gouge filler

[Vince_P9]

In the process of stripping my bass for refinishing, I created a nasty gouge in it's top with a scraper. I need a filler that will accept TruOil, which I beleive is linseed based? Browsing the web I came across a filler by Minwax that claims to accept Minwax stain well, which I beleive is also a linseed based stain? Also, is there someway I could emulate grain with the filler? I imagine it wouldn't be to difficult considering the straight nature of the spruce's grain. The area I need to cover up is fairly sizeable, so I'd like to make it blend in with the wood as much as possible. Thanks.

[forester]

hate to say it, but it can be quite a challenge to make a gouge indiscernible.

colored filler looks like just that...colored filler. on the plus side, you are working from ground 0 so you don't have to match an existing color and finish.

if you can, post a pic. perhaps ,when the recoil and grimacing subsides,you can get positive suggestions forthwith.

[debassr]

You might want to consider painting it an opaque color now - a big gouge will be incredibly obvious no matter what you do if you leave it natural.

[Matthew Tucker]

you need to post a photo to get any good practical advice.

[wayne holmes]

Vince, I did the same thing a few years ago. Lucky, it was my own bass-I did, however, have it sold. It was a Romanian hybrid. I tried everything I could find to make it look good. I used every type of filler that I could get locally or order on line I tried making some filler with mixing glue and spruce sawdust, etc and so on. I could only get it looking so good, but not good enough. What I finally did was inlayed a strip of spruce just wide enough to cover the gouge. I used a piece of spruce that matched the grain of the top as best as I could-(actually, I helped it a little with a number 4 pencil) I went for a perfect fit, and after two or three attempts-got it. Then there was the staining- I don't have to tell you what a challenge matching stain is. In the end it looked great. I explained it to the customer and she said since she had a hard time finding it, that it was not a concern. As I remember it, I worked on that 6 inch gouge about 3 days. Good luck! I would get a lot of replies before I would do anything.