Repairing dents in 1994 Pro 4 maple Finish

[tedsarr]

Hello,

I'm trying to restore my green maple Pro 4 pilot to its original glory and the main issue I see is there are 2 big dents in the finish on the horn of the body that I'd like to make less conspicuous. Any tips or tricks you can give me to remedy this? I don't know what the current finish is or how to tell.
Thanks!
Ted

The bass:

The carnage:

 

[fronobulax]

Welcome.

I have no idea what to suggest. I know that the application of heat and steam can sometimes remove dents in certain woods but I have no personal or practical experience doing that.

 

[tedsarr]

Thanks for the warm welcome. The finish, "lacquer" or similar, is very thick so I'm hoping I can just add something into the dent that will reflow the finish and possibly fill it? In hindsight I should've taken better care of it!

 

[davismanLV]

Once you determine that the finish is lacquer, small dents in the finish can be filled in. Lacquer is its own solvent, so if you put wet lacquer on top of dry lacquer, it will melt into the original finish. No other finish does this. Poly forms layers and will not allow you to do repairs in this manner. Once you drop lacquer (VERY CAREFULLY) into the dent, allow it to dry and then comes the time-consuming process of leveling the finish, and polishing it out. I used to use Meguiars Heavy Cut Cleaner #4 for the final polishing. I've only done this on furniture, not on guitars, but it can be done.

p.s. - oh yeah, welcome to LTG!!

 

[tedsarr]

Ok, it sounds easy to test this in an inconspicuous area on the bass. Is there another trick to determining the finish? I'm hoping that someone will chime in and say "The PRO 4/5 bass finishes are XXXXX" so I don't go chasing all of the options. I don't know anything about the chemical makeup of super glue or nail polish but are these potential repair materials?

 

[krysh]

welcome and congrats to your great taste in basses. don't know about the finish though.

 

[SFIV1967]

Hello tedsarr,
welcome here at LTG. I think there is plenty to read for you at the following links.
The authors of all of this is Frank Ford, who is the co-founder of Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto/CA, a great guitar shop:
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/FF/aboutme.html
The first link below is very generic but not less interesting. Afterwards deep dive in your problem:
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musicia ... intro.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... etest.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... ator1.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... pfill.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... kfill.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... rape1.html
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... ehole.html
Have fun, I am sure once you start reading you can't stop.
Here is the index page just in case you like other topics there, it's really an endless list of all kind of repair topics:
http://www.frets.com/fretspages/pagelist.html

Ralf

 

[tedsarr]

Ralf,

AWESOME.

Thanks,
Ted