danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

Meet my new friend, Meguiar’s Scratch X. It is a product that removes swirls and small scratches in car paint, but also does it’s magic on guitar finishes, as I discovered last week.

I am in the process of building–i.e., putting together–a Fender ’52 AVRI Telecaster, a classic guitar played by everyone everywhere for more than fifty years. Mine has a stunning butterscotch blonde finish on the ash body (actually from a ’52 Hotrod Tele), and is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer. This is apparently a much moodier, less forgiving finish than the poly used on almost all instruments these days. If not properly cared for, nitro cracks and crazes and will melt if exposed to silicone-based materials. This is ironic, because many guitar stands have soft foam upon which an instrument sits or leans, and this foam eats the nitro finish.

A couple weeks ago I bought a neck on eBay which had come off a ’52 AVRI Tele, which the seller described as having hardly been played, but with light finish wear on the back. These American made necks typically sell for well over $500 in perfect condition, so I snapped this one up without getting into too much detail over the particularities of the neck’s imperfections. When it arrived I was disappointed to find that, at some point, the back of the neck had been lightly sanded to make the glossy finish satin, which many guitarists prefer. I like glossy better, or else I would have opted to buy a ’52 Hotrod Tele neck, which, in addition to better frets and radius, comes with a satin back.

So, dismayed at the lack of gloss on my newly arrived neck, I sought answers. I found a forum in which fellow Telecaster fans had recommended Meguiar’s Scratch X, so I thought I’d give it a shot, and if it didn’t work, I’d just sell the neck and make my money back. I put a drop on a folded over square of flannel–I cut out the pockets of some old pajamas–and rubbed it into a small area of the dull-looking portion of the neck. Using moderate pressure for about thirty seconds, at which point the liquid–about the consistency of shampoo–became slightly pasty. Then I wiped it off with a clean rag, and, wonder of wonders, the neck looks and feels brand new.

So, after about an hour I had shined up the whole neck, front and back–being extra careful around the Fender decal–and am extremely pleased. So, if you have anything in your life that isn’t as shiny as you want it to be, use Scratch X; it did exactly what I wanted it to do, and without any complicated trickery.

Filed under: General, Popular Music, Technology on February 4th, 2008