Aack! Please help, crack in headstock finish when sanding

[smjenkins]

This morning I started the final sanding and buffing on my birdseye strat neck headstock after applying an F waterslide.  I noticed after starting the 1000 grit pass that there was a crack in the finish between two of the tuner holes and it was absorbing the water.  There's also a smaller one next to the high E string tuner hole.  Pics are below. 

What can I do?  Is the only option to strip and refinish the whole neck?  Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

 

[Watershed]

Ouch, looks more like a sand-through to me.
Is that tinted lacquer?  Assuming so:

It depends on how perfect you want to get it.
For perfection, you'll likely have to at least re-do the face.
Looks like it's already taped off.

For less perfect, you could try melting the lacquer in the area, and surrounding, with a Q-Tip soaked in acetone.
That should disperse some tint into the affected area, and hopefully blend it a bit.
It would likely level/even out with several layers of clear.

James

 

[smjenkins]

Thanks James.  Yes the headstock is tinted, however, it's definitely not a sand through.  I used a flat sanding block the entire time and you can feel a slight crack in the top of the lacquer.  I put down a few thin coats of shellac over the original Warmoth finish and then lacquered over that.  I'm wondering if the crack is only through the top lacquer. 

I'm thinking I might keep wet sanding the top until I get through the cracks. 

 

[-CB-]

That long crack almost looks like a crack in the wood.... its eyeloupe time for that one.

If its lacquer, you can just reflow it.