Cut polishing a guitar finish

[Doughboy]

I'm about to purchase a parker fly classic which has quite a few pick scratch marks on the front. Is there something I can use to cut polish these scratches out? I heard tooth paste works, but am looking for any advice to bring the finish back up to a good luster.

 

[whitebison66]

I use Meguiar's Scratch-X, which is made for auto paint, but does a very good job at getting out swirl marks on guitars. You can use polishing compound or rubbing compound, which is coarser. I tend to work my way backwards in coarseness, using the finest first to see if it will get it out. Hope that helps!

 

[Doughboy]

I use Meguiar's Scratch-X, which is made for auto paint, but does a very good job at getting out swirl marks on guitars. You can use polishing compound or rubbing compound, which is coarser. I tend to work my way backwards in coarseness, using the finest first to see if it will get it out. Hope that helps!

Would I be able to find Meguiar's Scratch-X at Home Depot or any automotive store or is it special order? Also, is it stil safe to use on a guitar finish without harming it or taking off the finish in any way?

 

[Cagey]

Would I be able to find Meguiar's Scratch-X at Home Depot or any automotive store or is it special order? Also, is it stil safe to use on a guitar finish without harming it or taking off the finish in any way?

It's pretty common stuff; even Amazon sells it.

Be aware that anything that cuts is removing finish. There's just no way around it. So, don't go apeshit with a buffing pad on a D/A or a drill motor. Given enough time and effort, it will make it through any finish. What you're trying to do when you remove scratches is level the surrounding finish to the depth of the scratch. Go too far, and you'll be inventing new cusswords.

 

[stubhead]

You can't polish out scratches entirely without removing finish, down to the level of the deepest scratch. You may want to go to the manufacturer's website, and find out what sort of finish is on there. Oh I just did, they say polyurethane. Meguiar's ought to be available at any decent hardware or auto supply store. It just depends on how deep the scratches are - if it was really bad, you might have to look at filling them, but it's very likely that a quick rub with some polishing compound will minimize them, and then some regular guitar polish will "fill" whatever is left to the point you'll not notice it.
Or break out the Dremel, blowtorch and ball-peen hammer and own the world's first relic'd 1957 Parker Fly.  :hello2: :guitarplayer2:

 

[AutoBat]

I know Advance & AutoZone both carry Meguiar's products.

 

[whitebison66]

I found mine in Hong Kong, so I'll assume (!) that it is widely available in the US.

Often, just waxing buffing the scratched area minimizes the visibility of the scratches, so you don't have to take off much finish.

 

[Disco Scottie]

Gah, I read the title as "cat polishing a guitar finish" so I expected a funny YouTube video...

 

[stubhead]

I wish I could get some useful work out of them. :icon_scratch: There was none of this "start at the bottom and work your way up", boy cats in particular are totally ready to supervise by ten or twelve weeks old.

Even their calisthenics class was a dismal failure, although they at least did learn to speak French: "miaou." The Indonesian lessons have been a great disappointment, though.

http://www.flippyscatpage.com/catsmeow.html

I thought "ngeong" was the sound of a hairball birth.... :redflag:

 

[Cagey]