiber, and check it. If it needs more, do it again and repeat until it’s gone. If it doesn’t respond to a few passes, give up. Raising the temp too high won’t boil the water any faster or harder - it’ll just damage the finish.

I’ve only done this on nitro finished guitars years ago. I don’t think it will work on poly because the water vapor probably won’t penetrate it. Maybe it’ll work on Truetone and similar very thin polys. But I hope I never have to try it on my Eastman Jazz Elite.

[jads57]

Thanks for all the good info!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

StewMac has frequent sales - just be patient and check the site regularly. I waited until they went on sale and got 3 for about a third off. Every time I look at the guitar, the improvement was well worth not buying another case of beer.

They’re on sale now for Labor Day @ 20% off. It’s not a huge discount. But if you buy 2 or 3, the shipping is the same as it is for one. So the total price per stick comes down enough to make them worth it to me. Spending $30 to keep a $3k+ guitar looking good is OK in my book.