G_urr_A Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 I was just sitting in my room looking at my guitar, when I for some reason wanted to remove some of the scratches that earlier owners have created all over the guitar. I picked up a..... argh... what are they called? foam thingies?? I just can't find the correct word... and tried polishing the scratches. What I didn't remember was that this "foam thingy" had been used for applying some fretboard cleaner to the neck of this guitar a few weeks earlier, so now I've got a nice spot on the guitar that is really dull. Does anyone have any idea what I can do about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Dry clean towel and rub it off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted July 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Doesn't work. It seems that the cleaner was kind of corrosive or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I have no clue what kind of "foam thingy" you are talking about, but two things could have happened. 1. If your fretboard cleaner is alcohol (like isopropyl alcohol) or solvent based, it will dull the finish. Although, it would have to be direct contact and wet with alcohol. Solvent based could attack it immediately, but I don't know what kind of fretboard cleaner would be solvent based. Also, if you're using Naptha based cleaners (like lighter fluid) it will dull the finish in a hurry as well. Especially if your gutar is laquer finished. 2. Either your "foam thingy" is abrasive, or you had abrasive particles in it from cleaning your fretboard and you've dulled the finish just by basically sanding it. So, what to do, well, there really isn't any magic solution. You pretty well have to polish it out, probably just a find cutting compound would work, or even some micro mesh paper starting at about 3600 and going through to 12000. However, if the cleaner was what caused it, and it's attacked the clear it may be in the clear further than just polishing will take out without going down a long way. You may need to touch up that section or just live with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 So basically, he's gonna need to read the polishing tutorial... and start with whatever grade that will get the job done.. humm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted July 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I don't know what type of finnish was used on the guitar (I'm at least the third owner, and it was made in 1990 or so), but the cleaner "Contains flammable petroleum naptha". So I guess that's it. I'll probably see what I can find to polish it up, and if I can't find any suitable material, I'll just live with it. Thanks for the help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted July 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 It seems I'm lucky. I just went out to my workshop, and looked for sanding papers of suitable grits. I found a few pretty fine ones, so I brought them in, and started trying them out. All of them just made it far worse. However, I tried using the clothed backside of one of them, and using that, I got it back to where it was before I started sanding. And, it looks as if I can get it even better, if I just keep going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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