This one looks a little un-loved, in need of a good clean and a new set of strings.

It does have one more complicated problem, its got a bit of a hole where something was dropped on it, ouch!

Since the hole goes all the way through its going to be difficult to fill.  I’ve made a small flexible wooden slice to glue inside.  To hold it solidly in place while the glue dries made a shaped wooden block to fit the contour of the body.

There is no way of getting a clamp into the guitar so I used an old guitar string and a knob puller to clamp the new piece of wood into place.

I’m going to leave it overnight to dry fully before filling the hole.

I’ve had a look at what to use and recon some wood dust sanded of some Indian Rosewood mixed in with a clear wood glue.

Mixed up and dried the colour match doesn’t look too bad.  Once its levelled, with some light lacquer and polish it should look OK.

Things didn’t work out quite as I would have liked.  The colour match wasn’t quite right and the damage to cover is a little too large.  Since it’s in such a prominent position, right on top, it will need some closer attention.

I’ve found some small pieces of wood veneer on e-bay, I just need to work out which one is the closest match to the colour and grain

Add some lacquer to see what it will look like when finished

I think one of these will do.

The darkest one seems about right.

So next cut out a small piece from the guitar and glue in a small piece on veneer over the hole, lacquer and polish.

Having chosen the piece of wood I’ve cut out a slot on the guitar and a matching slice of veneer.

Glue the piece of veneer in place…

Once the glue has dried, its sanded in to get a smooth surface and some lacquer it should look OK.

It didn’t come out quite as well as I would have liked.  I just couldn’t quite find the right shade of wood veneer, but its better than the hole it had to start with!

A comment from the owner: “Thankyou very much George for fixing, cleaning and re-string my Acoustic guitar, you did a lovely job. It’s a pleasure to be able to play it again.”