Here’s a premium example of a guitar’s owner not having a guitar stand nor the right size drill bits for the strap button holes throughout it’s life. I’ve had friends comment on this guitar looking like it was walked on with golf shoes. I agree.
At this point I’ve already filled nine holes with custom-made maple rods and Titebond wood glue. Razor sharp micro chisels are used to get them flush with the existing wood, but without removing any more paint.
Gibson ebony touch up enamel is used to start filling the paint chips.
After the first layer has dried, this is how it starts to take shape. There will be three more coats.
This is after the second coat.
Although I didn’t get a shot of the top prior to sanding, it was pretty faded and grimey. This entire guitar got sanded without any hardware on.
Here’s the end results:
Nice original brass nut with bound head stock. It doesn’t get any more dressed up than that.
We polished everything right down to the pickup selector switch on this one.
And here’s the completed guitar before the strap button gets reinstalled, next to it’s prior state:
