Mother of Pearl Rosette Problem

[scamp]

I could use the groups collective wisdom on this one.

One of the first things I did when i received my first guitar kit was to install a mother of pearl ring into the rosette on the guitar top supplied.
I thought I did a good job until the next day when was sanding it down and discovered a rather significant gap between two segments of the mother of pearl.
Depending on the lighting, the gap goes from undetectable to rather noticeable.

Here it is under worst case lighting ( most noticeable )

IMG_2018.JPEG

It is driving me a bit nuts given it is right up front. I would love to be able to fix it but I don't believe there is anyway to do so. The mother of pearl was put in with Tite Bond glue and the glue filled in the gap. I don't think you can remove the glue in the gap and fill it in with anything that will improve the look and removing the mother of pearl is not realistic given you would need to heat it up significantly with is difficult given it's location next to the plastic perfling. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them but I suspect there isn't much in the way of options.

Given this, I could live with the gap or another possibility is to place the pick guard so that it covers the mother of pearl in this area. See below...

IMG_2023.JPEG

I know this isn't a typical location for the pick guard ( which would be just on the outside of the mother of pearl ring) but it would hide the gap. I guess the question is, how strange would it be to have the pick guard cover the mother of pearl?

I know this is the typical type of thing that occurs when building guitars (especially your first one ). Just wanted your opinions/suggestions.

Thanks

[TEETERFAN]

I would carefully sand to the glue level if you have any finish or shellac over it, then soften the glue in the gap with repeated applications of white vinegar. As it softens, you should be able to carefully pick it out with a pointed razor knife, needle, or toothpick. Be careful to only get the glue and not the pearl ends or purfling. Toothpick would be the safest.
Once the gap is excavated you could cut a small piece of the pearl and fit it in. Tedious work for sure. Looks like you have extra pearl under the fingerboard area from which you could steal. Real small pieces of pearl can be super glued (by the bottom) to the end of a stick of wood or something. That will make filing and sanding easier. It you use another piece of the pearl as a donor, it should already be the same width. Pop it off the stick when you are done.

Alternatively, once the glue is removed, you could drop fill the gap with a pearlized nail polish, if you can find something close. You can get a pretty good result this way, but the lacquer based polish will shrink in quite a bit as it dries. This would be much easier than cutting the small piece of pearl, but the shrinking issue would make this approach a slower proposition.

[jread]

Looks great to me but I undersand! All we see is the faults in our builds while others look on in wonder at what we can do.

[tippie53]

you most likely will cause more damage and problems trying to pick the pearl out. You can take some Super glue and drop fill then sand level , you will know its there but I doubt anyone else will

[scamp]

you most likely will cause more damage and problems trying to pick the pearl out. You can take some Super glue and drop fill then sand level , you will know its there but I doubt anyone else will

The gap currently has dried Tite Bond glue in it. I would need to remove the Tite Bond to put in the Super Glue and I suspect it would look about the same as what is currently there. Also, is there any concern about CA glue with the spruce top? My guess is no given there is plastic perfling on both sides. Opinion/Comments??

[tippie53]

you do the drop fill after the sealer coat and after the first finish coat that way your well sealed and the CA won't stain the top later.
Once the finish is level you will see a flat surface and it will polish up nicely. If you look real close to almost any pearled guitar it is more than likely you will see small voiding as this is the nature of a natural material

[scamp]

you do the drop fill after the sealer coat and after the first finish coat that way your well sealed and the CA won't stain the top later.
Once the finish is level you will see a flat surface and it will polish up nicely. If you look real close to almost any pearled guitar it is more than likely you will see small voiding as this is the nature of a natural material

Thanks. I’m still a bit confused. Given the gap is already filled with Tite Bond there is no gap to drop fill after the sealer coat and the first sealer coat. Are you suggesting that I remove the glue filling the gap now and then after the sealer and first finish coat drop in the CA?

[jread]

I think John didn't realize it was already filled w/ tb. It's good as is. It looks great and no one but you will know it's there. I had a hard time finding it in the photo.

[tippie53]

tite bond IS NOT A FILLER
the best filler is finish Yes I saw there was tite bond here is the problem that will shrink for about a week or so so as you lay on coats of finish watch for SINK and drop fill then in the level sanding process that should flatten out.

In the future ask questions first sometimes you can help avoid a bigger problem

Case in point I am working of a 67 D35 that the owner thought using liquid nails would fix it.

[scamp]

Once again, thanks to everyone for your help.
Couldn't get through this new learning experience without your collective wisdom.
Sorry I was a bit anal about what is objectively a rather small error.
Unfortunately, after you make a error like this it's all you see and it's hard to be rational.
Also, didn't know if there was something easy I could do about it.

So...
Looks like I will keep going and if I see any shrinkage I will fill it in with CA and level it out in the finishing.

Regards
Scamp