strat body finish

I've accidently damaged the finish only my 2008 American sunburst strat, a piece of wood fell hard onto the guitar's body below the bridge and now the guitar has an ugly scratch about 1 and a half inches which has gone into the finish but not gone through the finish. I'm guessing nothing can be done with the factory finish on modern fender guitars

I'd write off as character.. or just disguise it with a little touch up paint. After all, you can buy one that is already road worn for a little more cash than one with a perfect finish..

yes character it is then, I'm gutted I've messed up my mint guitar but some pay lots of cash for distressed finish!

"the first cut is the deepest"

This is true in denting up gear as well... Usually, after the first blemish, you don't quite care as much and the relationship turns more from "OH NO, my baby" to "you okay, old firend?" after you drop it.

Personally, I like the latter.

As for the finish, depending on what type of clear finish you have you can probably touch it up with some clear nitro. Some sanding may be required so I would look into that with a guitar shop.

Yeah, it's like the first door ding on a new car! The first one is the hardest!!

Each of my guitars has a ding or two. I'll bet I'm the only one that can find them :). I treat them well, but accidents do happen...especially with young kids around.

As long as they are cosmetic, I don't worry about it. A knick on the back of the neck would drive me crazy because I'd feel it all of the time when I played.

Knicks show some character too...you don't want your guitars to be "case queens" where they just sit in their case in perfect condition but are never played.