Help with veneering, please

[Chris Borgman]

I offered to "repair" my friend's acoustic guitar that has 2 holes in the back where he "dropped" it. One large hole and a deep round-ish dent. I cleaned up the holes making them something I could trace. I used mahogany to patch them but soon realized it's really hard to match the color. My friend had put duct tape over the holes, so he has a very low expectation of the repair. That's good, so no matter what I do it'll still be better than tape.

I filled all the voids between my patches and the back laminate. I sanded off the poly on the entire back and now patches are flush with the body. So my desired solution is to cover the entire back with a veneer. I've never worked with veneers and don't have a vacuum press but I found this: https://youtu.be/TxUKc4JWBaI

I'd like some suggestions about how to apply the veneer using the method shown in the video And then, how to recover/show the white center strip and binding?

I appreciate any suggestions.
Chris

[Jamie Buxton]

I tried that iron-on method for veneering on furniture. I found that seams between leaves of veneer would pull open. (I use paper veneer tape to fasten leaves together for the gluing operation.) I think that the heating of the veneer with the iron caused it to shrink, and the glue immediately held it in that position. The gaps made the process a non-starter for me.

In addition to the gaps, there might be another issue for you. The shrunk veneer glued to the thin guitar back may attempt to push back to its original width, and so will bow the composite back. Maybe a bowed back is a problem for you.

[Bruce Volden]

What you are proposing seems like a very big undertaking, especially wanting to preserve the binding and center stripe!
I'm thinking the center stripe is doable with a contrasting (white maple?) veneer.
The binding? I'd have to think harder. I'm gonna watch this thread.

Bruce

[Jamie Buxton]

There are peel-and-stick veneers available.
Examples...
https://www.veneersupplies.com/categ...Stick__Veneer/
https://www.tapeease.com/PSA_veneer_sheets.htm
https://www.veneer-factory-outlet.co...stick-veneers/

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Veneering the whole back will be a very untraditional repair. If I were to find that guitar at a flea market just as you have it now, I might buy it. If I found it and could see that the back had been veneered over I would not buy it.
Here is a video that relates on some levels. I will look for more helpful info from the Erliwines. Dan Erliwine has many good guitar repair videos.
How would you reach inside a guitar to do this gluing? - StewMac

We have a VHS tape from Dan that deals with that kind of repair somewhere. The whole series is often on eBay. I think they will all be digitized eventually.

[David Falkner]

I would stay away from a vacuum press - you'll crush the guitar unless you're removing the back for this process (assuming a vacuum press for the entire guitar). But, if you were going to the trouble to remove the back I would just make a new one. If you decide to remove the back, which I would do long before veneering and entire back, here's a video showing a back removal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBgNkG9D5s - and there are many more from which to choose.

Sometime in the mid 80's I replaced the veneer on a three-piece back guitar of mine but I only replaced the center section. I painstakingly peeled/scraped off the existing veneer, which was damaged, and replaced it with Pau Ferro for a contrast. Getting the old veneer off was a chore, to say the least, and I probably worked on it for a couple of weeks. Once I got it all off and ready for the new veneer I chose to use original TB and a bag of sand for weight (I think...). I also decided to inlay the very plain headstock with a little Abalone while I was at it.

1985 - Back.jpg

1985 - Headstock.jpg

[Maurice Mcmurry]

David, That is impressive!

[David Falkner]

David, That is impressive!

Thanks, Maurice! It was my first attempt on anything at this level and the guitar still sounds good, plays good, looks nice.