CA Guitar Repair Blog

Thursday, September 04, 2025

BC Rich Outlaw - September 4 Update

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This update documents progress made as photographed from August 25 to August 28, 2025. To begin, here is the right side of the fretboard right after the clamps were removed. The black line is actually embedded grime, which I have not scraped off for fear of compromising fretboard/neck congruity.

Clamps Removed - Right Side of Fretboard

What followed next was, you guessed it, sanding. Using successively finer grits of abrasive paper, I managed to get the repaired areas of the neck and fretboard to where they were smooth to the touch. Sanding was absolutely necessary in preparing the wood for the next step, which was laying down a super glue seal coat.

Sanding in Progress - 1

Sanding in Progress - 2

Wood Sealed With Super Glue

A day and several coats of super glue later, the sealed surfaces were ready for more sanding, once again with successively finer grits of abrasive paper, plus additional finessing courtesy of Scotch-Brite pads and 0000 grade steel wool.

Sanding the Super Glue Seal Coat

The next step was staining the wood with several applications of StewMac ColorTone Vintage Amber Liquid Stain (#5030) dissolved in isopropyl alcohol, a process which took two whole days.

Staining in Progress

A clear top coat of Minwax Antique Oil Finish could now be applied. That's all I've been doing to this neck since August 28, folks. This finish requires about 24 hours in between coats with light abrading after, say, every three coats. I'll call it a day when the final coat has fully cured and is smooth to the touch.

August 28 - First Coat of Minwax Applied

Early '70s Greco EG-420B Solidbody - September 4 Update

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

This update documents progress made as photographed from August 25 to September 4 (today). We'll begin with the day the fretboard clamps came off. I'm pleased to say that the Titebond and clamps have done their job, and the detached fretboard is a thing of the past. Any reglue job leaves behind a fair amount of dried residue, which must be cleaned off somehow. I've chosen the simplest method, namely scraping with a blade.

Right Side of Neck - 1

Right Side of Neck - 2

Left Side of Neck - 1

Left Side of Neck - 2

Headstock End of Reglued Fretboard

Scraping Off Dried Glue

Before proceeding any further, the neck needs to be re-straightened by tightening the truss rod sufficiently. This would be followed by a fret check and fret work, if necessary. As there's still a lot to be done on the sides of the neck, I would not want to mess up a fret job with tape residue and such. As it turned out, the frets were nice and level after the neck was straightened, oh joy!

Checking the Neck for Straightness

Scraping, effective as it may be, does result in chipped paint where the edge of the binding meets the neck. To remedy this, I began by sealing the areas in question with epoxy. Next came some more scraping, followed by gentle sanding with various grits of abrasive paper, and final finessing with 0000 grade steel wool.

Applying Epoxy

Another Round of Scraping - 1

Another Round of Scraping - 2

Sanding & Finessing - 1

Sanding & Finessing - 2

After sanding and finessing, the back of the neck was prepped for painting. The first step was a good dose of sticker remover spray, which was then wiped off completely. This was followed by a wipe down with naphtha to remove any remnants of the sticker remover. Finally, a tack cloth was used to eliminate dust particles and other contaminants. With regard to painting, my color coat of choice was Samurai Flat Black (29/109A). Oh yes, I've also found the time to attempt an epoxy repair on the cracked case handle. Let's hope it holds.