Guitar Repair with Satellite City Instant Glues

Satellite City adhesives used in this guide

In this guide, you will learn how you can make highly effective repairs with Satellite City instant glues in less time than if you were using traditional methods. These techniques and others are used by guitar repair shops and manufacturers across the country and are taught at the Guitar Craft Academy by John Carruthers at Musician’s Insititute in Hollywood.

Preparation

Fret Board Refinishing

2. Apply a liberal amount of Hot Stuff CA glue to the paper towel; a circle about the size of a half-dollar. Depending on how to fold it, you can get 4-8 applications out of a single paper towel. It is recommended to start this process with a fresh spout.

3. When applying the glue to the fretboard with a paper towel, you want to move you hand in a quick, even manner across the entire surface of the board. You may want to tape off the headstock, and any other area to which you do not want to risk applying glue.

4. In between applications with the paper towel, use the NCF Quick accelerator to speed up the finishing process. Spray across the entire fretboard, holding the can approximately 12”-18” away from the surface you are spraying. You simply want to mist over the glue. You can even spray the paper towel if you want to harden the glue quickly and use a different section of the towel.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have built up approximately 12-15 coats of glue, depending on the desired results. For a flat, satin like finish, use fewer coats; for high gloss, build up multiple layers.

6. Using a radius block matched to the fretboard’s radius, sand back the Hot Stuff CA glue finish using 400-grit sandpaper.

7. To check your progress, first wipe down the neck with a damp paper towel to remove sanding debris. Once the surface is cleared, check for ridges and shiny spots appearing on the neck. The shiny spots are low points in the level of the finish, and you should continue sanding until the shine has turned evenly dull across the fretboard.

8. Once your finish has been evenly sanded, it is ready to be buffed. Depending on your method of buffing, the Hot Stuff CA glue finish can be buffed to varying degrees. A light buffing job will produce a dull, satin-like finish, and extensive buffing with multiple grades of compound can produce a high-gloss, factory finish.

9. Your finished product will be based upon your desired outcome, but none-the-less it will have shine and a protective, durable finish in a fraction of the time it would take to spray with conventional lacquer.

Installing a Fret

2. Once your fret has been hammered and evenly secured across the fretboard, flip the neck over and apply the Hot Stuff CA glue to the bottom of the fret tang, on each side of the neck. The instant glue will naturally wick down inside the fret slot, fixing the fret in place.

3. After you have applied the CA glue, turn the neck back over and spray some NCF Quick to move the process along quickly. Remember to keep the can about 12”-18” away from the surface you are spraying.

4. After the fret has been glued, and there’s been a moment’s pause for the NCF Quick to accelerate the curing process, simply cut the ends of the fret back to the side of the neck using flush-cut end nippers.

5. Repeat this process with each successive fret until the guitar is complete. Although there are a few more steps involved in completing the fretting process, using Hot Stuff CA glue ensures the frets will stays firmly seated. This is a finished fret job, using Hot Stuff for both the refinishing and fretting process.

Removing/Replacing a Nut

2. Using a flat piece of material (either wood or plastic), press across the whole surface of the front of the nut. This will allow the impact of the hammer to spread evenly across. Lightly tap the material until the nut loosens, or falls out of place. If the nut will not fall out of position, you can gently use end nippers to pull it up out of the slot.

3. Using either the Super T medium gap-filling CA glue or theSpecial T thick ultra-gap-filling CA glue, evenly spread the glue across the bottom of the nut. These thicker grades of CA glue will fill gaps left by wood potentially removed while extracting the nut.

4. Place, or replace the nut in the clean slot. You can replace some tension on the strings over the nut, or use small clamps to ensure drying stability. Allow 20-30 minutes for the CA glue to firmly cure before playing or setting up the instrument.

Using Instant Glue to Drop-Fill Dings and Dents

1. Hot Stuff and Super T CA glue are a safe and easy way to repair dings in a polyurethane finish. Like this example, it is easiest when the wood itself has not been damaged, but just the clear coat. If you can fill the wood or match the paint, however, Satellite City instant glues are a great way to restore worn-out finishes.

2. Use the Pro-Tip applicators and apply a small amount of CA glue inside the cavity. Using Hot Stuff will account for quicker dry times, but you will have to build up more layers in order to make the ding level with the rest of the finish. Special T dries slower, but makes up for it with fewer applications. This decision will vary depending on the job: the size of the ding and it’s placement on the body.

3. Make a proper scraping tool by slightly bending in the center of a common razor blade. Mask of the edges with tape, leaving a space of exposed blade in the center of the blade the exact width of the cured glue. Lean the blade back slightly, as you scrape across the surface of the dried glue. This step will help resurface the glue to the level of the clear coat, and reduce time and risk during sanding.

4. Use a small, flat block, not much bigger than the size of the dent to sand the surface of the drop-fill. You can wrap this block with varying grades of sandpaper until you have reached you desired result. In order to achieve maximum results, and proper blending, you must wet-sand the finish, using mineral spirits or even warm, soapy water.

5. When you are done sanding and buffing the newly filled ding, your customer will not even know where to look for it!

Satellite City adhesives used in this guide

These are some of the most common and useful applications for Satellite City instant glues when used for guitar manufacture and repair. Using our CA glue properly will yield excellent results and save you hours or even days compared to traditional products and methods.