F5-G Refinishing

**mandopops** · Jun-27-2012, 9:43am

I have a F5-G from from around '96.

Over time some of the finish has come off under the finger board, about an 1 1/2 inch long and 1/2 inch wide. Enough to know a simple "patching" it up is unlikely, probably needs the whole top redone.

Also, on the back around the scroll, it's like it's coming out of it's shell.

Suggestions on who to do the work? I had talked w/ Gibson a couple of years ago. I could ship it to them, they'll give me an estimate, then I decide. Understandable.

Is Gibson the best route to keep the "integrity" of the instrument? Are they known to be: the "most costly"? & longest turn around time? & dependable etc..?

Any other recommendations? Cost is a factor, but not just looking for "cheap & fast".

**sunburst** · Jun-27-2012, 9:55am

Unless you want the whole thing stripped, re-stained and refinished by a pro, not necessarily just a pro builder, but one who has enough repair and refinish experience to strip and refinish it (and match the original color), you'll probably get better results from a finish touch up, and a touch up would almost certainly be more cost effective. Obviously, a pro refinish of high quality would not be cheap (though quite frankly, it could be much better than the original finish), and it might lower the resale value of the instrument in the future. Although speculating on "F5-G futures" is probably not one of the best investment strategies going, it's something to consider.
I'd say get it to a good luthier or two, have them look it over and pass on their opinions to you about whether it looks like a touch up or a refin' would be best, or as many would argue, leave it, live with it, and call it "mojo" or "character" or some other euphemism of choice.

**testore** · Jun-27-2012, 9:58am

Do a search for a thread I started a few years ago titled " value of a good restorer". Dont discount the chance of getting your mandolin retouched. I will post some pics of a $10K violin I retouched last week later today.

**MikeEdgerton** · Jun-27-2012, 9:59am

If cost is a factor then I probably wouldn't send it to Gibson. I don't know how eager they are going to be to do that work anyway. As far as maintaining the integrity of the mandolin, the minute you refinish it you actually devalue it on the "vintage" market, assuming it gets to the vintage age eventually. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have it refinished and attended to. If it was me I'd probably consider sending it to John Hamlett. He is known as Sunburst on the Cafe. There are other folks here that could do the work as well.

**MikeEdgerton** · Jun-27-2012, 10:00am

OK, that was pretty funny. John answers while I'm composing.

**testore** · Jun-27-2012, 10:11am

Here is a violin that I retouched recently. It had the entire middle stripped to the ground varnish. I simply put the right color back on and restored the varnish and its value.

**testore** · Jun-27-2012, 10:16am

Here is the other instrument in another thread I mentioned. The pics show a poorly handles pair of scratches, and then the scratches washed down to white wood, then retouched properly. Both instruments look completely undamaged now and their value is not affected at all.

**mandopops** · Jun-27-2012, 10:24am

Thanx for the input so far.

Yes to Sunburst, on keeping it's "character" & just leaving it. I have been doing that for years, just sometimes I muse about fixing it up.
Yes, I would prefer a simple touch up. Cost-effective. I,also, don't believe that my "Little Ax' will be worth a fortune some day.

I've thought about someone putting one of those narrow pick-guards on it. One to prevent further wear, & 2nd it would hide the "blemish" a little.

Any thoughts in that direction?

**sunburst** · Jun-27-2012, 10:32am

A pick guard might be a good idea, whether the finish is touched up or not. The finish can almost certainly be touched up and the look restored to 'unnoticeable' by a good luthier.

**belbein** · Jun-27-2012, 3:06pm

I'm a complete finish moron (among my other moronosities) but I'm just curious, in general terms--how do you fix a deep scratch like this? (Trust me, I won't be competing with any of you guys for a century or so; not looking for any trade secrets.) My guess from my boatbuilding experience would be: gouge/sand/smooth the irregular scratch out to a smooth "trench," fill it with a composite made of the same wood dust and adhesive--or a very very thin inlay of a closely matching piece of maple--then match the color and gloss of the current finish. How far off am I?

**testore** · Jun-28-2012, 9:15am

No, you wouldn't want to use a putty type filler. That would cover the figure of the maple and you wouldn't get proper reflection. It would then look like a dull, flat clump of filler. On the second photos, I just filled the scratched areas with pigment and clear varnish layer at a time until it was the right color and the area had been filled. It is very time consuming. The back retouching on this violin was almost a $1000 to fix.

**sunburst** · Jun-28-2012, 10:04am

BTW, that layering of color and clear finish is not as easy as it sounds. Those pics of Gary's are examples of some of the best results I've seen.

**palosfv3** · Jun-28-2012, 10:27am

You could check with Dale Ludwig in De Kalb . He has done some finish repair on my mandolin and did a great job.
He is on the Cafe and listed in the builder section as well.