Body/paint Dents From Knob Removal

[antonmb]

I got a Gibson LP Standard reissue.

I was trying to replace the knobs recently with vintage amber ones, and couldn't pull it off without prying it.

I placed a thick cloth under and used a flathead screwdriver to pry it, and pull it off with the shirt.

The problem is, after this process, there are small dents from the small flathead surrounding the knob area.

I'm not sure if the wood was affected, or they're just dents on the paint finish itself.

It's bothering me quite a bit, so I was wondering how can I go around removing this?

Will buffing help? If so, using what? Can I steam out this dents?

Thanks.

[SawDust_Junkie]

Hello anton ! I can't really help you with fixing the dent you made, but I suspect to do it properly will require actual re-finishing that can be trying for someone who is not practiced at it.

But I did want to offer a trick I picked up for removing knobs. Take a thin tee shirt or other material and slip the edge of it under the knob. Work the material around the entire base of the knob and then pull it up around the head of the knob and twist it to enclose the knob. Then simply pull on the material and the knob will come off.

Some knobs can be pretty tight and the material may tear if it is too thin, but I think you get the idea and just try different materials til you find one that works.

[antonmb]

F4me, thanks for the reply.

Actually, yeah, I did do that eventually to take the knobs off. However, one knob was being a pain, and I had to pry it with a screwdriver for it to come off completely, which is why it left a dent on the finish itself.

So a complete refinish is my only hope? That's quite costly, and will doubt that I'll even get to it. Although my friend does have a car painting shop, so I wonder if I can have them do it.

I'll try to do some research into painting, and since I only want the top painted, maybe, I can just tape the neck and other removable objects and have them paint on top of the existing finish. Would that be possible?

My worry is that the car paint might eat into the wood? Or that car painting stripping methods might even destroy the wood.

Hope somebody who has experience with dent fixing can reply so I don't have to go through extreme solutions. Buffing? Steaming perhaps?

[SawDust_Junkie]

Like I said anton, I'm a newbie myself, so I can't offer alot of advice. I guess it all depends on how deep the dent is. You may on track with your steam option, but I am only in the process of my first build myself and haven't gotten to the finish process yet.

Try looking in the Inlays and Finishing section and do a search using different keywords like dents, steaming, refinishing etc...

Good luck !

[jer7440]

Lots of guys here use car paint on their guitars, it looks great.

[Drak]

You can only steam out dents on raw wood, you cannot do this to a finished body.

The only way I could recommend is if they're not too deep, disassemble all the electronics from the body and wet-sand the area until it's even, OR apply a little finish to those areas, let it cure, and wet-sand it even and level with the surrounding area.

Also, you won't just repaint the top of the guitar unless you're VERY VERY experienced at refinishing GUITARS, not cars.

My suggestion? Leave it completely alone. The chances are great that either way you go, if you're not experienced at repairing finishes, you'll more than likely make things worse, maybe much worse, by trying to fix it.

Just learn to overlook it, that's whole lot easier than any other option.