Repairing a chipped/dented maple fretboard

[Telemaxx]

Hi folks, wondering if it's possible and if yes, how hard would be to fix this little chip on my Tele maple fretboard (for a luthier or DIY, but I'm far from handy). I'm not much bothered by it but would love to give it to a friend as a gift, so I'd love it to look flawless.

Here are some pics:

(link removed)
(link removed)

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Sea Devil]

Find anything that's the right color, put the world's smallest amount on the exposed wood, and put a drop of medium superglue on it once the color dries - a small enough amount that you don't have to sand it.

 

[Sea Devil]

If you have any artist or craftsman friends, just take the guitar over and ask 'em to hit it with literally any paint they've got (watercolor, thin oils, shellac, watered-down acrylic, ink). Then you take it home and hit it with one drop of glue. Do it with a toothpick or safety pin, not from the bottle.

Literally any coloring agent will work. You could probably dissolve some turmeric in water and use that.

 

[Deeve]

chips like that respond well to a drip fill of fingernail polish - toothpick or pin, recco above - yes

 

[Steve Holt]

I'd leave that alone! Looks perfect!

 

[Sea Devil]

A luthier would probably charge $20-25 to fix it, unless he was doing other work on the guitar. Then it would probably be more like ten bucks.

 

[boneyguy]

Find a felt pen that is close in color to the amber neck and touch up the chip. I'd just leave it at that if you haven't had any experience with repairs because drop filling it with crazy glue involves a few steps. After you fill it with crazy glue you will be left with a little bump that you will want to sand or scrape flat and then you'll have to polish it to match the surrounding finish...if you want to do it right. I'd just hit it with an amber colored felt pen and leave it at that.

 

[posttoastie]

Use some Kiwi tan shoe polish on it. You can always add the super glue after like mentioned.

 

[wblynch]

I would leave it alone

 

[schmee]

Not bad. It can be filled with epoxy and not show much at all. Worth the work? Just a drop of poly will color it to make it less noticeable than it is.

 

[Reedo]

Light coloured plastic wood by Rustins lightly sand, then clear gloss nail polish.

 

[fender4life]

I just repaired one about 5 times that size on mine. But it's pretty much impossible to make it invisible when any amount of wood has been removed. You can try and find a matching color but for something that small it's not worth it. Best you can do is fill it, sand it, then polish. Problem with yours however is it's right on the edge and you will never be able to sand it w/o going thru to the wood along the edge. Best to just to do what i did an touch a tiny dab of mustard to it which matched well enough, then dab some clear nail polish in the dent. (i did the mustard, not the nail polish...i used super glue) That one is just too small to try and match perfectly and fill perfectly, especially on the edge where it won't be sandable w/o ruining the surrounding area. I did that but used super glue and sanded it flat and smooth then polished. But while you can't feel it you can see it due to wood being removed. No easy way to do invisible fixes for clear coated maple where even the tiniest amount of wood was lost, but on something that small you can just do what i said with a dab of mustard, wipe it off, then a dab of clear nail polish. You never even notice something that small after doing that unless u look closely for it.

 

[Boreas]

The question is, can a tiny defect be repaired to be invisible? That's gonna require a professional - and professional money.

Can YOU or I repair it to be invisible? No.

Shoe polish or mustard mentioned above followed with either drop-filling with superglue or clear nail polish will work, but won't hide it.

I, personally, would give it to your friend as-is. The next time you see the guitar, ask how that tiny scratch got there. EZPZ...

 

[Peegoo]

Find someone local that does furniture repair. Take the strings off and take the guitar to them and ask them to do a fix. It will be cheaper than a guitar tech, and probably better looking.

A good furniture shop can make a repair like that virtually invisible.

 

[Reedo]

The question is, can a tiny defect be repaired to be invisible? That's gonna require a professional - and professional money.

Can YOU or I repair it to be invisible? No.

Shoe polish or mustard mentioned above followed with either drop-filling with superglue or clear nail polish will work, but won't hide it.

I, personally, would give it to your friend as-is. The next time you see the guitar, ask how that tiny scratch got there. EZPZ...

Never thought of mustard, good call.

 

[Boreas]

Never thought of mustard, good call.

That was fender4life's suggestion, not mine. I prefer ketchup...

 

[Boreas]

Find someone local that does furniture repair. Take the strings off and take the guitar to them and ask them to do a fix. It will be cheaper than a guitar tech, and probably better looking.

A good furniture shop can make a repair like that virtually invisible.

Make sure they don't install casters...

 

[Reedo]

That was fender4life's suggestion, not mine. I prefer ketchup...

Damn, replied to wrong post lol. Forgive me.

 

[Boreas]

Some people would also try to steam out most of the dent before applying anything. But if the neck is oversprayed with lacquer, I wouldn't try it.
Dan Erlewine steaming out a dent:

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/trade-secrets/fixing-a-guitar-dent-by-steaming-it-out.html

 

[chris m.]

Lots of color choices to optimize the match--