Removing stains from finish on used strat

midnightright

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Hi,

I just picked up an 8 year old American Standard Strat; & it has some marks on it, that I can't seem to get off by normal cleaning & polishing (like with Jim Dunlop). When I first saw them, I'd thought they were just clear, transparent gunk, that got on somebody's fingers, and then left prints on the body & headstock. I figured they'd just come right off with ease. But they are not so simple to remove.

Does anybody know what my next step might be? Like Virtuoso, or I have some left over Naptha, from years ago (5-10), on an old Guild (acoustic), that needed similar treatment. However, since that was underneath the cracks, or weather checks in the finish. It did little (to nothing) to get rid of the cloudy "undertones."

The neck is finished in what appears to be the same kind of finish as the body (shiny), but I don't know for sure if it is. They're both pretty glossy. And of course there are some minor dings, that have actual wood exposed. Only reason it's semi-annoying, is I didn't put them there. I don't know if a repair person had something sticky on their hands/& fingers, and then went to handle this immediately afterwards, or if was a D.I.Y. by a previous owner.

In either case sometime in the next couple of days or so, I can hopefully upload a photo or two, so you can get what I'm talking about. Just basically didn't know if you'd treat an electric, like an acoustic. When it comes to this sort of thing.

Thanks!
 

chazmo

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Do you know what Fender uses for finish on your Strat? In any case, I think naphtha is safe on any finish, so I'd give it a try first.

Midnight, I don't know exactly what kind of stains you're trying to remove. Can you post some pictures? Maybe someone can help. I know that some dents can be "steamed" out with careful application of water and heat, but again I don't know if that's effective on anything but a nitrocellulose lacquer...
 

walrus

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I had an issue with what seemed to be dried polish stuck on my Sadowsky semi-hollow in spots when I bought it (used). Guitar polish didn't do a thing. LTGer's recommended Maguiar's Scratch X, and it worked like a charm!

61o5BaMdRFS._AC_SL1500_.jpg

walrus
 

Guildedagain

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I use Meguiars Cleaner Wax, for ages now, and what it can clean off guitars is amazing. Make cruddy old binding look clean again, and those dreaded white wall and ceiling paint rubs on the ends of headstocks, gone, before your very eyes.
 
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