Making a dry/sanded pickguard shiny again?

[Pacafeliz]

So my Fender Custom's pickguard had been painted white along its life. I carefully sanded it down to the original nice tort, but it now looks dry and paper-y.



I was lucky enough to score a NOS 60s XII pickguard which is on the guitar now, and just had this original guard in the case. Stupidly, I hadn't even screwed it down to keep it as flat as possible... but it was quite wavy before.

Anyway...

I've tried to make it shiny using fretboard oil and whatnot, but it just lasts a couple days and dries out again. When it is shiny, the beauty of the tort is really impressive!



So... any suggestions how to make and keep it shiny again? Should I maybe stay it with some clear lacquer? If yes, which one...?

As for now, I've finally screwed it down.


The one I've put on the guiar now is ok nice, but way darker than this one, so I'd really prefer to have this one back on it.

Thanks!

[JSett]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Vintag ... 404&psc=1
Thank me later

[Sweetfinger]

You're gonna have to wet sand and buff.

[CROSS_guitars]

I polished up an old bass pickguard using a wool spindle attatchment on a power drill.
Using cutting compound, slowly polished it back to gloss. It's very laboursome but it works.

[JSett]

I polished up an old bass pickguard using a wool spindle attatchment on a power drill.
Using cutting compound, slowly polished it back to gloss. It's very laboursome but it works.

I was going to suggest a Dremel or drill with the compound but all too easy to burn/ignite an old celluloid tort

[Embenny]

I polished up an old bass pickguard using a wool spindle attatchment on a power drill.
Using cutting compound, slowly polished it back to gloss. It's very laboursome but it works.

I was going to suggest a Dremel or drill with the compound but all too easy to burn/ignite an old celluloid tort

That was my first thought! Too high a speed or too dry a buffing wheel and you'd be generating a lot of heat from the friction.

[CROSS_guitars]

Yeah, I guess it is kinda risky, but if you keep the buffer moving and use plenty of polish it could work.

Another option (which I've never tried) is acetone vapour misting. Not sure how affective it would be on celluloid but it's worth looking up.

[øøøøøøø]

what was the finest grit sandpaper you used?

If it was something like 600 or coarser, I'd sand with 1000 grit all in a single direction until the current texture is flattened, then 1500 in a single direction perpendicular to the first, until all the 1000 grit scratches were removed.

If it was already with very fine sandpaper (800 on up) you can try skipping this step and proceeding to the next:

Novus plastic polish. Start with #3 (coarsest). If you have an orbital buffer or buffing wheel of some kind, that's easiest and best. If not, an old T-shirt and a lot of labor can get a good result.

After you've got it smoothed out with #3 it should start taking a bit of shine. Then move on to #2 and that should really get it looking nice.

You can skip #1, I consider it basically a cleaner. It doesn't do much of anything at all from the standpoint of restoring a shine.

[JSett]

Novus plastic polish.

I forgot about this product. It's great and would definitely work well

[Pacafeliz]

Thanks folks, that's a lot of good ideas there!
I'd prefer not to do anything that involves machines, speed and the potential of fire and explosions, though...

Now, both the Novus nor the Greygate pastes are being shipped to Germany, but I'll read/look into it and try to find something similar that is available here.
Stay tuned!

Thanks!!!

[ludobag1]

if you sand it to 2000 grit with water paper ,it will shine already ,and to finish a little copound like megiar or 3M ultrathin ,maybe toothpast (true not joke it is very thin copound)you can have really good result with only arm and finishing polishing coton

put something in plastic between the guard and the board to avoid wood swellen by water ,transparent cover for books ,the things used each news years for kids school book

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on a dull pickguard & it worked a treat. It just took time & effort. Also, I didn't want to get it too glossy or remove all the fine scratches at it was supposed to look like an old guard.

If you go the wet-sanding route first you'll definitely end up with a higher gloss finish.

[øøøøøøø]

Yes, automotive finish products can work very well.

Meguiar's "fine cut cleaner" is, I'm pretty sure, identical to Novus #2. It looks the same, smells the same....

I'd imagine starting off with rubbing compound (the one in the post above would probably work great) and finishing with Meguiar's fine-cut cleaner would get a similar result to Novus.

[Scout]

I used one of those headlight restoration polishes, I’m pretty sure it would bring the luster back to a pickguard. I first wet sanded with 2500 wet/dry then applied a one step polish ,I think it would give just the right finish for a vintage look.

[Pacafeliz]

Thanks y'all!!!