Is there a cleaner or bleach to lighten top cracks?

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

http://s713.photobucket.com/albums/ww13 ... 70D505.jpg

The two top cracks running down from the bridge are superficial and don't need fixing. But is there a way to make the lines less dark? If the darkness is dirt, is there a cleaner to get it out? Or could you lighten it with bleach to make it less noticeable? I mean, Coastie puts bleach on his hair and it's downright invisible.

 

[kostask]

Darryl:

The only way I know of to get the dirt out of the cracks is with a pin, or other sharp object, and remove it physically. One of my luthier friends, who restores many guitars with lacquer cracks says that it is the only way to do this, and he ends up having to do this (and really, really hates it) before doing any significant lacquer repair work.

Kostas

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Thanks Kostask. It sounds miserable. But maybe it's something I could do while watching tv.

 

[coastie99]

There's no cleaner bleach than SNIBBO

Probably not available in the under-developed world .............. JerryR may be prepared to send you some.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

One sniff of SNIBBO and you'll be SNAFU: FUBB.

 

[taabru45]

Some people use deionized water, it works well and leaves no residue....Steffan
http://frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Dat ... nized.html

 

[chazmo]

I don't have any suggestions, Darryl.

Is that dirt? It does look quite a bit more pronounced than I'm used to seeing with that kind of humidity cracking... It actually looks like maybe the wood is wet (over-humidified??).

Best o' luck. IMO, it might be best to just leave it like this, Darryl. The work of cutting through the finish to expose / clean the wood and then re-filling it, as other said, seems daunting and probably not worth it. I doubt the results would be seamless anyway.

 

[chazmo]

(by the way, beyond the suggestions already offered, I'd recommend a luthier's eye on this one... are you sure these are superficial?)

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Dang, taab. That's a great find. And one of those machines dispensing deionized water is a half mile from me at my favorite supermarket. I checked into this, and you're not going to believe what I found out. This trick was discovered by the guitar tech for Deion and the Belmonts.

Chaz, I had a tech look at it, and he said that a light wouldn't shine through anywhere on any of the cracks. Sealing, therefore, isn't needed (unless you're Heidi Klum). But after reading the article above, I need to find out if there is glue over the dirt. If so, I'm not skilled enough to get the old glue off before the cleaning, much less getting glue on after the cleaning.

 

[chazmo]

Cool. Good luck!!!

 

[capnjuan]

Thanks Kostask. It sounds miserable. But maybe it's something I could do while watching tv.

You might need one of those folding TV dinner tables to do it properly. Not sure I'd put water on it (with or without ions) ... Water on dry, unfinished wood might make it swell ... but it might get larger too. I think you're Pickin' it out D (remnants of the Seldom Scene: John Duffy on Mando and schoolboy tenor ... ) Edit: what the heck: a little more 'Scene c. 1979; Duffy, Ben Eldridge, Mike Auldrige, Tom Rosenthal, Tom Gray, and Mike Duffy Wait A Minute. On M Street in Georgetown; before the Roundtable, before the Crazy Horse, before the Cellar Door ... it was Mike Duffy and the Country Gentlemen, every Tuesday and Thursday night at the Shamrock ...

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Juan Mon,

Mike Auldridge is one of my all-time faves. But I'd never (not even seldom) seen him play--just listened to stuff like "8-String Swing." So I was surprised to see him sometimes hold his reso Spanish style.

BTW, I once saw Sam Bush play a tele. He was backing up Emmylou (so to speak).

 

[taabru45]

Darryl....deionized water is what to use in your car battery too...Its a fabulous cleaner for glass, counters, and sometimes helps with skin problems like exzema...no kidding...you could use it to wipe down your instrument too, a damp cloth will take all the 'human' residue off the top. like when you wack the banjo player... have fun, you might even find it a good stain remover...let us know Darryl... I'm sure with your fertile imagination we can all learn a lot. :lol: :lol: Steffan

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

with your fertile imagination

BS is a good fertilizer. And I've got it Piled higher and Deeper.

 

[AlohaJoe]

I've got it Piled Higher and Deeper.

:lol: :lol: :lol: That was one of my dad's favorite jokes... he also had plenty of BS and More of the Same.

 

[capnjuan]

... Mike Auldridge ... sometimes hold his reso Spanish style ... Emmylou (so to speak)

Both of these folks were products of the Washington area's diverse musical environment ... including Mello's Man Jack ('call me Neal') Cassady, songwriters for JD Bill and Taffi Danoff who are credited with 'Country Roads' and later forming the Starland Vocal Band with their hit record 'Nooners', acid-maker Owsley Stanley, John Hurt and his F30 in residence at the Ontario Place, and the long-standing house bands; the Fallen Angels at the Keg on Wisconsin Avenue and the British Walkers at the Roundtable ... Roy Buchanan's former band with some serious, serious Friends.

The steady backdrop of all of this was the bluegrass harmonics of the Adcock/Waller/Duffy/Gray edition of the Country Gents. Duffy later gathered together Walter Reed AMC Doctor John Starling, Mike Auldridge - now, if not then, the country's premier reso/dobro player, Ben Eldridge on banjo, and Tom Gray on the bass and carried the Gent's Bluegrass tradition from the 60s into the '70s and '80s as the Seldom Scene holding down the weekend slots at the old and new Birchmere in Arlington and later Arlandria VA ... I claim no part of this rich traditon except as follows; I met a guitar-playing drywall mechanic who had known Eddie Adcock since they'd been boys and I usually had ID at the DC liquor stores, nightclubs, and saloons ... most lee. J

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

the British Walkers at the Roundtable

I never knew Roy b was in a group. A lot more entertaining would be the New Zealand Walkers at the Roundtable. Or any table.

 

[capnjuan]

Yup; the NZ Walkers ... Johnny, Clint, Dog, and that other guy ...

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Skip?

 

[taabru45]

Hiram?