Question for any luthiers in the house...

My son walked into his room and tossed a cellphone onto his bed one day some time ago.  On top of his bed was his pride and joy-- a Seagull acoustic electric guitar.  The phone, naturally, sought out the guitar and landed on the top, putting a shallow dent in it.  He has played it like this for a while, and no detriment had been found to the sound of the instrument.

Last week, I took it to a guy who builds and repairs guitars.  He has quite a backlog, but said he could turn it around quickly, but wouldn't be able to correct the finish.  We got the guitar back, and the dent is gone.  Invisible.  As near perfect as it could be.

One issue:  The finish, which is a clear, flat finish, is missing from the area of the repair.  I am hoping to get some guidance from him regarding a DIY solution, but I have yet to hear from him.  I acknowledge that he is busy, and his time is money.

Can anyone suggest a way to touch the guitar up?  I'm no expert, but I have stained, varnished, and shellacked many a piece of wood in my considerable years.  My greatest concern regards the type of finish on the instrument--a Seagull Entourage Rustic with a flat, clear finish.  I know older guitars were lacquered, but I doubt that is often the case today.  Poly? 

I'm almost prepared to go at it with a satin wipe-on poly, but I also don't want to bugger up a perfectly nice guitar.  What say ye? 

Honestly I wouldn't fix it. I made a very similar mistake in my teens and tossed a mic on my bed, which bounced and smacked the top of my beautiful gloss black Aria Pro II bass. I spent every dollar I had made for months to buy that bass on layaway and had only had it in my posession for a few weeks at that point. The impact left a star on the otherwise flawless finish that remains to this day. It was a reminder to me to be more aware of my actions and the potential consequences they may have, a valuable lesson for me at that age.

I agree with ECM. Getting a few dings and scratches is part of having a guitar.  My Les Paul looked fairly new when I got it 30 years ago.  Now it looks a bit battered, but I cherish those battle scars. To the point when I had work done that required refinishing the neck, I made a point of keeping the body original.  I'll have that guitar until the day I die.

I get the whole battle scars thing, but in this case, the dent has been professionally repaired.  My concern is the part of the guitar top that is completely lacking any finish, an area of say 2" x 8".  Given that the guitar has a satin finish, it isn't glaringly obvious, but more than aesthetics, I want to be sure that the wood is protected.

According to Seagull they use a lacquer. I know from experience  it is very thin.  This might be part of the magic of why the sound ages so nicely. 

My s6 cedar is scarred from decades of use .  I have seen the finish dust form a cloud under stage lights while playing. I am probably a bit heavy handed but this guitar rewards that style of playing.

Granted natural play wear does look different than repair patches. 

I expect my guitar will look like Willie Nelsons Trigger in another decade.

In reply to Jumper K Balls :

Nice.  That guitar does seem to have been played a good bit. 

I'd be inclined to leave it alone, but you know how teenagers are.

Yeah, it does sound like Seagull is still using lacquer.

https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Finishing_Supplies/ColorTone_Aerosol_Guitar_Lacquer.html

Or if you have a woodcraft nearby they usually carry Behlens aerosol lacquers. Hopefully seagull didn't use a tinted variety

Maybe it shouldn't be repaired at all.

Marty Stuart on one of the most important guitars in music history.

YouTube wouldn't imbed. Link...

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Jumper K Balls :

I'd be inclined to leave it alone, but you know how teenagers are.

Indeed. He’s just gonna leave it lying on the bed and toss something on it again, so what’s the point?

Finish is overrated.

If it’s going to be refinished, refinish the whole top. That means taking sand paper to it. 

Id leave it as is personally, but I also dislike satin finishes. 

Another vote for leave it. Let it be a tattoo for now. If you must fix it then refinish th while top.

JKB beat me to the StewMac idea.  Their site has a wealth of fixit knowledge to be shared.

My lesson learned from working on my own guitars is if it just needs to work, I can probably do it myself.  If I need it to work right, look right, etc. I need to pay someone to do it.  But that’s just me...

Well, update!

Yesterday, I got a message from Seagull saying they do use a nitrocellulose lacquer finish.  They also recommended that I take it to a pro.  But nice they got back to me in a couple days.

Today I heard from my luthier, who gave me a little more info.  He assured me that there was a finish on the repaired area, just that it did not have the same surface reflectivity of the original finish.  He suggested that I could wet-sand the area with 1200-grit paper if I wanted to smooth it up a bit, if I was so inclined. 

I told my son to play the dang guitar and quit worrying about the way it looks!