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Removing Nitro from a bound neck


brensabre79
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Basically the laquer on my neck has cracked. It started on the headstock, which is OK, Its now started flaking away on the fretboard.it looked cool for a while but the cracks have really opened up of late and bits are coming away, so I want to strip the Nitro off and re-laquer it because it looks a mess.

I'm alright with relaquering, but its removing the old stuff I'm not sure about.

Here's a pic - (sorry taken with phone)...




Is there a good way to do this. I'm scared if I use something chemical like Nitromors that I'm gonna melt the plastic binding. It's gonna be tricky to sand without removing the frets too.

Any advice welcome!

Cheers

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Not an easy repair to do without completely stripping the old varnish back to bare wood but the great thing with nitrocellulose laquer is that when you apply new over the old it will melt and fuse together. The tough part is to get a colour match sand to remove the really flakey bits . You can see if just a natural clear nitro will work . Do a test on a small area - you can build up the nitro to form a slightly raised bump and then scrape down with a razor blade to get an even finish with the existing. You'll then need to polish everything up working with fine wet and dry and then buffer polish.

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Not done it myself but from what I understand pretty much any nitro stripping 'substance' will also dissolve the plastic binding. This link may be useful - [url="http://www.reranch.com/101.htm"]http://www.reranch.com/101.htm[/url] (see last para 'stripping').

Edited by ikay
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Good advice about the old NItromors ...but you can't get it any more!!

About a year ago in order to comply with European H+S legislation , all paint strippers on sale in the UK had to omit the use of dichloromethane ( the main ingredient! ) as it is carcinogenic. Don't know about the new nitromors concoction other than its not as effective as the stuff that you used to be able to get - maybe worth trying on a test piece if you can?

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The crazing of varnish shows that its a genuine older instrument - rather than try to remove it I would be tempted to just stabilise it with new Nitro cellulose over the top - if you try stripping it you will probably have a real challenge when it comes to the area around the Fender Jazz logo - last thing you would want is for that to get damaged.

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Thanks uBassman. Your earlier post has convinced me to try and repair with more nitro laquer. I got some clear and some light amber to try and match the colour. Hopefully after all this time the old stuff will melt a little and blend with the new. once I get it flat i'll wack a clear coat over the lot. I'm just waiting for a reasonably warm day so I can do this in my shed wit the door open. PLus a day when I haven't got to use the bass for a gig for a couple of weeks.
I don't mind the crazing - i quite like it actually - but when bits of laquer start flaking off under he strings it is concerning, and it's only getting worse. So I need to repair it one way or another...

Thanks for the tips :)

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