Scratch Removal

[michaelnel]

I'm a dufus.

 

My J45 Standard had a lot of smudges on it, and I decided to give it a nice polish. I used Virtuoso polish and did the back and sides and neck first, and they all turned out great. Then I flipped the soft terrycloth bar towel I was using to a new position and polished the top with Virtuoso too. When I started removing the polish residue with another soft terrycloth bar towel, it became apparent that there was some kind of hard material embedded in the cloth I had used to apply the polish to the top, and I now have oval scratches all over the top. They are not deep, ie: you cannot feel them with a fingernail, but they are still very apparent.

 

I tried using some toothpaste on a clean fingertip to remove them in a couple small areas, followed by a wipedown with another clean towel moistened with water, and all the toothpaste did was dull the finish slightly.

 

Did some research, including on StewMac, and obviously they have everything I need to get the scratches out and get it back to a high gloss, but it would involve spending about $40-50 for the various grades of polish and polishing pads.

 

Has anyone else here made a similar error to mine, and how did you resolve it?

 

Thanks!

Michael

 

PS: now the sides of the guitar are so slick I can't keep the darn thing from sliding off my thigh ;-)

[fsharp]

No good deed goes unpunished. When I bought my guitar, the first one I tried had quite a bit of pick scratches from the usual careless people who try out guitars. They worked with a soft cloth and a small bit of some sort of scratch remover that they had on hand. It helped, although I ended up with another guitar anyway for other reasons. I wish could remember the name of it ,but I suggest you go down to the local guitar store and ask them what they do since they must have this problem constantly.

[Phelonious Ponk]

Go to the automotive department of your local big box store and buy a tube of Meguier's Scratch-X. Fix you right up.

 

P

[kidblast]

^- I think so too.. some people will say "NO!" but,, it does seem to work without doing more harm than good I've used this on all my gibson electrics.

 

What a drag that this happened tho.

[michaelnel]

Well, it's definitely carelessness on my part. Need to make sure any cloth we use is really clean and has nothing embedded in it. I guess dedicating microfiber cloths to the job and maybe keeping them stored in ziploc baggies might be a good idea.

[michaelnel]

Go to the automotive department of your local big box store and buy a tube of Meguier's Scratch-X. Fix you right up.

 

P

 

I don't have time to go to the store for it, but I just ordered some from Amazon. Thanks for the tip!

 

Michael

[michaelnel]

It also occurs to me this is a good reason to do small areas. If I had polished a small area, then buffed it off, I would only have those scratches in a small area. But no, I had to do the whole top at once. Hence, the scratches are all over the top.

[Fullmental Alpinist]

And the next time you're at Costco or WallyWorld or near an auto parts store stop in and grab a few quality microfiber towels that only get used on your guitar.

[retrorod]

That is unfortunate. Yes, there is usually a price to pay for 'dufus' maneuvers...It can be a bitter pill to swallow! I hope you resolve the situation.

[michaelnel]

Go to the automotive department of your local big box store and buy a tube of Meguier's Scratch-X. Fix you right up.

 

Thanks. Tried the Scratch-X. Didn't do a thing. I put some on, rubbed quite hard for so long my fingers cramped up, but the scratches are still there.

 

I ordered the "Player's Kit" from GuitarScratchRemover.com. If that doesn't work, I guess I have to take it to a pro.

[Fullmental Alpinist]

That stuff looks interesting. Now if it just came in a strength that'll remove all traces of the previous owner.

 

Keep us posted on if it works.

 

FMA

[E-minor7]

Believe it or not, I did the same thing on the left upper bout back of my J-45 some years ago.

 

What !

 

Then buffed and buffed and buffed again with a soft silky cloth over a longer period.

The ultra light scratches was circular and some of my silk-moves were too, , , as time went by things got better and I eventually tried different strokes.

Just doin' it whenever I felt for it, not making it a stone in the shoe. Now it's hardly there.

The guitar was brand new when it happened - don't know if the evaporating process of fresh nitro have played in on this pretty happy result.

 

Advice in short : Buff away, but don't let the situation get to you. . .

 

 

 

Please report

[michaelnel]

My technique right now is buff for five minutes, play for 55. It's not doing much for the scratches, but it's helping my playing!

[Pittgibson45]

More than once I have awoken in the night having just finished a nightmare that I was cleaning my 45 and looked down at it to see somehow I had destroyed the top. Not just scratches but chunks of wood gone. It must freak me out enough to wake me up and I am usually not sure it was a dream for the first minute or two. Sorry that my nightmare came true for you, at least there are no chunks of wood gone. Best of luck finding a fix.

[E-minor7]

My technique right now is buff for five minutes, play for 55. It's not doing much for the scratches, but it's helping my playing!

 

Yeah man - see it from above. .

[Doug the Old Geezer]

My technique right now is buff for five minutes, play for 55. It's not doing much for the scratches, but it's helping my playing!

 

Could be a new movie to replace the "Karate Kid". The new movie could be "The Guitar Kid", Buff on, play on.

[Fullmental Alpinist]

More than once I have awoken in the night having just finished a nightmare that I was cleaning my 45 and looked down at it to see somehow I had destroyed the top.

 

That actually happened to Willy Nelson and his guitar Trigger:

 

 

That guitar strap scares me....

[Pittgibson45]

That actually happened to Willy Nelson and his guitar Trigger:

 

 

That guitar strap scares me....

 

I bet Willy has some pretty wild dreams too!

[onewilyfool]

http://www.tapplastics.com/product/repair_products/plastic_repair/novus_plastic_polishes/428

[Fullmental Alpinist]

Oooooooooops! I think you've discovered the secret of GuitarScratchRemover.com.

[DRC]

I use a great product called Music Nomad Pro Strength Guitar Polish for minor scratches and marks. My band did a concert with Claire Lynch in Wartrace, TN a few years ago, and Claire is a close friend of Don Gallagher of Gallagher Guitars in Wartrace. She's been using a Gallagher dread Don gave her many years ago. Anyway, I spent a couple hours with Don going through the shop and talking about guitars, which was a great experience. During the conversation he told me he had been using nothing but Music Nomad products for quite a while since they're silicone and oil-free, and the company contributes a portion of every purchase to help independent musicians through their advocacy website MusicNomad.com where thousands of musicians each month discover resources, tips and articles to help them in their music career. I tried the Guitar Polish and Detailer and they're both exceptional. And they smell great.

 

http://www.musicnomadcare.com/

 

DC

[modoc_333]

http://www.ghsstrings.com/accessories/category/ghs-lubricants-and-cleaners

 

 

this polish.

 

rub so hard that you can feel the heat coming through the polishing cloth. by getting it warmed up, the lacquer will start to flow and blend and finally cover the scratch. if it doesn't work, then play the snot out of the thing so it becomes and awesome beat up looking guitar one day!

[Allie]

I bet Willy has some pretty wild dreams too!

Willy 'creates' his own wild dreams.

[Phelonious Ponk]

Thanks. Tried the Scratch-X. Didn't do a thing. I put some on, rubbed quite hard for so long my fingers cramped up, but the scratches are still there.

 

I ordered the "Player's Kit" from GuitarScratchRemover.com. If that doesn't work, I guess I have to take it to a pro.

 

Sorry to hear that. That means they're pretty deep scratches, unfortunately. I remove pick marks from the guard, and occasionally above the strings, with Scratch-X all the time, on both nitro and poly finishes. This is going to require a buffer, and someone skilled, who won't overdo it. Find a guy with refinishing experience who knows nitro, or keep going on it yourself really slowly, by hand. Scratches are better than buffing through the finish.

 

P

[michaelnel]

I decided to take it to the best guy I know of, Frank Ford at Gryphon Stringed Instruments (http://www.gryphonstrings.com). Frank is one of the founders there, and has run the repair shop for about 50 years. He also hosts the luthier site frets.com and the luthier forum site at frets.net. I have bought numerous instruments over the years from Gryphon and Frank has fixed guitars for me before.

 

I walked in and Frank was at the counter. I told him I had a couple patients for Doctor Frank. He laughed and said he was the one who could use a doctor, he was getting over a cold and felt pretty crappy. I showed him the J45 first and explained what had happened. He said "let me take it in the back for a minute". He came back in about five, and showed me the guitar... "this look OK?". Heck, every single tiny scratch on the guitar was gone, and the top was glossier than when it left Bozeman. It's perfect.

 

Then the second patient... my pretty new Eastman E20D sunburst. It sounds great, but has a strange "clangy" overtone on the D string on notes fretted at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings only. Frank heard it and took it in the back (mind you, I already spent almost $300 on that guitar at SF Guitarworks and they were unable to solve it. They did a Plek job on it so the frets are gorgeous now, and they reshaped the Colosi bridge so many times it now has two cardboard shims under it... not very professional for how much I spent, and the overtone was still there).

 

Frank took it in the back and was gone about 20 minutes this time. He said he is no longer able to play guitar or mandolin because of his arthritis, but he had a hotshot bluegrass guy who works in the shop play it. They thought it sounded great and played great, but that the resonant frequency of the guitar seems to be on those three notes, as verified by playing those same three notes on the A string up the neck.

 

Frank thought he could likely improve it with a little more relief, and asked me if I could wait around while he adjusted it and then took it to play it in a quiet corner of the store. The noise was virtually all gone. It's still there a little, but Frank said the only cure for it now would be a different guitar. I asked him how much, and he said "nothin'". For the work he did on both guitars, no charge, and I hadn't even bought either of them there!

 

I said "Frank, your time is valuable, I want to pay you for it!". He said, "well, if you insist, give the folks at the register $25 and we'll spend it on pizza". What a GUY!

 

So... while waiting, I fell in love with a Collings D1 (their version of the Martin D18). Very light, resonant, and LOUD. Great tone, great feel. It followed me home. ;-)