Official Luthiers Forum!

HI

I just picked up a 77 tele Deluxe with a black finish that was dull and needed a bit of shining. So, I used Stew McDonald #3 Fine compound, by hand, and as happened before I was left with a bit of a noticeable haze. I then used the liquid Stew mac finest comound that takes out fine scratches and swirls. It got better but still a bit of a haze. The Stew liquid bottle says when you are done to clean the area off with a damp rag - do many of you so that, I don't. In any regard it usually can itself cause haze. Any thoughts here. THX

Dennis

Dennis,
It sounds like you need to keep working out the scratches. I usually use Meguires #4 (med cut) then #7 (fine cut) with a Meguires foam pad mounted to my drill. I have found that if I use the drill I get much better results than by hand. I am not sure how the Meguires products compare to the Stewmac stuff but I origially started using Meguires many years ago because of a finishing video I purchased from Stewmac.

Good luck!

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Brad
Avon, OH

Sometimes I find that using too much compound can leave a haze on your
finish. I use Meguires products but I'm sure the same would be true with
any polishing compound. I usually use a drop or two on an old T-shirt
scrap and rub that sucker until it squeaks. When she stops squeaking I'll
re load another drop and go at it again. If I'm just rubbing out a very
small area (touch up around a neck re-set etc.) I usually grab just a tad of
the half dried goop from around the threads of the cap to speed up the
process and cut down on the area I will have to rub before the compound
start to squeak.

Hope this helps,

Louis

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- Louis Freilicher

Oh No! Not another learning experience!

Wow, Dennis, I hate to be a curmudgeon here, but why are you trying to make a twenty-nine year old guitar look pretty and shiney? Of course the finish looked dull. It's got history! I'd suggest using a silicone-free, abrasive-free polish, and play it proudly!