Fixing dings in solid body guitars

daav

daav

Flailing up a storm.
Is it possible to do anything to fix or reduce the impact of small dings on a guitar body? I am thinking about small dents. I know that in woodworking you can use steam or other moist heat options that can sometimes help these, but I wonder if it would work on a guitar body that is already finished?


Dave
 
Steaming out small dings in timber is only used on fresh wood and really only those where the fibres of the timber have not been broken. Once the finish is damaged you need to use other methods.

I would suggest that unless they are structural or the finish is flaking off you just learn to live with them. Using heat and water on a finished instrument is not the way to go.
 
Sometimes you can "minimize" the dings appearance by dropping some finish or colour in them. Stewmac sells some lacquer pens which might be the ticket? They also sell burn in type touchup stuff (which will only work if your instrument is nitro finished)...

I've also had some success filling dings in clear (like on the back of necks) with CA glue then scraping back (not sanding!) / buffing out when it's hardened.

Or leave it as is, dings and all - hell, people pay a lot of money for "relic'd" instruments!
 
slowmotion said:
Sometimes you can "minimize" the dings appearance by dropping some finish or colour in them. Stewmac sells some lacquer pens which might be the ticket? They also sell burn in type touchup stuff (which will only work if your instrument is nitro finished)...

I've also had some success filling dings in clear (like on the back of necks) with CA glue then scraping back (not sanding!) / buffing out when it's hardened.

Or leave it as is, dings and all - hell, people pay a lot of money for "relic'd" instruments!
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+1, When I pick up beat up guitars I go for the paint/stain/lacquer pens/markers.
It will never be a perfect fine uniform finish again but the blemishes will be well hidden.
 
muttley600 said:
Steaming out small dings in timber is only used on fresh wood and really only those where the fibres of the timber have not been broken. Once the finish is damaged you need to use other methods.

I would suggest that unless they are structural or the finish is flaking off you just learn to live with them. Using heat and water on a finished instrument is not the way to go.
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What Multi says, those little road dings add 'Character'.
 
Sometimes you have to pick your battles. I don't touch up anything other than the neck, especially if it's my own instrument.

If somebody's paying me, I can go for the full treatment. Your best bet is auto touch-up paint, your best chance for getting a good match.
 
I've got a 1987 Gibson SG. It's got all kinds of play wear, fretboard's getting dented, dings and scratches on the back of the body, the finish is starting to check a little, I can't wait for the finish to wear off the back of the neck!

I'm pretty careful with all my guitars but that one has been played to hell and is officially the beater of the crew!

Just let it be I say,
 
Thanks for all the opinions, i think i can live with the little dings i have, but i might have one or two that want to put out for resale and wanted to get them in as presentable condition as possible.

Dave
 
I have a desert gold Bongo bass. I've nicked the finish in a couple of places running into cymbals with the headstock. An orange Sharpie makes the dings virtually invisible.
 
Mutt, is it necessary to seal a ding in a nitro finish with some clear nail polish? Or is the likelihood of moisture getting in and causing lift unlikely?
 
TelePaul said:
Mutt, is it necessary to seal a ding in a nitro finish with some clear nail polish? Or is the likelihood of moisture getting in and causing lift unlikely?
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It depends on the size of the mark, the wood and location. I would use shellac just to seal off a scratch if I thought it necessary.
 
TelePaul said:
Hmmm. Hows about 1cm squared, alder, upper body contour of a Tele? :D
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To be honest on a solid body something that size isn't going to cause a problem. If you want to seal it off. Clean it with naphtha first then just brush or pad on some shellac.
 
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