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So... I thought I’d try getting some scratches out of a guitar....


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I made a good buy on a black USA G&L Asat Classic at a pawn shop a while back.  I really like the guitar- but, it’s got some some pretty decent scratches on the back and a place where a sticker had eaten through the guitar finish a little bit   

First, I realize this is amateur hour...

I decided to use some rubbing compound on the back of the guitar and it really did a great job on the scratches.  Unfortunately, it took the sheen off of the finish in those places where I used most of the compound.  I then used some car wax- which made the finish in general shinier, but, I’m left with the haze.   

I’m not entering the guitar in the concours at Pebble Beach- but, I’d love to know if there is a remedy. (Obviously, other than the whole “quit while you are not ahead thing”) clay bar?  An electric car buffer- (which I have, but thankfully have never been stupid enough to use on my car...)

Thoughts?  Thanks!!

 

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The rubbing compound was a good start, but it's a coarse abrasive.  You need to continue to apply progressively finer abrasives to get the shine back.  Stew Mac sells a nice set of four compounds that you can apply with your electric buffer.  Just be sure to change the buffer pad (or "bonnet") after each level of abrasive.

Stew Mac link

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6 minutes ago, BadgerDave said:

The rubbing compound was a good start, but it's a coarse abrasive.  You need to continue to apply progressively finer abrasives to get the shine back.  Stew Mac sells a nice set of four compounds that you can apply with your electric buffer.  Just be sure to change the buffer pad (or "bonnet") after each level of abrasive.

Stew Mac link

Thank you!

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Don't use waxes.

I use Micro Mesh polishes and wet/dry papers.. You can buy it in craft and hobby shops now under the Revell label.. Has up to 12,000 grit paper which makes things really shine.

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If you're scared a rotary buffer or higher-grit wet-sand papers will get away from you and get you into color and/or down to wood,  these are pretty easy to use in a wet-sand style and get very good results.

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Sanding_and_Polishing/Sandpaper_and_Finishing_Papers/Micro-Mesh_Soft_Touch_Pads.html

You may want to follow with a high-grade shiner like the Meguiar's mentioned above or 3M Finesse, which is what I use.

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I use meguiars... regular grade,  then the scratch x... which is the finer stuff... 

 

If you are more ambitious... Stew mac sells a foam buff wheel with a bit that goes on

your power drill... works very well but you have to be careful and have a steady hand.   

I was going thru a phase where I was removing Gibson min-etunes... the backing

of the mini tune had a circuit pattern that got imprinted into the finish on the rear

of the headstock... (if the whole monstrosity wasn't bad enough).     wet stand and

buff with that wheel worked beautifully. 

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On 10/9/2017 at 7:49 AM, DaveL said:

I use meguiars... regular grade,  then the scratch x... which is the finer stuff... 

 

If you are more ambitious... Stew mac sells a foam buff wheel with a bit that goes on

your power drill... works very well but you have to be careful and have a steady hand.   

I was going thru a phase where I was removing Gibson min-etunes... the backing

of the mini tune had a circuit pattern that got imprinted into the finish on the rear

of the headstock... (if the whole monstrosity wasn't bad enough).     wet stand and

buff with that wheel worked beautifully. 

Thank you.  I used the Maguires Scratch X with the polishing ball thingy and got great results.  

Again, I’d probably do it differently if I were going for perferct (frankly, if I were going for perfect, I’d send it to Murkat :) )- but, for what I was going for, this worked perfectly and relatively painlessly.  Although, I don’t know how the guy avoided a spray pattern of a good twenty feet with the polish like I got...sorry, honey!)

Edited to add- you can’t get around showing wear on a black guitar.  You either look at them, or play them.  And, if you are going to play them, it IS going to show.  I prefer to play them. ;)

Again, thanks to all for the education!

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I had this very same problem recently.  I buffed out a scratch on my 92 hamer Sunburst and ended up with the milky haze.  I had these polishing papers from stewmac and decided to try them.  Did it with no wet sanding and it turned out great.  Went from 1200 to 4000 to 6000 to 8000 and it looked like new.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Fretting/3M_Flexible_Polishing_Papers.html

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