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My acoustic guitar has suffered damage at four locations. It still sounds very good, and it is more than twenty years old.

The damage done

The different damage locations are pictured and numbered at the bottom of this post. Here is a short description for each of them.

  1. Serious damage caused by a some blunt object just right to the center.
  2. Tiny dent.
  3. Small impact damage by some sharper object.
  4. Elongated dent.


I don't want to pay to have this fixed -- there is no fun in that. My goal is to hide the damage as well as possible, and still preserve the sound.

I hope that this question can be used as further reference for others wanting to repair similar damages. If you need me to provide more information or reformulate something -- please let me know.

1. large damage by impact, 2. tiny damage

3. and 4. small damages

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1 Answer 1

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Your guitar looks pristine for being 20 years old compared to my dinged up 1970 Gibson J45.

Personally all the dings in the picture seem somewhat less likely to be a problem than ding #1 which makes me wonder how far that crack goes and if it extends unseen to under the bridge.

The first question I think that you should ask is, "does this instrument have any collectibility?" If yes, then fixing it yourself is out of the question unless you are certified luthier. If you want to sell this in the future to a collector, they will see that there was damage, and ask how it was repaired. Home repairs are a 'no no' for a collectible. In fact, strictly speaking, if this has any potential value as a collectible, it might be best to leave it alone.

If this instrument does not have any collectibility, than I would then learn from a certified luthier on how to make the repairs. Even if this is a 'player' you want to make sure that any work you do will not make things worse.

In any event, I would take it to luthier to get a professional opinion on how bad the damage on ding #1 is as that one looks like a show stopper to me.

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This answer is spot on! There are many many valuable instruments out there with major damage. As a guitar player, you need a local luthier anyway; assuming you aren't driven to learn the craft. They will usually give good, free advice. –  B0nk3r Jul 25 '12 at 20:05
Take it to a luthier if you're concerned. Agreed. –  Jduv Aug 23 '12 at 17:09

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