Repair of scuff / chip on a lacquered maple neck

[Grooverjr]

I have a T40 that is overall in incredible condition but it has a small scuff kind of thing right behind the 12th fret that you can feel when playing. It's about 3 x 5mm and is very shallow so basically the lacquer has been chipped but the wood is not dented. Does anybody have a recommendation of how to repair it? I'm assuming something along the lines of slightly sand the area and apply some new lacquer but my concern would be ending up with a raised patcch or a sticky area. Maybe better to just trust to a luthier?

[Reggaebass]

What about a tiny bit of clear nail polish and lightly smooth it 

[Grooverjr]

3 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

What about a tiny bit of clear nail polish and lightly smooth it 

Thanks. I had considered that as well but not sure if it feels the same as lacquer? I have an old neck lying around I could try it on, I suppose...

 

[Reggaebass]

9 minutes ago, Grooverjr said:

Thanks. I had considered that as well but not sure if it feels the same as lacquer? I have an old neck lying around I could try it on, I suppose...

 

I’ve used nail polish to touch up on the body paint which came out pretty good but I’ve never done it to a neck, maybe worth a try with a little bit on a toothpick or something similar 

[BlueMoon]

29 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

What about a tiny bit of clear nail polish and lightly smooth it 

This ^^^^^^^^

[BlueMoon]

24 minutes ago, Grooverjr said:

Thanks. I had considered that as well but not sure if it feels the same as lacquer? I have an old neck lying around I could try it on, I suppose...

If you have ever had a car paint touch-up stick set - base coat and clear coat, then the clear coat is essentially the same as the poly used on the neck. 

[Grooverjr]

3 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

If you have ever had a car paint touch-up stick set - base coat and clear coat, then the clear coat is essentially the same as the poly used on the neck. 

Thanks, really helpful

 

[mep]

Some good suggestions. Whatever you go for when smoothing or sanding use really fine wet and dry, and mask off the area around it.

[NancyJohnson]

14 hours ago, Grooverjr said:

Thanks. I had considered that as well but not sure if it feels the same as lacquer? I have an old neck lying around I could try it on, I suppose...

 

 

By the look of that chip, sizewise it's fairly insignificant, it's not going to make any difference in feel with a nail varnish fix.

 

Drop it in off a toothpick so as not to flood the ding; it'll self level.  And repeat.  If you're careful you might get away without any further attention.  You can get yourself one of those finger nail buffer blocks and buff it out if required.

 

 

[RonC]

Glu Boost fill and finish!

It’s a kind of superglue. 
fill the spot, sand it, polish it and you won’t even see it anymore. 
I’ve repaired a lot of cracks and dents with it.

Edited January 12 by RonC

[Grooverjr]

5 hours ago, RonC said:

Glu Boost fill and finish!

It’s a kind of superglue. 
fill the spot, sand it, polish it and you won’t even see it anymore. 
I’ve repaired a lot of cracks and dents with it.

Just looked that up. It looks like you just drip it  in and it will set clear and with a polish it will be like new. Lovely stuff, I've got a couple of small dings in another neck (squiffy lean bass againt bookshelf and feel the slow creep of terror as you turn away and hear it start to slide sideways - I can't be the only one) so this seems like a good thing to have around anyway.

[BlueMoon]

A good number of helpful suggestions.

 

A totally invisible repair will be difficult to achieve, however, as the worn patch will remain darker than the surrounding areas. Thankfully it looks a very small blemish.

 

Good luck!

[RonC]

33 minutes ago, Grooverjr said:

Just looked that up. It looks like you just drip it  in and it will set clear and with a polish it will be like new. Lovely stuff, I've got a couple of small dings in another neck (squiffy lean bass againt bookshelf and feel the slow creep of terror as you turn away and hear it start to slide sideways - I can't be the only one) so this seems like a good thing to have around anyway.

 On the gluboost website there are some videos how to use it. When you follow these steps I’m convinced you can fix it invisibly!

Succes!

[Grooverjr]

11 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

A good number of helpful suggestions.

 

A totally invisible repair will be difficult to achieve, however, as the worn patch will remain darker than the surrounding areas. Thankfully it looks a very small blemish.

 

Good luck!

I don't expect it to be completely invisble but it's right on the join between the two halves (these necks are two halves glued together) so there is a complete change of figuring right next to it anyway and I think that will make it muuch less visible than it would be on a one piece. The most important thing for me is that it isn't felt when you're playing. It's not rough it's just 'there' and that detracts from what is otherwise a really lovely-playing neck.

[Adey]

Have a look on StewMac website for video on "Drop Filling". You can do a repair on that yourself. It isn't very difficult. You just need to set aside some time and a bit of patience (but not a huge amount...)