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I just bought this guitar on reverb (2001 H-575).
looking at the pictures it has some fairly deep marks. How would you start removing those? Laquer retarder? Polish?
I will know more once it’s delivered, but would like to order some stuff to be ready.
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...dqpct6gcel.jpg
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07-03-2023 11:01 AM
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Doesn't look too bad. Personally I'd begin with polishing grit paper and work my way down until the edges disappear. The appearance of scratches is an interruption in the otherwise smooth reflecting surface so I'd take it down first with a good polishing compound, see what happens, and then back grade locally until the appearance is reflectively even. I've hit things worse than that with compound, buffing wheel followed by polish and wax. It's worked. It doesn't look like it's too deep.
If you had an spray gun and clear gloss topcoat, that could be applied locally to give an even top reflective surface. If the lacquer is of a similar grade, it'll amalgamate.
I've done this with great success, even after filling in a splice, and the result is practically invisible.
Yeah start with polish before you reach for grit. I've been surprized.
Deacon? Mark C? Other esteemed luthiers? Your success stories?
Let me emphasize here though, this is advice for Nitrocellulose Lacquer. Poly, even the water based ones, different story for a different post.
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If they are deep you are not going to remove them without taking off too much finish. The only thing I would do is to use Maguires m110 and then M210, or simply use the M210 first. One thing you really need to go is get over the idea that you can keep your guitar looking mint forever. Naturally you want to take care of it and sometimes things happen, however when the guitar is new and buffed out it all goes downhill. Mostly anything you do to it can potentially can make it look worse, unless you are Mark Campellone and can respray the guitar in spots like no one else can. That really is not worth the trouble and unless yo can do it yourself cost prohibitive.
Professional Products | Meguiar's (meguiars.com)
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“One thing you really need to go is get over the idea that you can keep your guitar looking mint forever”
Yeah, that’s good advice, however i don’t need it looking mint.. just trying to remove the more obvious blemishes.
Will try a light polish, it that does not work, will just stop there.
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Just from the photo, those scratches don't look too deep, but they did make little fractures in the lacquer - also, I'm seeing a lot of white in the scratches, partly because of the fractures in the lacquer, but there may also be some dried up polish in there. The fractures could be melted back together by spraying some retarder on there, but I'm guessing you don't have spray equipment.
Originally Posted by jeremiahzellers
You can try just polish first, but I don't think it will do much - and again, you may have the problem of the polish drying white in the cracks.
There's probably enough clear top coat on there so that you could do some sanding without danger of going through to the color - but you would have to make that judgement yourself once you have the guitar in hand.
If you decide to try wet sanding paper, there are a bunch of different methods, but here's what I would do - start with 600 grit, then 1200 grit (I use mineral spirits for lubricating - not water) - if you think you've sanded off the scratches, then go to a rubbing compound and, finally, polish. You can repeat this process if necessary, but if you get to the point where you're still seeing the scratches and you don't want to risk further sanding, there is a last resort - scratch cover - I've used a product called "Scratch-Off" from Mohawk Finishing Products with pretty good results - available for either light or dark finishes - not a perfect solution, but better than nothing.
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Does the motion matter when sanding? I’ve never done this type of work before… so I need to sand on a circular motion? Or can I just sand along the length of the scratches themselves? (Dumb question… I know…)
you are correct, I do not have a sprayer. Would be using a very small paint brush.. like a water color brush.
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A circular sanding motion is usually recommended, but it doesn't matter that much - you do want to kind of spread the sanding beyond the affected area so as to avoid creating a 'dip'. Originally Posted by jeremiahzellers
You could try applying some retarder with a brush to "re-amalgamate" the fractures, but the finish may shrink back more where you've brushed it on, creating ghost lines where the treated finish meets the untreated finish - not terribly ugly, though - usually, the ghost lines are only visible when the light hits them just right.
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Will post back once all of this has been attempted. Joyous or defeated.? Taking all bets….
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Ha - I'm not a betting man, but if you have any more questions once you get into the project, feel free to get back in touch - Originally Posted by jeremiahzellers
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