Yamaha FG 730 dent

[Zen]

Hi Guys

A friend of mine just traveled back from new York by plane and brought his new Yamaha Acoustic FG730 on board. When he got home he found a nice 3 inch dent on the back. He tells me he asked the cabin crew to put it safely in the hold and they said they would but something bad happened along the way or so it appears He never loosed off the strings but I'm not sure if that caused the dent and also he only had a soft case--not a good idea for a 500 bucks guitar. Something must have landed on the guitar I think.

The dent has not gone through the back and appears to be more that the finish has been damaged but I want to help him out if I can so just wondering what you would advise me to do.
Would heat be of any use to relax the finish and maybe level it back flat ? The binding is split but that would be easy enough to fix

I will try attach a pic

Thanks

[Darryl Young]

On a Yamaha, I'm curious if it will be a Nitro lacquer finish or not. Might be some sort of urethane that would require you to sand the finish off the entire back before re-finishing.

[Zen]

On a Yamaha, I'm curious if it will be a Nitro lacquer finish or not. Might be some sort of urethane that would require you to sand the finish off the entire back before re-finishing.

You may be correct it does look a littler different to other finishes--any else familiar with what Yamaha use ? Would there be any other method of matching it up so that it wont need a complete back re finish. I still don't know the amount of damage done as I'm reluctant to start on it until I get more info on how it should be done so any advise will be welcome folks

Thanks

I suggest you email Yamaha with the serial number of the guitar so they can tell you what the finish is.

-tommyboy

[Ben-Had]

It's poly.

[tippie53]

you may never get it totally to disappear . The crack can be repositioned using lexan cawls and CA . You may even get the CA to help with the finish repair.

[Zen]

you may never get it totally to disappear . The crack can be repositioned using lexan cawls and CA . You may even get the CA to help with the finish repair.

Thanks John, Please explain lexan cawls . I looked it up but theres not much info

Lexan is a product like fibreglass--- is that right ?


Thanks

[Darryl Young]

Lexan is similar to plexiglass I believe.

[B. Howard]

CA is one of the few finish repair options for poly that does not require re-finishing the entire surface. Witness marks are generally pretty light, but the crack repair almost always shows as a black line. I use a medium CA for these situations. Apply several thin coats and wait a day between coats. Spray the area with activator before the first coat and let it evaporate off for An hour or so before applying the CA, this will help adhesion and minimize the witness lines. Should be able to wet sand and buff out for a decent looking repair.

[Zen]

CA is one of the few finish repair options for poly that does not require re-finishing the entire surface. Witness marks are generally pretty light, but the crack repair almost always shows as a black line. I use a medium CA for these situations. Apply several thin coats and wait a day between coats. Spray the area with activator before the first coat and let it evaporate off for An hour or so before applying the CA, this will help adhesion and minimize the witness lines. Should be able to wet sand and buff out for a decent looking repair.

Brian , if I lift off the existing finish carefully with a scalpel it may come off in one or two sections.
Are you saying to use Ca glue to then re-glue those sections back on and sand down or is it better to build up coats on top of the damaged section and then sand down ?