In this case, I filled the gap first and then applied an undercoat. After the undercoat settled, I sprayed gold dust and then applied clear lacquer to cover the gold. Then I sprayed transparent red, and finally, clear lacquer. Sounds simple, but actually it isn’Äôt, because each stage of the operation must be executed perfectly. A failure to demand perfection at every step produces an inferior final result. In this kind of repair, the most important tool to use is patience. I’Äôve seen many guitars that had to be completely refinished because of a small dent caused by the lack of skill or patience on the part of the craftsman. I usually avoid requests to repair such flaws of others’Äô work, especially for precious, high-value, vintage guitars like this one. But I’Äôll do it in some cases on special request.

Unless you’Äôve experienced this kind of repair nightmare, it’Äôs hard to understand the risk and effort involved in such a job. Ultimately, a perfect repair can escape notice, and may not convey any idea of the work required to achieve it. But a scratch left unrepaired screams out for attention.