Anyone try the soldering iron and damprag trick to remove neck dings?

[Locrian99]

So my lovely 3 year old smacked my pristine deluxe strat right around 12th fret on the back of the neck a drum stick. Twice. I wont really get rid of the guitar ever so im not worried about value, but they are in a spot that i notice them while playing and it annoys me. Ive heard of a damp
Rag and iron to steam them out. Immassuming a large soldering iron tip would work for this. Any thoughts suggestions? Ive got a beater to try anything on first as well.

 

[Guardians of the analog]

I prefer to use a clothes iron. It really depends on the finish too. I'm assuming poly, is it gloss or satin. Go slow and check progress often. I've had success on bodies and necks of different wood species. Nitro is also less forgiving with the heat

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

I've done the clothes iron trick but only to unfinished guitars. It's kinda like magic.

 

[VanWhy]

That's what they use in our repair department (guitar factory). Usually, you sand the spot with the ding, then swell it up. Then touch it up.

 

[tegendemuur]

Fixed some dinked wooden side panels from synths this way. It's not going end up like new but if you take your time, you'll make it almost invisible; when you know where to look, you'll see remnants, but give it some months and it's not really there anymore.

 

[t1redhands]

I have, and it worked OK! The mark was still somewhat visible if you knew where to look. Not perfect but much much better than nothing.

 

[LowMidsAficionado]

Hey, as a cabinetmaker who builds guitars from time to time I would recommend to sand the spot first. Depending on the finish you don't have to sand all the way to the wood. Just run over the spot with a wet finger, if the water gets sucked up you are good to go. Take a wet cloth and let the wood suck up a little bit of water. After a minute put a damp cloth on the spot and slowly run over it with a clothes iron. Ist just takes some seconds for the wood fibres to get up and for the water to evaporate. Don't stop moving the iron.
Then you can apply some finish to the spot.
Its best to try it first on the part that rests invisibly in the neck pocket. Also try the finish as some don't mix well (Nitro and PU for example...)

 

[Locrian99]

Thanks all. Guess ill have to buy a clothes iron.

Its a satin urethane neck finish

 

[giovanni]

I had no idea this was a thing. I guess the iron heats up the water in the wood and makes it swell back up? Very neat!

 

[chris.knudson]

I'm a firm believer that dings on the body of the guitar aren't a problem -- to me they are just a sign of a well played instrument. However, if they affect playability (i.e. if they are on the neck where your hand slides up and down), that's a different matter and should be addressed.

 

[HamishR]

I did that with a Gretsch Duojet once. Had an unfortunate ding right where my thumb rested on the back of the neck in the first position. That guitar had a mahogany neck with a poly finish. I used a soldering iron and damp cloth and it worked well, reducing the ding significantly. Then I spot filled the slight depression left with super glue (took a few goes to fill it), gently sanded with wet and dry paper, finishing with a fine paper with a little water, then polished with some car polish. You'd never know there had been a ding. Quite proud of that fix!