Small dent on 1 day old Lakland maple neck

[Dark Horse]

NO!

Each of those steps will cause more damage.

Interesting, since I've used that process 50+ times to steam out dings on necks and bodies with ZERO ill effects. Whatever didn't steam out I would fill with CA, Lacquer, or poly depending on what the finish was...but much of the time the ding will steam out completely.

 

[BluesWalker]

LOL, you aren't the only one. When my headless Status Streamline bass arrived from England, I unpacked it, took out the soft case/bass, unzippered and the bass immediately fell out of the case. It put a nice bruise in the finish at the end of the neck. I got over it in about 24 hours. It has been my go to bass since I purchased it about 8 months ago.

 

[mikeyswood]

Interesting, since I've used that process 50+ times to steam out dings on necks and bodies with ZERO ill effects. Whatever didn't steam out I would fill with CA, Lacquer, or poly depending on what the finish was...but much of the time the ding will steam out completely.

I believe your 50+ times have improved your skills. Would you recommend a newbie to steam a dent if they didn't even know about the process?

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

I fill small dents with super glue and sand it down.

 

[Sheldon681]

I realize it's too late now but I would have also recommended steaming them out. I'm a total newbie but based on advice here on TB, I steamed out 3 fairly minor (but annoying) dents out of a maple Stingray 5 neck last week. Worked like a charm!

 

[JEDI BASS]

Carl's great!

I heard you had a great time w/ Doug "Basspraiser" too?

 

[Rocky McD]

I have a dent in the same place on my favorite bass. I use it as a reference point for my thumb to locate my fretting hand on the neck in a dark room. Works great, I now think of it as a positive feature.
Rocky

 

[DukDukGuus]

I just love the range of responses! (It's what keeps me coming back: Variety!) I'm glad the OP chose a luthier, in the end, as it seemed to be the best solution in this case.

I would welcome the luxury of "buying new" but am at a point in my life (a LOT closer to the end than the beginning) that used is usually the path I choose. With a "pre-owned" bass, or a pre-owned just-about-anything, you get a bunch of benefits: the bugs are worked out, the previous owner can, or at least should, let you know the history, the cost is much lower, and you've kept something out of the landfill. Rescue a bass today! Oh, and you almost always get a GREAT story out of hunting for, finding and revitalizing a used bass, instead of, "Yeah, the guy at the store handed it to me. Then, I paid for it."

(I should edit my profile and add "used" in front of everything I own!)

 

[g4string]

I am 90% certain Carl uses the steam method. I spoke to Carl a time or two about getting some dings out of my headstock. IIRC, he mentioned something about steam. Again, I would be surprised if he didn't use steam to get the ding out.

 

[Ilikejazzbass]

Well, I asked for perspective...no shortage of it here. think I'm gettin' the picture.

Sorry guys, just hard for me to spend that much money and inflict a flaw within the first 24 hours of ownership that I'm going to either feel or notice every time I play.

For the curious, the offending ding runs across the grain. One long indentation and a few small ones.

What the heck man? Thats not a dent. That looks like a flower fairy gently kissed your bass. I have at least 10 of those on my neck and I don't give a crap. Still sounds decent. At least when I play it.

 

[Rocky McD]

Steam works great on unfinished wood, but a finish, especially a poly finish, can really prevent the steam from getting to the wood.
Rocky