HELP! Cosmetic fixes for a broken uke?

http://img69.imageshack.us/i/broken2.jpg/
I recently got my new Stagg electric ukulele, and, being the clumsy person I am, I dropped it and made a really nasty chip in it.

It still works fine, but I'm looking for some fairly low-budget cosmetic fixes

Photos please? Is the wood damaged or just the finish? Color missing? How deep? What's the finish now?

DaveVisi said:

Photos please? Is the wood damaged or just the finish? Color missing? How deep? What's the finish now?

Click to expand...

There is a link to the picture at the top. The finish has chipped off revealing the wood

Ouch!! Looks painful.

I can't tell with the reflections. What colors are missing? One solid color? Or does it go into the sunburst pattern? If it's just one color, I'd try something like epoxy (not the five minute kind, give yourself some time to work) and mix it slowly so there are no bubbles. That bartop finish you see that goes on really thick that they use sometimes with stuff embedded in it could work too. Pour it into the hole and level it with something like a credit card until it's as smooth as possible. If you can get it at or slightly above the surrounding surfaces you can sand it down later to level it.

The reason I asked the color is that if it's one color, you might have some success with dying the filler first. Experiment on something else until you get the color you want before doing it on your Uke.

Here's a discussion I found about sealing over an inlay. The technique is pretty much the same.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Clear_Epoxy_Over_an_Inlay.html

Maybe just fill the spot with a matched black.... sand down the whole top a little just to rough up the surface, possibly respray some black to make the sunburst match? And then give it a few coats of clear and buff it to a new shine? Not super easy, but doable on a budget. Just takes a little time and careful masking.

Duct tape is inexpensive.

It looks like you have a chunk missing--If that's the case, I'd glue it in with CA glue and call it fixed. Or just fill it in with some black epoxy.