Cute.

Spots of paint in the deeper dinks in the body suggest it was red. Anyway, it looks pretty cool, au naturel.

It sustained an injury to the edge of the fretboard which has left a sharp protuberance at the eighth fret making it very unpleasant to play. The first job was to find a matching piece of rosewood, which meant a deep-shed search, requiring sturdy boots and breathing apparatus.

Step 1: The Damage.

Ouch!

Okay. First things first. The damage needs to be worked into a shape and state that will allow for the repair-piece to be affixed with a degree of integrity. I used a scalpel and a nail file to achieve a uniform and level surface.

Step 2: The Repair Piece.

This splinter of rosewood, chosen for it's similarities in colour and grain to the fretboard, was taken from a small off-cut from a repair to a bath surround. The bath had belonged to a Doris Hart - the World #1 tennis champion.

I sliced off the piece pictured, which was easily big enough for three attempts. I got lucky on the first go and after an hour or so of whittling and sanding it was ready to fit.

There was no need to remove the strings - and if I had, the owner is such a tight-arse that it would have taken forever to get him to cough-up the cash for a new set :-)

Step 3: Fitting.

The length had to be exact but I left the profile slightly over-sized so it could be worked down to the original shape. A couple of elastic bands and short plastic sticks were used as tourniquets to clamp the piece in place while the glue cured.

Step 4: Shaping Up.

More sanding and shaping and the area starts to 'feel' good. Still 'looking' a tad raw at this point but once sanded to the same texture as the surrounding area and with the wetting effect of a spot of bees wax and the repair almost disappears - (almost). ;-)