Gibson bowtie 5 string banjo-heel

[Lee Gendvilas]

Hello again. I have the heel cap on now - pore filled only. An accident occurred which left some scratch marks where there shouldn't be any. I would like to know what would be the best thing to do to fix the scratches. Should I consider spraying tinted lacquer or drop fill then spray over that and on the heel cap? The owner told me early on he'd like the cracks repaired, the action adjusted and if possbile to make it look better than it did at the time when I recieved it.

I'm also not sure if the color is tobacco brown and welcome any advice as to how to determine this for future reference.

As always, looking forward to hearing your advice.

[William F.Eden]

I am not shure if you plan on striping it first and  refinishing or not ? But it looks to me that the neck had a lite coat of read brown on first then a coat of tobacco brown then clear coated .The dark parts of the neck are done by just puting a little black in the brown and spraying them separt then spry the rest with clear coat. If you are just going to drop fill the dark spots then you can mix up some dark finish and do it that way then over sray it. Myself would strip it and do a good job on it that would be the easy way out . I am shure you will get lots of advice on this job .Good luck on what ever you deside .Bill..........

[Lee Gendvilas]

Hi Bill and thanks for your reply. These are great courses of action. I'm leaning towards the drop fill 'cause I'd like to get it back to the owner before I go back to teaching elementary music.