Keeping my matte black guitar matte?

[prickstein]

Hi all,

I built the perfect strat for me recently but the matte black finish is starting to go shiny, particularly where my body rubs against it.
Any tips on how to keep a flat matte appearance to a finish?

My strat for the curious-

Warmoth 1 piece maple Boatneck with no face dots in satin lacquer w/ "F*&cker  Radocaster" decal in Fender style (most people don't pick up on it at first glance)
Fender Highway 1 Matte Black body,
Callaham vintage style bridge in distressed chrome,
2x Kinman AVN 69 pickups & Duncan Invader HB, all with Kinman solderless harness w/ treble bleed circuit.
Warmoth matte black scratchplate with 5way,1 vol and mini toggle to bring the HB in on any position, all custom wired for me by Chris Kinman,
Sperzel locking tuners in matte black.

SOUNDS PHENOMONAL!!!  :headbang1:
It does just what I wanted- Mayer to Metal, Knopfler to Knarly all in the one guitar. :guitaristgif:

 

[UTSC]

steel wool? that's the answer for all of life's problems.

 

[stratplayer1]

agreed you should be able to just sand back the shiny part, take your time use a less abrasive item

 

[Sixbender]

I don't get the appeal of matte or satin finishes, since they will always gloss up with use anyway.

I've got an Ibanez that has a satin finish neck, well...the headstock stays satin, but I have to de-gloss the back of the neck once a month or more...

Scotch Brite pad, or the equivalent, will de-gloss the matte. Someday, though, bare wood will magically appear!

There is no technology available that will make a smooth matte finish stay matte if you rub on it.

 

[willyk]

0000 steel wool is the grade I'd use. Much safer than the more aggresive grades of abrasives out there.

 

[Sixbender]

I like the scotch brite pads (or the equivalent), available in 0000...

The steel wool leaves metal behind that usually finds its way to the magnets in my pickups, so I gave that stuff up.