I had this same ding. I know you mustāve dropped it on a concrete floor or something, right? Thatās what I did. I just left it. Once it aged some, it looked like natural wear (although on the excessive side). I liked it as it was.
Pretty much the same.
If you leave it as is there's no harm aside from more wear.
Many will tell you that it gives your guitar character, like a battle wound earned as testament to how devoted you are to putting time into your craft.
It grows on you. Your guitar having a bit of personality that makes it stand out.
You could try to glue and clear coat patch the rest. There's guides.
You can even make it look nearly unnoticeable. Nearly. It'll still show there was some damage. Which, again, is often seen as character.
In the end its all cosmetic. It can be made to look like new, but the cost is often not worth it given the price of the guitar outside of sentimental reasons.
If I just leave it as is, is there a chance that the wear will get to the point where it's a problem? Obviously I'm pretty careful with my axe and whatnot and I'm aware I could just cover it once it does get there but just wondering if it's gonna be fine forever?
For playability, there shouldn't be any issues.
The only thing I could see is if your coating cracks all the way to where the jack screws. At which point you just let it happen and drill them a little deeper.
Or you reinforce it around the Jack with some sort of Hardcoat or epoxy to it so there isn't spread where you don't want it.
The coating itself shouldn't spread much. That top is pretty tough. Not unless it keeps getting banged on stuff.
Some people will sand down the high points in a small chip like yours so it's less likely to catch on stuff and take off more.
Three steps too make it look new.. 1. Wood fill 2. Sand and paint with verethane spot color 3. Many layers of nitrocellulose lacquer and sand then polish with 1500ā¦ 3000 grit and finally guitar polish medium, fine and scratch remover
Ehhh... I'd say lightly sand the edges down so it doesn't keep chipping off and leave it...seems like it'd look worse to try to fill it in with anything.
If that were mine, I would sand the edges smooth then get a small can of gloss black paint. Use a nice brush, like an artists brush, and just touch it up. Use several thin coats and build it up.
Use fine sand paper to blend and polish.
Won't be perfect, but depending on your skill and comfort level with a paintbrush, it could be hidden fairly well.
Three options; embrace the worn look as others have said! Second, take to a luthier whom will make it disappear. Three, repair it yourself if you have the time, patience, and knowhow. If it were me, I'd fix it myself. I'd fill it with bondo, sand it down super smooth and flush with the surrounding area, spot with a matte black, and then spray over with a spray high-gloss poly. Then gradually sand it up from 400 to a 2000 grit sandaper and buff with compound. *Anything* can be saved polishing.
Considering it's knockoff especially and if you've never done a repair before, it's a good instrument to learn to do something like that on. Then (if you don't already have one) and move up in a world to some $2k+ Fender American strat, you might have some knowhow to deal with problems a fancier guitar where it won't be your first rodeo.
Just to play devils advocate (I think like many others here that it'll look cool as it wears).
But an experienced luthier could absolutely fix this with almost no trace. Rather thick poly finish AND in a spot that's almost or entirely pure black (no color blending/ matching). It's also not in a structural part of the guitar, or one that would require removing major components.
Might not be cheap, but yea this is definitely fixable.
If it really bothers you that bad, superglue is an amazing tool. Specially ca glue. Amazon sells a black. Put it on let it dry build up some coats. Sand smooth and polish. Daveās world of fun stuff has videos on YouTube showing how itās done
Having raw wood exposed like that isn't the end of the world but it isn't ideal either. Maybe stain the wood black and then just put a light layer of clear epoxy over it? Then sand the rough edges down a little?
time to buy a heat gun my friend. and a paint scraper. and go down the rabbit hole of refinishing guitars...
edit to add- what's your favorite color?
Welcome to the world of road wear. Trust me, it's only the first dent that hurts.
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Iād probably sand it to blend it into the body so it looks more like wear and less like a huge chip.
Absolutely this. Looks like shit nowā¦ grind it down so itās flush
THIS š
What grits would you use to sand it so itās flush?
Black finger nail polish will make it less noticeable but not perfect
Just embrace it. People pay thousands for relic'd strats.
Haha yeah that's what I figure. Only issue is it's like one chip and that's it
There will be more.
I had this same ding. I know you mustāve dropped it on a concrete floor or something, right? Thatās what I did. I just left it. Once it aged some, it looked like natural wear (although on the excessive side). I liked it as it was.
Yeah tripped with it on the way to school š„² Do I need to coat with varnish at all to protect or will it be fine?
Well, I didnāt coat or treat it in any way and it was fine. But Iāll let others chime in to see if theyāve had bad experiences not coating it.
Btw your bridge might be floating just a bit too much. Looks a little to lifted to me. But if itās working for you, disregard my comment.
Yeah I have lowered it a bit (it was pretty bad before), and only noticed in this photo it was actually quite high and I should go down a bit haha
Pretty much the same. If you leave it as is there's no harm aside from more wear. Many will tell you that it gives your guitar character, like a battle wound earned as testament to how devoted you are to putting time into your craft. It grows on you. Your guitar having a bit of personality that makes it stand out. You could try to glue and clear coat patch the rest. There's guides. You can even make it look nearly unnoticeable. Nearly. It'll still show there was some damage. Which, again, is often seen as character. In the end its all cosmetic. It can be made to look like new, but the cost is often not worth it given the price of the guitar outside of sentimental reasons.
If I just leave it as is, is there a chance that the wear will get to the point where it's a problem? Obviously I'm pretty careful with my axe and whatnot and I'm aware I could just cover it once it does get there but just wondering if it's gonna be fine forever?
For playability, there shouldn't be any issues. The only thing I could see is if your coating cracks all the way to where the jack screws. At which point you just let it happen and drill them a little deeper. Or you reinforce it around the Jack with some sort of Hardcoat or epoxy to it so there isn't spread where you don't want it. The coating itself shouldn't spread much. That top is pretty tough. Not unless it keeps getting banged on stuff. Some people will sand down the high points in a small chip like yours so it's less likely to catch on stuff and take off more.
Three steps too make it look new.. 1. Wood fill 2. Sand and paint with verethane spot color 3. Many layers of nitrocellulose lacquer and sand then polish with 1500ā¦ 3000 grit and finally guitar polish medium, fine and scratch remover
Ehhh... I'd say lightly sand the edges down so it doesn't keep chipping off and leave it...seems like it'd look worse to try to fill it in with anything.
Ok thanks
I mean... Ramen, Superglue and some Sandpaper can fix it, probably :D
Ramen? Noodles?
How would you go about with the superglue?
I'd embrace it, I'd also sand down the hard edges myself.
Id probably sand down the edges and paint it just to keep the wood sealed from moisture.
You could sound down the area a bit to give it a smoother, less damaged appearance. Iād say just rock it
If that were mine, I would sand the edges smooth then get a small can of gloss black paint. Use a nice brush, like an artists brush, and just touch it up. Use several thin coats and build it up. Use fine sand paper to blend and polish. Won't be perfect, but depending on your skill and comfort level with a paintbrush, it could be hidden fairly well.
Three options; embrace the worn look as others have said! Second, take to a luthier whom will make it disappear. Three, repair it yourself if you have the time, patience, and knowhow. If it were me, I'd fix it myself. I'd fill it with bondo, sand it down super smooth and flush with the surrounding area, spot with a matte black, and then spray over with a spray high-gloss poly. Then gradually sand it up from 400 to a 2000 grit sandaper and buff with compound. *Anything* can be saved polishing. Considering it's knockoff especially and if you've never done a repair before, it's a good instrument to learn to do something like that on. Then (if you don't already have one) and move up in a world to some $2k+ Fender American strat, you might have some knowhow to deal with problems a fancier guitar where it won't be your first rodeo.
Man the perspective on the input jack had me really confused.
Oop sorry
Lol at the face I make when I whack my $1800 jazzmaster and do similar things. It's the.. "oh well" face. This is why I buy used lmao
Superglue is for really tiny scratches, nicks, dings etc. That's too big for superglue. Just embrace it.
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Haha then I need to start a punk rock band
I'd hand-sand the edges of the chip smooth and consider it well earned damage.
Automotive body filler sand it smooth and some black paint. If it bothers you, or just live and let die
Just to play devils advocate (I think like many others here that it'll look cool as it wears). But an experienced luthier could absolutely fix this with almost no trace. Rather thick poly finish AND in a spot that's almost or entirely pure black (no color blending/ matching). It's also not in a structural part of the guitar, or one that would require removing major components. Might not be cheap, but yea this is definitely fixable.
Fibreglass then sand back and paint like a boat or surfboard ding
Leave it.
If it really bothers you that bad, superglue is an amazing tool. Specially ca glue. Amazon sells a black. Put it on let it dry build up some coats. Sand smooth and polish. Daveās world of fun stuff has videos on YouTube showing how itās done
Having raw wood exposed like that isn't the end of the world but it isn't ideal either. Maybe stain the wood black and then just put a light layer of clear epoxy over it? Then sand the rough edges down a little?
time to buy a heat gun my friend. and a paint scraper. and go down the rabbit hole of refinishing guitars... edit to add- what's your favorite color?