Dents, scratches and rust/oxidation. Is a recovery possible ?

[playerunk]

I would like to know if it is possible to remove at least some of the marks this bass has..or make them less obvious.

It has some pretty big dents and scratches and some oxidation of the neckplate and tuner pegs..but i got it this way








And the big one



I want to get rid of them because i want to sell the bass..they do not disturb me in any way but it probably will turn off some buyers and affect the sale price.

[LilloEsquilo]

The oxidation you may be able to get rid of using #0000 steel wool.

The body of that bass, I mean you can TRY to hack it, and MAYBE improve it (or maybe make it worse as well), the only sure way I know of is to refinish the top of it. You can use wood filler on the dents and fill them, then send the top down and spray it (a professional that is) and it will be like new, but that's not I'm sure what you wanted to hear or want to do with it. So, this is at your own risk but you can try filling the dents with filler yourself, and use a black shiny marking pen (there are some for wood specifically though you could try sharpies) to cover those. But it will probably be something that a person would notice when looking at the bass up close. Trying to touch up those hairline scratches will be all but impossible with the Sharpie trick. I wouldn't suggest it for that but you could try, at own risk, as it might look worse that way (and probably will in my estimation).

[playerunk]

i tried once using a sharpie but in the light it has a shade of dark blue..[the sharpie was black].

if i send it to a shop any estimate to what it would cost ?

[LilloEsquilo]

Yeah a Sharpie would cover it up a bit, but it would probably give you other unwanted side effects, like the whole body is a bit lighter than the area you mark would be and you could see that, so because of that it probably isn't going to work well.

I honestly have no idea, they'd pull all the hardware off, sand it down, fill in the dents with filler and then spray it, what you guys choose to use for paint would affect the cost, but I would assume several hours labor and paint and filler and most likely it would cost more than you would want to put into the bass. I'm not sure what it is, obviously a high end bass would be worth the investment, but since you really want to sell it, and not knowing what it is, I'd have to say I don't think it is worth it to you to put that kind of money in it, as you won't get it back out. If you are selling a used car with some scratches and dents, it usually doesn't pay to take it to a body shop before you sell it, because sure you can get more but usually not everything it costs you to fix it, so you're money ahead just to sell as is, most of the time. I think in this case, not knowing more about the bass, that you are in the same boat.

[playerunk]

well it's a fender MIJ aerodyne jazz with PJ configuration..