Removing a dent from a steel guitar?

equalsql

I've got a rather lovely Gretch Honeydipper steel (brass) guitar finished in a light translucent green. I'm not sure if the finish is somehow plated on.

Unfortunately I managed to ding the top side of it and have thought about removing the cone assembly and seeing if I can tap it out using a small hammer whilst supporting the opposite side on a leather pad.

I think this should work as the finish didn't crack when the ding occurred. 
Any advice folks?

ToneControl

equalsql

ToneControl said:

Looks like my level of metalwork

ICBM

Is it the 'classic National dent'?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/DS_Brothers_in_Arms.jpg

I would probably leave it. It's very hard to get a dent out of metal without a fair amount of work - the metal has actually stretched, so getting it to go back to its original shape is difficult - and you'll most likely damage the finish. 

57Deluxe

These guys would do it...

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00838/motoring-graphics-2_838065a.jpg

Gassage

A mate of mine had a big ding in a Trussart. He asked Dentmasters to sort it (car body repairs) and they did a top job.

Corvus

That might be a good idea or an old-school panelbeater. You want a wooden mallet and a metal dolly (a shaped heavy steel block). Using a metal hammer will just stretch/thin it. If you don't balance the hammer/doly strikes the whole panel could move. It's easy to make a mess. Depending on the dink it might need annealing or could crack as it's being re-shaped, and plating/finish will prob suffer. Either chalk it up as character or find a panelbeater type person if you're really bothered by it.

Sassafras

Maynehead

You can remove a dent from a steel guitar... but you can never remove the djent from a metal guitar! \m/

ESBlonde

I used to work for an engineering company who had some very skilled staff, one being an aerospace pipe/flue specialist. One day some tube had been bent at right angles but the bend was in the wrong place, bending stretches the metal and alters the thickness of the walls. The tube was special and supplied by the customer so making a new one wasn't an option. Anyway this guy beat the 4" tube back straight with the correct wall thickness using nothing but a polished bar and a simple ball mandrel as an anvil. Once corrected the tube could be reinserted on the bending machine and made correctly. That sort of skill is dying out in engineering sadly but was a wonder to watch.

equalsql

Maynehead said:

You can remove a dent from a steel guitar... but you can never remove the djent from a metal guitar! \m/

We definitely need a 'groan' tag for sush bad puns  

Gassage

Maynehead said:

You can remove a dent from a steel guitar... but you can never remove the djent from a metal guitar! \m/

Utter genius. Cap doffed.