Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all,
I'll have time over the holidays to polish my 660/12JG and clean up a couple of problems with the finish. One is a small scratch about 1/4 inch long under the strings. Looks like it was made by a string putting up a fight at restring time. The other is a patch of 'cloudy' finish where the right arm rests on the body (both of these problems came with the guitar, I keep my gear as clean as possible). I've searched the archives and I'll be using the turtle wax 50/50 with water to polish. My only concern is tackling these two marks. So:

- How do I go about fixing the (very shallow) scratch? Is cutting cream (used on cars) ok? Will it scour the surface too much? - the last thing I want is to make things worse.

- Can the 'clouds' be buffed out, or are they there for the duration? How can this be tackled safely?

Any advice or tips would be very welcome.
Thanks, LK

You could use some Meguire's auto rubbing compound followed by their polishing compound or better: use the Novus #2 "Fine Scratch Remover". For the last couple years though I've used some stuff from Germany that's made for C & S. It's called "CS Professional Repair-Polish for Musical Instruments". This stuff makes your guitar look like new. It's the best I've found for Ric's and polishes out all the little micro swirl marks caused by buffing wheels.
Whatever you get, take your time as hand polishing a guitar will take you at least a couple of hours to do it right.

Thanks Don, I'll hunt up the Novus #2 "Fine Scratch Remover" and let you know how iy goes,
Merry Christmas, LK

Thanks Don, I'll hunt up the Novus #2 "Fine Scratch Remover" and let you know how it goes,
Merry Christmas, LK