As the former owner of this bass and a current owner of another 1967 Starfire bass, I can attest that the finish, apart from a few scratches and flaws, is in fantastic shape for its age. If a pro went over it, the whole bass could be restored to a very glorious condition indeed. My guess is that the nicks on the back of the neck are small enough that the pens might work pretty well. I can't convey with words how grateful I am that this bass is getting played so much. It sat with me for a long, long time and I would see its case and just feel terrible that it wasn't making any music.
All that said, I guess you guys would be appalled at the state of my Starfire. It's been rode hard and put away wet, sometimes literally, more times than I can count, including this microburst that subjected us to 70mph winds and hail from every direction for 90 minutes right as we were about to start playing. I got the bass in the case (a top of the line Calton) after about 5 minutes of hail and got it back into the trailer after the storm ended enough for us to pack our gear. Then, that night we drove all night from Maryland to central Illinois and before we hit the festival, we went to the hotel and opened up the trailer and got all the gear out. Each of my racks had between a cup and a quart of water in them. The bass case maintained its waterproof seal, but due to the moisture that was trapped in there, the bass turned almost white. As it dried out, the color went back to the classic cherry. The only casualty was a Boogie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIu5iZJxbTI
The finish of the back of the neck is pretty much gone for about half of it, the rest of the finish is completely checked and worn from various things, not to mention drill holes for three different bridges, holes from various pickup mounting systems, etc. Eventually I'll probably just strip the whole thing and go for an oil finish, if it seems like it's an issue. But it sounds great, so I'm too busy playing it.
One place I'd like to protect is the back of the headstock, where I've got some extra mojo on there.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152932094039134&l=3f439612a2