For those who might be curious as to where I ended up with my finish dilemma on me D-25:
Step One: Started with wiping down the instrument with an all cotton cloth dampened with
a water and sugar soap solution followed by a wipe down with a dampened cloth with
just water and then a dry cotton cloth. (Here in the states we call the sugar soap,
trisodium phosphate. It can be found on the shelf of a Home Depot in the paint
department. It comes in a box marked "TSP". It's commonly used for washing
down walls before painting.)
Step Two: I wet sanded the back and neck with some 1200 grit waterproof
sand paper using naphtha as a lubricant. Now I did not go nuts with wet sanding.
This was done just to smooth out some trouble spots with some pretty good scratches
and gouges and what looked like the finish had melted in a small spot near the lower bout.
Step Three: I rubbed down the whole instrument with silicone free, Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #2 -
Fine-Cut Cleaner. This really cleaned deep. It has a mild abrasive in it that polished out
the wet sanded areas as well as removed a lot of minor scratches. The guitar had
the old "upside truss rod cover" that had been that way long enough to leave
marks in the finish. The Meguiar's #2 took them right out.
Step Four: I used silicone free, Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #9 - Swirl Remover 2.0 to
polish out the slight haze left behind by the Fine-Cut Cleaner. This brought back the
deep delicious shine in the lacquer finish. Things are really looking up now.
Finally: I polished it one step further with another silicone free Meguiar's product,
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #34 - Final Inspection. Not that I really needed to but I had it so I used it.
The End Result: Now my goal here was not to bring the guitar back to showroom condition.
It still has a little buckle rash and a few nicks and dings here and there showing it's
35 years. I wanted to get rid of that grungy feel I got after playing it for a
short time which I think in the end was actually a layer of the lacquer
finish breaking down. Also, regardless of the battle scars and finish
checking, I wanted to bring back the deep shine.
Now it's clean and feels good in your hands. Kind of like a fresh start. Sure looks pretty.
NOTE: All of the Meguiar's Mirror Glaze medications and
preparations used are paintable, silicone free products.
