Matching Yellowed Lacquer for Guitar Finish Repair

Finish repairs require patience.  This is the number one rule.

I'm not big on patience, although I've gotten much better over the years.  This is a case in point.  I'd rather get this right than wind up with an awful looking spot on the front of this guitar.

I wasn't happy with the color match I just did.  So I went back for another attempt.  You may recall I said that lacquer is forgiving.  It is.  I just gently sanded the spot again, and got the mismatched color off.

It occurred to me that I was trying to use a base of 'vintage amber' color as my toner.  When I brushed it on, it wound up being too dark and too obvious that it was a touchup.  The seam between the old finish and the new was way too obvious.

However, if you think about it, how did the color on the top of the guitar come to be this shade?

It was originally clear lacquer applied over spruce, right?  And the bindings as well.  Now, we know that the bindings were white - they still are where they didn't get sprayed with finish, or where the finish has chipped off.  That's the clue.

The clear lacquer has yellowed.  I need something that just emulates the yellowing of the original clear lacquer.

What I did, then is went back to the drawing board (or jar of lacquer as it were), and mixed up some slightly off-yellow toner.  I just took a piece of new white binding, mixed some toner, and brushed some toner on the binding until it was the right shade.

Here's the final color.  It's a few drops of lemon yellow, a drop or two of medium brown, and I think a drop of orange tint.

It's a perfect match when held against the yellowed original toner.

Now I'll use the new yellow toner and build up a couple coats on the spot that needs to be refinished.  (The picture is after only one thin coat).  After a couple coats, when the color looks consistent, I'll hit it with a few coats of clear lacquer to seal it.

Then I can sand and rub out the whole thing.

Patience.

Another spot I want to touch up is right in front of the bridge.  It was reglued, I think, and there is a bare spot I want to touch up.  You can see the bare spruce on the left in front of the bridge here.  This will be another application of toner, then clear lacquer.

What was it I was doing to this guitar?  Oh, right, resetting the neck.

One leap forward, two leaps back.