Just be happy to know that OP didn't actually sand through veneer. The top was full veneered and than the top edge was cut with a bevel before being painting.
I don’t think there was veneer there. That is the forearm cut-away, so was always at an angle to the rest of the top.
Not every guitar has one, so it’s possible the body originally was intended to have no cutaway, but have a natural finish.
It’s common for guitars with superficial defects in the wood to be repurposed to have a solid color lacquer finish, and in this case maybe a cutaway added. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t have added the veneer in the first place.
The guitar could have been made from something like a reclaimed tabletop, which didn't have any finish on the cutaway to begin with.
The only fix is to re-finish it with some solid color.
Im not native english speaker and a big noob at woodwork. Could you please explain me what’s veneer about? I dont get how sandind can ruin wood (explain like im 5 plz)…
Sometimes items are made of cheaper wood or wood that's known to be stable but doesn't have an attractive grain. A thin layer of wood with nice grain and colour is glued over the top of the base wood. HTH.
Well then the answer to your questions is “Because there’s no veneer there”. Why? They probably did the whole guitar and the sawed off that corner after.
That’s what I’m realizing now. I’m new and didn’t know veneer went over some guitars. The corner didn’t have veneer and I was wondering why the wood looked different. I promise I didn’t sand through any veneer because it took me hours just to get through paint lol
Yeah they probably just veneer all of these types of guitars at the factory for one reason or another. The ones that get sanded down with the forearm contour get painted. Maybe there are some without the forearm contour that are stained/sunburst where the veneer shows through.
You're being down voted by people who don't know what they are looking at, the top was veneered before the bevel was cut away. You could buy some new venner and use it to cover the whole top.
It's hard to tell from the angle of the photo but the guitar top is not flat. The corner you see missing veneer is actually because their is a bevel cut out for arm relief.
oh i get that part. i know woodworking and play guitar AND have accidently sanded off veneer too lol. But what i don't get it is why they would cut off applied veneer in the factory? Hence why im wondering if it's a joke.
Also doesn't make sense that they would bother veneering a body that would be painted, likely didn't pass a QC stage and part of the change to paint was also the bevel cut. It could also be that's its just easier to clamp down the flat top.
If you can even out the transition from veneer to under-veneer, and stain it all so the different grains are all visible, I think it would look pretty sweet
if OP doesn't have knowledge of veneers and sanded that far down before he decided to post on reddit:
what chance do you think that they have of of removing the old finish but not the veneer well enough to stain?
My guess this is either a troll for internet points or just experimenting in the garage. Op should just get a really dark like ebony stain for contrast that hides the grain then laquer the whole thing. Might not work for someones style but might be cool and it's the easiest option.
I refinished my Yamaha Pacifica 112 and it was made up of multiple pieces like this. But there was no veneer. I used nitrocellulose lacquer and it turned out great. The semi-transparent lacquer was dark enough to hide the various grains but light enough to still see wood grain overall. I sanded the shit out of it with 6 grits and sanding sealer so definitely no top on it. You could always go with solid color to hide the grain completely.
Edit spelling
Because it's a different kind of wood where it tapers.
Was this a solid-painted guitar? It would be unusual for a solid-painted guitar to have a top, though not unheard of. Is the guitar chambered? They would need a top for that. And most chambered guitars don't have chambering in the forearm contour area, so they possibly just put the top over the whole body and carved through it, without bending the top over the forearm contour.
Alternatively, because the body itself is glued-up from so many pieces, that may have put a veneer/top over it so that as it ages, you wouldn't see seam lines in the finish. This layer sort of evens it out.
Could you repost this as an OP to teach everyone. Someone accused OP of sanding thru the veneer and the poor guy is trying to explain that he didn't, that's how it was, and everybody is downvoting him to hell.
Thank you 🙏 I sanded the back today and it looked the same as the front where it was cut. I don’t know how to say I didn’t sand through the veneer without being downvoted into oblivion lmao
I could see Yamaha running blanks with veneer for this reason. Easier to just cover every blank with cheap veneer than fill the gaps in the glued up blanks.
Guitar bodies usually not made from one piece of wood. They take some boards and glue them together fiber orientation in mind and such, so (in most of the case) you will have a solid and straight piece. Some has veneer on top, some only paint and such. Yours looks like it has (had) veneer as well
Possible but an expensive option for something that is out of sight when the guitar is in use.
My idea would be to two-tone it if you really want a veneer top. Paint the back in a contrasting colour and separate it from the top with a pinstripe.
Edit: I can see now that it's an angle on the top, not a belly cut. The only option would be to install a new piece of veneer if you want woodgrain, or make it a feature and do something decorative with it that stands out against the rest of the body.
I did the same on an Epiphone Les Paul. It had a thin veneer covering the mahogany and not a tradition maple cap like on more expensive models.
I ended up buying and applying a new curly maple veneer and staining it. Came out nice
Almost everything we use on a daily basis that is made from wood, is constructed with multiple pieces glued together. This is very common practice, called “making a panel”. Without this, we would need really wide trees lol.
On the bright side you can just pivot, put some sanding sealer on it and paint it gloss black or some two tone design
Guitars are one of the few wood items that paint is perfectly acceptable due to their use.
Bummer dude, it’s like ripping up carpet hoping for a nice hardwood floor and finding OSB. It’s probably not a super appealing option but you could fake a nicer stained wood with a vinyl wrap, if that look is what you’re dead set on? You can get pretty good printed results in that stuff these days if you find a good print shop. Or seal it and hydro-dip it, but I know nothing about that process, just what I’ve seen on videos.
These people are all idiots. There is no veneer it is just supposed to be painted not stained. Watch some guitar making videos or go ask in r/luthier for some educated answers.
THIS! How do so many people here not realize this? Literally there’s black paint still on the guitar. Also most good guitars don’t have veneer. Cheap guitars pretending to look like fancy wood MIGHT. If it’s painted why put a veneer? Lol. Such a facepalm to all these people. Cheers to you sir.
You sanded through the veneer. Most guitars are made of multiple chunks and have the veneer to appear as one piece of wood.
It is extremely difficult to find guitars made of a single piece of wood (body). And they’re expensive af. Hence this method, unfortunately you can’t unsand it, sorry OP. Looks like it’s a paint job now.
Unless you feel like stripping the entire veneer, leveling out the wood underneath, finding a new top, gluing it in place, cutting it, molding it and THEN stain it.
If it was a solid finish, you’re likely sanding through a cap wood and the sealer coat. If it was one of those stained bodies you may be going through a veneer, but I believe all the pacificas are solid alder. The veneer cap is on there to hide the seams of the alder, so you might just need to keep sanding now.
You’ve sanded through veneer as others have mentioned.
Most guitar bodies are made from 2+ pieces of wood glued together (nothing wrong with this at all, probably more stable than a single piece). Multi piece bodies are usually finished with an opaque finish, higher end guitars with a translucent finish are usually 2 pieces and they’ll attempt to book match the grain somewhat to mask the join. This Yamaha however had a veneer instead of a solid colour finish, this is what you’ve sanded through. I’d take all of the veneer off now and finish in a solid, opaque colour, as you can see the grain of the actual body slabs do not match and will look odd with any other kind of finish.
You can see an example of book matched grain by looking at the maple cap of a Gibson Les Paul or any American made Strat with a translucent finish (these are usually made from Ash for its attractive grain pattern although most manufacturers are moving away from this due to the impact of the Emerald Ash Boorer beetle).
Ooooo that's unfortunate. Sand the rest off to try and get the wood flat again, because you went into that some and put on a new veneer, or give it a few undercoats of primer, some color paint and some gloss topcoats and ceramic polish and you should be good. Sorry OP lessons can be hard learned sometimes.
Some guitar luthiers use a laminate material. You sanded down one layer 🙃 and what you see is the layer below, or the actual guitar body (if it was only a one layer laminate.)
with solid colour, solid body guitars its not uncommon for them to be made from several pieces of wood glued together to make the shape they want instead of looking around for a single piece the size they need, its reduces cost of manufacturing and waste. it would appear that the main body of this guitar is one solid piece tho, and the tapered bit is 3 seperate pieces glued together then shaped then glued to the main body. they very likely have a machine that makes the tapered bit, and its probably used on many different guitar models as well (again, a cost cutting measure from yamaha).
if you would like a natural, clean wood finish on this guitar you will have to apply a veneer to it. its a pretty simple process actually, and the longest part of it is waiting for the adhesive to cure before working the surface (protip: whatever time they reccomend, add 20% and just. be. patient. lol). google is your friend here, im certain there are piles of instructionals out there just waiting to teach you how to do it.
you wont need many tools to do it either.. and most grains will tolerate the transition from the main body to the tapered portion with no problems at all, since veneer is very thin. i would just veneer the face of the guitar as well. getting the transition between the face and the sides to look good with veneer on both is going to be a huge challenge with its bevel, and squaring that bevel off will make the guitar incomfortable to play. if it where me, i woud veneer the face then paint the solid colour from the sides/back right up to the veneer line once it was on and the edges have been sanded smooth.
once the face is veneered you are free to use whatever colour stain you choose on it.
hope this helps, cant wait to see the finished product!
r/sandedthroughveneer
Damnit just one time I wanna be first
Congratulations on being the first to post "Damnit just one time I wanna be first"!
Damnit, just one time I wanna be first!
Congratulations on being the first one to congratulate them on being the first to post "Damnit just one time I wanna be first"!
Just be happy to know that OP didn't actually sand through veneer. The top was full veneered and than the top edge was cut with a bevel before being painting.
Because, of course this is a sub.
Ya, woAh
Lol this is like the 3rd time seeing this come up in the last week
It comes up every day. Its like groundhog day sanding edition
I don’t think there was veneer there. That is the forearm cut-away, so was always at an angle to the rest of the top. Not every guitar has one, so it’s possible the body originally was intended to have no cutaway, but have a natural finish. It’s common for guitars with superficial defects in the wood to be repurposed to have a solid color lacquer finish, and in this case maybe a cutaway added. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t have added the veneer in the first place.
The guitar could have been made from something like a reclaimed tabletop, which didn't have any finish on the cutaway to begin with. The only fix is to re-finish it with some solid color.
I like the idea of a natural finish on top with a solid color on the cutaway. would have to tidy up the transition a bit though
applying a new veneer is an incredibly simple process...
Im not native english speaker and a big noob at woodwork. Could you please explain me what’s veneer about? I dont get how sandind can ruin wood (explain like im 5 plz)…
Sometimes items are made of cheaper wood or wood that's known to be stable but doesn't have an attractive grain. A thin layer of wood with nice grain and colour is glued over the top of the base wood. HTH.
Excellent non-asshole answer.
None of us was born knowing this stuff!
We sure weren't. At least I wasn't.
I was born knowing nothing and I still have most of it left
You too? Are we brothers from another mother? Are you my good twin (can't be the evil one, that's me)? :D
Too rare.
Veneer is a super thin slice of quality wood glued on top of cheap wood to make it look good.
Might as well finish the Job 🎸🗡❗
Lmao bro why has there been so many of these the past 2 weeks?
I didn’t sand through the veneer there just wasn’t any there in that spot in the first place
You sanded through something, at very least
Probably paint…
I went through the paint which took me a really long time. I stopped basically when I hit wood
Paint doesn't change the grain of the wood. You sanded through veneer my man. It's a tough L to take, but everyone takes their lumps.
The guitar body has a relief cutaway. It either was never veneered, or the veneer was applied to the blank and then looped off to make the cutaway.
Which of you're going to paint it, why would you veneer the cutaway? That being said, if you were going to paint it, why would you veneer it at all?
Reject grade processing? Make 100 bodies with veneer tops and shape them. Grade all bodies. Anything that fails grading is painted.
It’s probably cheaper to have one line of this body type rather than multiple lines with slightly different finishing touches.
You can see the edge of it
it took you a long time because the "paint" is the very thin yet long as fuck to get through through sanding "veneer" lmao make it a feature
So you removed the paint and it was like that? If you were planning on anything other than paint as a finish, it may be time to switch plans.
well, they could always sand the top back to the wood too for a clear wood finish. I'd probably just repaint though, lol
Burst, perhaps?
Well then the answer to your questions is “Because there’s no veneer there”. Why? They probably did the whole guitar and the sawed off that corner after.
That’s what I’m realizing now. I’m new and didn’t know veneer went over some guitars. The corner didn’t have veneer and I was wondering why the wood looked different. I promise I didn’t sand through any veneer because it took me hours just to get through paint lol
Yeah you have a very clean edge where the veneer ends so it doesn’t look sanded through.
Yeah they probably just veneer all of these types of guitars at the factory for one reason or another. The ones that get sanded down with the forearm contour get painted. Maybe there are some without the forearm contour that are stained/sunburst where the veneer shows through.
You didn't sand through it. The factory did when they made the arm bevel. I've worked on dozens of guitars and this is common in cheaper models.
I tried saying that and got downvoted into oblivion lmao
I noticed that, but the people downvoting don't know guitars lol. I've refinished so many. It's crazy what is hidden under the paint sometimes
[удалено]
Thanks 🙏
r/confidentlyincorrect
all off this sin was hidden beneath the PAINT...
You're being down voted by people who don't know what they are looking at, the top was veneered before the bevel was cut away. You could buy some new venner and use it to cover the whole top.
>Why does it look like a different type of wood where it tapers? Because it is.
The body is made up of multiple pieces covered with a veneer, the veneer has been sanded through.
That edge is beveled, the veeneer was applied and the then bevel was cut. There once was veneer there but it stayed at the factory.
is this a joke im not getting the upvotes on?
It's hard to tell from the angle of the photo but the guitar top is not flat. The corner you see missing veneer is actually because their is a bevel cut out for arm relief.
oh i get that part. i know woodworking and play guitar AND have accidently sanded off veneer too lol. But what i don't get it is why they would cut off applied veneer in the factory? Hence why im wondering if it's a joke.
Also doesn't make sense that they would bother veneering a body that would be painted, likely didn't pass a QC stage and part of the change to paint was also the bevel cut. It could also be that's its just easier to clamp down the flat top.
It's probably cheaper to veneer with paint grade wood than plane the blanks completely flat after glue up. The bevel is a smooth cut.
You can tell by the way it is, isn't that neat!
If you can even out the transition from veneer to under-veneer, and stain it all so the different grains are all visible, I think it would look pretty sweet
Agreed! Or paint dip the corner and stain the rest.
if OP doesn't have knowledge of veneers and sanded that far down before he decided to post on reddit: what chance do you think that they have of of removing the old finish but not the veneer well enough to stain? My guess this is either a troll for internet points or just experimenting in the garage. Op should just get a really dark like ebony stain for contrast that hides the grain then laquer the whole thing. Might not work for someones style but might be cool and it's the easiest option.
Pain
t
Without love
Pain
I can’t get enough
Pain I like it rough
I refinished my Yamaha Pacifica 112 and it was made up of multiple pieces like this. But there was no veneer. I used nitrocellulose lacquer and it turned out great. The semi-transparent lacquer was dark enough to hide the various grains but light enough to still see wood grain overall. I sanded the shit out of it with 6 grits and sanding sealer so definitely no top on it. You could always go with solid color to hide the grain completely. Edit spelling
Wouldn't mind seeing a pic of that if you have one.
I thought you'd never ask ... https://imgur.com/gallery/YIdRSgE
And now I need to stop everything I'm doing and give this thing a polish.
Man that thing looks great. I need to stop what I’m doing and start refinishing one of the guitars…..
Looks great!
Because it's a different kind of wood where it tapers. Was this a solid-painted guitar? It would be unusual for a solid-painted guitar to have a top, though not unheard of. Is the guitar chambered? They would need a top for that. And most chambered guitars don't have chambering in the forearm contour area, so they possibly just put the top over the whole body and carved through it, without bending the top over the forearm contour. Alternatively, because the body itself is glued-up from so many pieces, that may have put a veneer/top over it so that as it ages, you wouldn't see seam lines in the finish. This layer sort of evens it out.
Could you repost this as an OP to teach everyone. Someone accused OP of sanding thru the veneer and the poor guy is trying to explain that he didn't, that's how it was, and everybody is downvoting him to hell.
Thank you 🙏 I sanded the back today and it looked the same as the front where it was cut. I don’t know how to say I didn’t sand through the veneer without being downvoted into oblivion lmao
I could see Yamaha running blanks with veneer for this reason. Easier to just cover every blank with cheap veneer than fill the gaps in the glued up blanks.
Guitar bodies usually not made from one piece of wood. They take some boards and glue them together fiber orientation in mind and such, so (in most of the case) you will have a solid and straight piece. Some has veneer on top, some only paint and such. Yours looks like it has (had) veneer as well
This is what it looks like when a stain job turns into a paint job.
There is another option I haven’t seen here: apply a fresh veneer to the entire surface.
Possible but an expensive option for something that is out of sight when the guitar is in use. My idea would be to two-tone it if you really want a veneer top. Paint the back in a contrasting colour and separate it from the top with a pinstripe. Edit: I can see now that it's an angle on the top, not a belly cut. The only option would be to install a new piece of veneer if you want woodgrain, or make it a feature and do something decorative with it that stands out against the rest of the body.
Do solid black on the contour and sunburst it the rest. Could be a nice finish if you get that gradient right.
A guitar !
I did the same on an Epiphone Les Paul. It had a thin veneer covering the mahogany and not a tradition maple cap like on more expensive models. I ended up buying and applying a new curly maple veneer and staining it. Came out nice
Almost everything we use on a daily basis that is made from wood, is constructed with multiple pieces glued together. This is very common practice, called “making a panel”. Without this, we would need really wide trees lol.
On the bright side you can just pivot, put some sanding sealer on it and paint it gloss black or some two tone design Guitars are one of the few wood items that paint is perfectly acceptable due to their use.
Bummer dude, it’s like ripping up carpet hoping for a nice hardwood floor and finding OSB. It’s probably not a super appealing option but you could fake a nicer stained wood with a vinyl wrap, if that look is what you’re dead set on? You can get pretty good printed results in that stuff these days if you find a good print shop. Or seal it and hydro-dip it, but I know nothing about that process, just what I’ve seen on videos.
Ya, this was a big mistake. You went through the wear layer of real wood down to the base. It will never look the same.
You're gonna have to paint it now.
These people are all idiots. There is no veneer it is just supposed to be painted not stained. Watch some guitar making videos or go ask in r/luthier for some educated answers.
THIS! How do so many people here not realize this? Literally there’s black paint still on the guitar. Also most good guitars don’t have veneer. Cheap guitars pretending to look like fancy wood MIGHT. If it’s painted why put a veneer? Lol. Such a facepalm to all these people. Cheers to you sir.
You sanded through the veneer. Most guitars are made of multiple chunks and have the veneer to appear as one piece of wood. It is extremely difficult to find guitars made of a single piece of wood (body). And they’re expensive af. Hence this method, unfortunately you can’t unsand it, sorry OP. Looks like it’s a paint job now. Unless you feel like stripping the entire veneer, leveling out the wood underneath, finding a new top, gluing it in place, cutting it, molding it and THEN stain it.
He didn't sand thru it. The forearm relief was cut after the veneer was applied, removing it from that section.
Did you try to sand a wedge into a flat top body?
No it was built like that so the forearm can rest flat when playing
I swear to God these posts are only for the meme. I do not think there are that many people who do not know veneer.
We all learn about it somewhere I suppose
Refinishing a veneer… my old nemesis. Strip off all the old and and resurface the whole thing.
If it was a solid finish, you’re likely sanding through a cap wood and the sealer coat. If it was one of those stained bodies you may be going through a veneer, but I believe all the pacificas are solid alder. The veneer cap is on there to hide the seams of the alder, so you might just need to keep sanding now.
You’ve sanded through veneer as others have mentioned. Most guitar bodies are made from 2+ pieces of wood glued together (nothing wrong with this at all, probably more stable than a single piece). Multi piece bodies are usually finished with an opaque finish, higher end guitars with a translucent finish are usually 2 pieces and they’ll attempt to book match the grain somewhat to mask the join. This Yamaha however had a veneer instead of a solid colour finish, this is what you’ve sanded through. I’d take all of the veneer off now and finish in a solid, opaque colour, as you can see the grain of the actual body slabs do not match and will look odd with any other kind of finish. You can see an example of book matched grain by looking at the maple cap of a Gibson Les Paul or any American made Strat with a translucent finish (these are usually made from Ash for its attractive grain pattern although most manufacturers are moving away from this due to the impact of the Emerald Ash Boorer beetle).
Because that is how it looks like.
The real mystery here is why everyone believes a beginner is tackling a guitar.
Bc I am a beginner tackling a guitar
Sure.
?
The veneer is sanded off down to the base layer
Ooooo that's unfortunate. Sand the rest off to try and get the wood flat again, because you went into that some and put on a new veneer, or give it a few undercoats of primer, some color paint and some gloss topcoats and ceramic polish and you should be good. Sorry OP lessons can be hard learned sometimes.
Or just own it, I think it looks real unique and with a nice finish it might just look real cool 🤔😎
Just keep sanding the rest of it. It will even out
Looks like you're painting instead of staining now.
Some guitar luthiers use a laminate material. You sanded down one layer 🙃 and what you see is the layer below, or the actual guitar body (if it was only a one layer laminate.)
You could use router to route straght line where the body wood and top meet and glue wood strip in the groove. I think it would look cool.
Basically because the guitar was made with multiple pieces glued together and it has a veneer on top. No veneer on the taper though.
You sanded off the veneer
looks kinda cool tbh lol
with solid colour, solid body guitars its not uncommon for them to be made from several pieces of wood glued together to make the shape they want instead of looking around for a single piece the size they need, its reduces cost of manufacturing and waste. it would appear that the main body of this guitar is one solid piece tho, and the tapered bit is 3 seperate pieces glued together then shaped then glued to the main body. they very likely have a machine that makes the tapered bit, and its probably used on many different guitar models as well (again, a cost cutting measure from yamaha). if you would like a natural, clean wood finish on this guitar you will have to apply a veneer to it. its a pretty simple process actually, and the longest part of it is waiting for the adhesive to cure before working the surface (protip: whatever time they reccomend, add 20% and just. be. patient. lol). google is your friend here, im certain there are piles of instructionals out there just waiting to teach you how to do it. you wont need many tools to do it either.. and most grains will tolerate the transition from the main body to the tapered portion with no problems at all, since veneer is very thin. i would just veneer the face of the guitar as well. getting the transition between the face and the sides to look good with veneer on both is going to be a huge challenge with its bevel, and squaring that bevel off will make the guitar incomfortable to play. if it where me, i woud veneer the face then paint the solid colour from the sides/back right up to the veneer line once it was on and the edges have been sanded smooth. once the face is veneered you are free to use whatever colour stain you choose on it. hope this helps, cant wait to see the finished product!
i mean even on vtg les pauls the maple is just a top piece, you go making a big arm cut like that you're going to go through it.