Thanks for your reply, QuestionMark, and for your advise about Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Final Inspection 34. A video from a luthier suggested Meguiar's 7 and 10, if I recall, after using Gluboost products and sanding products to fix damage in a cedar topped guitar like mine. I re-watched the video recently and decided that it would be far too difficult to match the clear coat if I sanded it off to repair damage, that is not the way to go for me, though Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Final Inspection 34 just might be. I also looked at D'Addario Restore Deep Cleaning Polishing Cream, Music Nomad One, Gibson Restoration Finish Cream (though it seems to only be available in their Vintage Reissue Guitar Restoration Kit ), and other similar products. I'm still not quite sure what to do, but I know that it will involve sealing damage prior to any application of decals.
I wish someone had not tried to drill holes to add a pickup to my guitar in the past, that's what looks the worst, and that is what I would most like to hide (at least, that's the only reason I can imagine for the partial drill holes in the top). Anyone who sees it would assume that I did that to my guitar, when I absolutely would not have done so. Nicks are one thing, accidents happen, but intentional partial drill holes in the top?! Sacrilege! The repair shop I spoke with suggested that I fill these holes with SuperGlue, especially since the finish around them has darkened slightly, and may be spreading. I have had this guitar for just over 25 years now and I don't think it has gotten any worse, except maybe the discoloration has grown, and Superglue would help keep out air and moisture that could cause additional damage. One of the drill holes almost has a 1" crack above it. It's not quite a crack, just a line, but if keeping moisture out of it will keep it from getting any worse, then I definitely better do anything I can to seal it up.
I heard back from Gibson and they told me that it has a polyurethane finish, which made me think that something like the Varathane 248125 Scratch Repair Polyurethane Pen would be better for sealing the small nicks and the two drill holes, versus Superglue.
There are very slight surface scratches from a pick that I would like to make vanish with a good product, prior to applying any decals. I already decided against fretboard decals because I don't want my guitar to look too busy, though I have considered adding decals of fretboard dots to the sides of the necks on my other guitars, which only have dots on the front, because I'm used to quickly glancing down to make sure I'm on the right fret using the side dots. If my classical guitar didn't have any damage, I would want to get either the 'In The Garden' or 'Various Hummingbird' design from inlaystickers.com and add it to the left of the sound hole, just to give it a little more personality (not that it needs more personality, really, I just like those designs). I considered either doves or cherry blossoms on the bottom right corner, where the damage from the pickup is, since 'Various Hummingbird' really looked way too busy the way I would have had to lay it out to cover the drill holes and nearby worst nicks, and 'In The Garden' just would not cover them at all. I finally decided on cherry blossoms with falling petals on the bottom right corner, where the drill holes are. If they look wrong, I can take them right back off.
People do enjoy bringing out WIllie Nelson's damaged guitar as an example, and I agree that works for Willie Nelson, but it doesn't work for everyone, and IMO, he got really lucky that the hole seems to act as a second soundhole, instead of completely ruining the guitar. I'd be very interested to learn the story behind how his guitar got injured, or whether he got it that way as his first guitar when he couldn't afford anything better. (That is how I got mine, I gave a trusted adult who knew a lot about guitars $125 when he was going to a guitar show, and asked him to get me the best classical guitar he could for the money, and he got an amazing deal on this one due to the cosmetic damage; though I was immediately disappointed due to the cosmetic damage, I learned to love my guitar because of how good she sounds and how easy she is to play.) If I had injured my guitar, that would be part of her history with me, but the main damage was caused by someone else and it needs to be sealed. While I'm at it, it seems like a good idea to take care of the small nicks as well, and while I'm doing that, I may as well take care of the tiny surface markings from a guitar pick. I play fingerstyle myself, so I won't be doing any more damage with a pick.
What I most want to know is what to use for minimizing the appearance of the nicks and very light scratching from a pick (which only shows when the light hits it, and has never really bothered me, I just think I may as well take care of the whole top at once while I'm doing it).
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Final Inspection 34 might be the best solution, I'll be looking into that. I understand the idea of keeping the guitar as-is with no decals, and just accepting the damage as part of its history. I burned my wrist on an element in my oven last month, and I'm putting scar gel on it. I want to do the same for my guitar. If it was a severe burn that would never heal, I would get some kind of bracelet to wear to cover the scar. I want to do the same for my guitar, put something beautiful over an old injury that can never heal. Some people wear scars proudly. I'm not one of those people, and perhaps I am projecting my own wishes onto my guitar, but I think she won't mind the decals nearly as much as she minds the damage done to her in the past. I guess I learned that from my mother, who was in a terrible car accident when she was 23. She wore sleeves in public, to cover the skin grafts on her arms, for over 40 years . Now that my guitar is going to be in public (on YouTube), I want her to be able to cover up her visible scars as well.
If I didn't want to use this particular guitar for acoustic reasons, I would buy one of those cheap blue burst classical guitars for my YouTube videos. I think they are extremely pretty, and if money were no object, I would buy a good classical guitar with a blue burst. As far as it goes, I have a Kustom Kasino electric guitar in black and I intend to give it a blue burst, probably with a decal over the entire top. The guitar is essentially worthless, I could spend $500 to get a Jackson X blue burst guitar that would look similar, but it would not be the guitar Mom got me for Christmas in 1995, and I would be just that much further from buying a new roof. And, because I rarely ever use my electric guitar, it would be a huge waste, just to get a guitar that is painted the way I want it. Same with my C 50 classical guitar, only it is actually the best guitar I own. It's better than the Broadway archtop I inherited from my mom, and certainly better than my Martin backpacker. I am unlikely to ever have a better guitar, and this is the one that I taught myself on.
Philosophical differences, I suppose. I would not trade in my dog just because she is older and has health issues, on a new puppy. I feel the same way about my guitar. However, I would do what I could to minimize past injuries, including the appearance of past injuries, on my guitar. I can't undo any health problems my dog develops, but a guitar is no longer alive, so I can do more to help my guitar that I cannot do with my dog, to minimize the damage she acquired through the passage of time. I get attached to musical instruments as if they were pets. I have never sold one. Fortunately, I have never been desperate enough that I had to. I would have my guitar top refinished if that were financially feasible. Instead, a combination of the right products and small decals will have to do, if I don't want people to be distracted from my performance by wondering how my guitar got those partial drill holes in the top.
