Dent on fretboard!

[Sleeping At Sea]

So I was sitting in my studio having a nice time playing my JR Cutlass when my 3yr old wandered in with a wooden spoon, looked at me, then proceeded to hit the strings with it and said 'look, I'm playing guitar like you'.
I didn't think much at the time as it seemed like a very small tap but I just spotted this little guy

A quick google brought me to this video. What do you think? Would it be suitable to try it on flamed maple? It's not sealed right so should be safe. Not sure if it'll work but thought I'd chime in here before I do something stupid!

 

[edhalen]

My .02 is I'd live with it. Also, make sure you hang on to that guitar until your child is old enough to understand what was done. Have a laugh about it and move on. It's part of the character of your guitar I know, easy to say as it's not mine, but I've learned over the past few years to not sweat the little stuff. Life is too short. My .02

 

[Ted]

Pretty cool video-- I had no idea that such small dings could just be steamed away.

Yours doesn't look too bad-- though I know it's annoying-- I'm guessing that could be fixed via the method in the video. (Nice flamed board too, btw!)

I have a nice American Tele that I've had for a long while and in the early days of owning it, I was not so careful in handling it-- and I got a lot of small dings on the back of the neck from leaning it up against pieces of furniture etc. The skunk stripe area is very susceptible to dings. I feel these dings when I'm running my hand up and down the back of the neck-- I wish they weren't there, but I just made a mental note of what frets they are at and then it functions a bit like braille-- I'm able to better know what fret my hands are at in the dark,

 

[tbonesullivan]

it would probably work pretty well, though the steaming process will most likely drive out/ away the hand rubbed wax blend, so you would want some wonder wipes or maybe even Gunstock wax to use on the area afterwards.

 

[DrKev]

I've done it. It way or may not work but with a little care and patience there is no reason not to try.

 

[Ventanaman]

I have unfortunately had that happen as well. Streaming certainly may help.

You can also take a razor blade to gently “re-roll” the fretboard edge and smooth out the sides of the ding to make it less apparent.

Good luck!

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

My .02 is I'd live with it. Also, make sure you hang on to that guitar until your child is old enough to understand what was done. Have a laugh about it and move on. It's part of the character of your guitar I know, easy to say as it's not mine, but I've learned over the past few years to not sweat the little stuff. Life is too short. My .02

No no, this is great advice. I've really been trying to be less pedantic over these types of things and not stressing the little things. Like you say, life is too short! It's almost a right of passage to show your kids what they did when they were little. I remember I pushed my Dad's tweeter in on his new speakers and he never stopped reminding me .

Thanks for the feedback all! I might get brave enough and do a few little tests. You never know, might be end with good results. But it could have been worse I guess!

 

[fbecir]

The best way is to play your guitar to death 6 hours per day.
In a few months, the neck will have other marks of wear ... the dent will be forgotten.

 

[Musikron]

Ignore it and enjoy your life.

 

[KazJY]

I'd also live with this, and I'm fairly OCD about this type of stuff.

I grabbed one of my acoustics with a capo in my hand, and I had impressions worse than this in the back of the neck. I play the guitar, and either I don't feel the dents any longer, or me playing / heat / sweat is steaming it out little by little. What was a sleepless night now doesn't matter.

Good luck with whatever you do here! It happens, be glad it wasn't worse.

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

Update!
I had some time today so thought I'd have a go at the steam trick. I took it VERY easy and only did some very quick minimal passes and whilst it's not 100% gone, it's significantly reduced and I can't feel the 'nick' when running my fingers passed anymore. Happy with the results! I'm sure I'll end up forgetting about it now.

 

[DrKev]

Great work!

I did a stupid thing many years ago, leaning my Silhouette Special against a wall while I went to fetch a guitar stand form the next room. It fell and the neck landed hard on the square steel legs of a drum stool. Left two dents in the back of the neck. I felt sick to my stomach it was so awful. But the dents steamed out pretty well. I had forgotten they even existed until this thread!

 

[GWDavis28]

Looks great can't even tell from the pic that it's there.

You learn something new everyday.

Glenn |B)

 

[Sleeping At Sea]

Great work!

I did a stupid thing many years ago, leaning my Silhouette Special against a wall while I went to fetch a guitar stand form the next room. It fell and the neck landed hard on the square steel legs of a drum stool. Left two dents in the back of the neck. I felt sick to my stomach it was so awful. But the dents steamed out pretty well. I had forgotten they even existed until this thread!

Ouch!! I know that sinking feeling in the stomach well! I have to stop myself now when I do the 'I'll just rest this here while I grab this' as I know it always ends with me doing something stupid haha.
Glad you could get most of the dents out so that you don't notice them. This method works so well!

Looks great can't even tell from the pic that it's there.

You learn something new everyday.

Glenn |B)

Thanks Glenn! I'm so so happy with the results! I thought I'd have to live with it or take to a luthier for sure. Thank-you internet for the wisdom haha!

 

[Tollywood]

Well done. It looks great. You can take your child out of time out now.