Help! How to repair gouge in finish

[Tex]

I recently put a nice (aweful) gouge in my Taylor 714CE, Cedar top. It's behind the saddle and about 1/4" X 1/2" and is down to the bare wood. A luthier in my area wants $80 and will not guarantee anything. So...

Does anyone know how I might be able to fill this gouge myself to protect the wood? I realize no matter what I do it won't look great but I want to do a good a job as possible. And with what? Lacquer, polyurethane, acrylic? Factory finish is a polyester UV, and you obviously can't do that yourself. What do you all think? Thanks.

[DM3MD]

If I were in your shoes, I would:

A) leave it alone

B) spend the $80 and see what happens.

If you opt for the $80 route, that's not too bad considering you'd have to buy some sort of finishing materials, and of course, the time and nervousness you'd put into the job. I'd leave it to a pro who has some finishing expertise and let them handle it. You surely could botch the job or have it come out terribly and wish a pro did it to begin with.

[DVGuy]

Originally Posted by Tex

I recently put a nice (aweful) gouge in my Taylor 714CE, Cedar top. It's behind the saddle and about 1/4" X 1/2" and is down to the bare wood. A luthier in my area wants $80 and will not guarantee anything. So...

Does anyone know how I might be able to fill this gouge myself to protect the wood? I realize no matter what I do it won't look great but I want to do a good a job as possible. And with what? Lacquer, polyurethane, acrylic? Factory finish is a polyester UV, and you obviously can't do that yourself. What do you all think? Thanks.

If you really want it to look the best possible, call Taylor about it. Otherwise, I'd leave it alone. Anything you do yourself wouldn't help much, and might make things look worse, IMHO.

[SteveS]

I'd probably put on a drop of superglue just to protect the exposed wood.

[logsol]

I just had some slight damage repaired on my 710ce by Pat DiBurro (www.diburro.com)

As far as I could find out, he's the only one in the country for non-warranty repairs that uses the same finishing materials as Taylor (he only works on Taylors and Martins). If you want it fixed, I'd contact Pat to see what he says. His work is outstanding.

[Omaha]

You might send a photo to Frank Ford (you can find his contact info at www.frets.com). He is an luthier and guitar restoration expert.

My hunch is he will advise you to just leave it alone, but see what he says.

[Guyute]

Originally Posted by SteveS

I'd probably put on a drop of superglue just to protect the exposed wood.

Hey Steve, is this really necessary? I mean, you've got to figure that 50% of a guitar's body is already exposed wood. It seems like it wouldn't need to be protected....just curious since you're a lot more educated than me about wood and finishes.

[gjensen7]

Just wanted to "chime in". Man, I feel your pain and wish you the best. I've also heard fantastic reviews for Pat DiBurro's work. I can't speak from first hand experience, but you might want to give him a try.

[geetarman]

I would not attempt this reapir on your own you could make it worse. I would either pay a pro or leave it alone.

[Amp]

Tex:

Have Taylor fix it. They do a great job. They have the experience, the proper finish and tools on hand, and are very reasonable.

Alan

[Tex]

Wow! Thanks for all the reply's guys! Haven't posted on here in a while. I opted to patch this myself. Taylor is only doing warranty work right now and I hear Diburro charges $150/hour. So, I decided to fill the hole with clear high gloss polyurethane. It worked pretty well but turned out much darker than I expected. I used a fine painters brush to dab in the urethane. Had to do it in several layers because it goes on thin. But now it's protected and will hopefully guard against further chipping, etc. I'll post a picture when I figure out how. Thanks for the feedback.