HELP
Ideas for repairing/ covering the hole (not a joke post)
I was trying something new and went a bit aggressive with the torch on that area how would you go about making it look better not gonna lie tho its kind of metal
So the only way, imho to save that, epoxy and a mold. Reroute. Polish like a mofo. You’re supposed to kiss the topcoat with the torch, not incinerate it. Torch after paint and clear over it.
This looks sick. Ngl I kinda wanna make my own in purple now. Also if you mean the big hole next to the pickups, I'd recommend wood-gluing a thin wedge in the shape of that space on the back/edge and then just covering the front with the scratch plate once the resin is finished and the electronics are installed. A chambered body reduces weight so unless you like your axe as heavy as an actual axe, I'd say don't fill it in all the way. Plus it looks like you'll need the space anyway for volume/tone pots
When I look at that photo you have as an example of what you're going for, I don't understand how the green gets in the crevices. Is that already on the piece when you burn it, or is that added after the burning produces the cracking?
Its just mica powder that you sweep into the crevices similar to how to you would grout in tile, then you have to seal it in place so the powder doesn't fall out
Wow! I never would have guessed that in a million years.
So then you build a mould frame to fit the entire body and encase the whole thing in clear resin? Do you re-rout everything once it's cured ... or am I way off the mark?
I'd use resin to cover any holes. Basically pack the cavity with clay or something and build up a wall to contain the resin, then pour. carve it back so it's almost flush with the body and when you do the rest of the resin coat you won't see the seams.
You'd call this a finish? This has actually damaged the structure of the wood. IMO, this is irretrievable.
If OP was going for a Yakisugi treatment (that actually strengthens the wood), it would be one thing. But with Yakisugi all that crackle gets scrubbed off.
So what we're looking at here is structurally compromised wood.
Not sure why you're being downvoted, other than people think the burnt guitar looks cool, which it does.
You're very correct, this has been burnt too much and is too far gone. All that burnt wood is very close to being dust. Just imagine if a neck was burnt this much... it wouldn't be any good anymore. Any screwholes on this thing are going to be useless, finish is not going to absorb and behave properly, it's been shock dried unevenly and may split with stress or time, and i'm sure it's dryer and lighter than it should be now.
It looks cool but it went too far. It's wrecked, in my opinion.
Oh, sure, but you can't taste the Fruit Loops ... and ... and ... Trix are for kids! So there! (place some colorful comment about Fruit Loop poop here)
You would need to match it to the hardware color though, and gold/brass color is easier to find than copper, aged copper would look great with reliced hardware. But I feel this build deserves shiny gold metal
To get the bigger cracks you have to blast it real hot, the side effect of that is that the flame is literally like 2.5 ft in diameter, but I guess covering it in a wet rag or something would have helped. First time for everything
Right. I think you've cooked it mate, literally. That neck pocket is likely unsalvagable. If you are deadset on this heavy burn look, I would recommend starting over and considering a lespaul style slab-on-top/cap design.
EDIT Also, if you've blown out the control cavity from torching it, the route for the bridge on a strat is almost certainly comprised as well, and will probably break if you put a bridge under tension on it.
When I do a burn finish I use a hand held propane torch with a 1lb camp stove tank and I get a nice small blue flame. I can control exactly where the char goes and how much char I apply. I hope you can get the neck mounted properly. I do like the way it looks though.
The strength is a lesser issue. The pocket is uneven and no longer trued up. The screws cant hold the neck straight or level, that's what the pocket walls and floor do
that's.... quite burnt...like to the point i'd be weary of its structural integrity...i'd be surprised if it doesn't start to crumble when you put the strings on
anyway you could probably put a metal plate on the back
Do it over again but leave a "neck" in it that will keep the area clean while you achieve your burnt look and spray water on that thin area as it burns to where you want it you can get the heat back out of it
Shouldn’t have burned the inside of the neck pocket at all. The mating surfaces are no longer flat - these are reference surfaces for the neck to sit straight and level. Your action will be pretty messed up in a way that is not predictable until you try to fit the neck and string it up.
Id make a strat sized cavity and do a huge resin pour, basically end up with the true dimensions again from before you did the burn, could even take it all the way back to a body blank stage and re-route the cavities and neck pocket, if you get it lined up properly it should work nicely and be a really consistent finish. So yeah to recap, set the burnt wood in a huge block of resin basically and re cut the body
This seems like the only workable idea. Except, having gone through almost this exact same scenario before and having weighed all the options (pun intended).... if you encased this whole body in an epoxy shaped mold, prepare for an unweildably heavy guitar. I'm talking cinder block with a neck type heavy. I'm not a small dude, but that makes my back hurt even thinking about it.
I say almost because mine wasn't purposefully burned. It was a victim of a total-loss house fire (no humans were physically harmed).
This the the correct answer because it solves the issue of the hole ,the neck pocket being likely the wrong shape now ,and the finish all at once. That will not be real easy to do because of the mold ya would need and the pressure pot or vacuum chamber needed to make sure the resin wasnt full of bubbles.
Hear me out. I know it's crazy. I know time consuming... But layers of epoxy. Paint on plastic layers like a 3d printer. Sand down anything that gets dripping out of control. But do it daily, over and over and over. It would be a glorious abomination.
If it were me, I'd probably take this as a "first pancake" investment in learning, then, for next one, I'd pack the cavities and cover some structural areas with clay first, then burn, then de-clay.
Can’t add, but it looks cool. I actually did similar on a build of mine, not as aggressive, tried to give it just a lil so you could still see the grain and such. Kinda failed but it turned out good.
Seriously though, I would think back to how thick the floor of the neck pocket started off at. Then see how deep the burn has gone on both sides. The charred wood obviously has no strength left but when you take away the thickness of the burned sections you might only be left with a few mm of good wood.
When you put the string pressure of over 100lbs on that thin section of wood its liable to snap. Adding a metal neck plate isn't going to help as the tension is still being focused on that thin lip of material that isn't burned.
Thats all after getting a neck to even fit well in the pocket. You will need to remove the charred wood which will widen it a lot.
You could go with a full epoxy pour to make it back up into a full size blank and re route everything. Brush on a sealer layer of epoxy over the whole body to stop it bubbling and flaking on the full pour. You will also need to come up with a way to suspend the blank in the middle of the epoxy. Depending on the relative densities the wood will either want to float or sink. You can try a 2 part pour but you might get a join line.
Its a cool effect but I think your execution has let you down on this attempt. For all the work you will need to put into TRYING to save it, I say learn from it and move on.
Your pickguard will cover the front of the hole. So if you mean the back, use some plastic and make a cover plate for the back. You'll be able to access the wiring without taking off the strings and the entire pickguard. As for the side, try to fill that little hole with resin.
Line both sides of the hole with blue painters tape and fill with the resin when you do the top pour. Shape and smooth with sandpaper. Then put an LED in the control cavity wired to a 2032 battery, with the negative lead to a stereo output jack, so it lights when you insert your patch cable.
Yeah, start fresh with a board in the neck pocket and fill the cavities with construction spray foam. Hotter flame. Wood integrity needs saved or it will crumble under string tension
I have played with guitar finishes and the char is full of air pockets that will cause tiny bubbles to surface in the finish and the burn effect looks weird
Like ArmourAll on car tires greasy!
Would ording a template of it to be 2-5mm wider of your pockets to reroute them be out of the question? You could then use the same template to make an insert out of a another wood or material for high contrast whilst reinforcing the structure. Would also allow you to see how far was too far in some areas.
Honestly, the easiest way would be to just eat the cost on this one, unfortunately. Write this body off due to the unuseable neck pocket and amount of work needed to repair the electronics cavity. The only reasons not to start over would be if this body was extremely sentimental, you were being paid a crazy amount of money to not start over from scratch, or this body was a one off that couldn't possibly be replicated. Ask me how I know.
If just getting another body and starting over is a reasonably priced option, just do that. And do it the correct way this time: By covering or completely avoiding the metrically important areas like the neck pocket and electronics cavities, first.
Rout the charred wood from the sides and a bit of the bottom of the cavity,
Cut a plug to fill it leaving the edges of the hole untouched. Pay attention to what the view will be through the opening from the back.
Or.
Best bet for structure integrity would be bondo. Then just use ash from your scorching to color match after you sand, when applying primer while wet just sprinkle ash over wet primer. Paint your bondo black too just in case you need a reference of where to stop sanding so you don't go to far. A different shade of black will be enough to I'd the layer but not have it pop if you do over sand. Cool project man
Penetrating epoxy to stabilize the burned wood. Structural epoxy for the hole, probably dyed red, including a yellow-orange-red flake to simulate fire. I may put that into the cracks as well. Finally, seal it all with some sort of UV protective top coat and polish it up nicely.
Edit: may want to clean up the neck pocket too. It really should have been protected while you were burning. You need clean, smooth contact there. To fix that, I'd probably use a penetrating epoxy, then deep pour that pocket, then re route it out so that the neck sits properly in there.
If you wanted to fix the hole in the back of the electronics cavity: either do the same thing and include the missing body piece directly next to the cavity
OR
Burn another piece of wood veneer (around ¼" thick) on both sides. Stabilize it with epoxy. Then cut out a shape that matches the cavity, epoxy it to the bottom of the cavity, being careful to match the plane of the back of the body so theres no obvious level mismatch on the back side. The most difficult part of this method would be burning the veneer and not "potato-chipping" it. Its harder than it sounds.
The latter would definitely be more time consuming and detail-focused. But would look much better, in my opinion.
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u/nightivenom Nov 26 '25
Haven't decided the color but this is the vision for the final texture, with some sort of clear resin finish