Caring for my AM205, some questions

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Author Message Zrt999 Username: Zrt999 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 2:16 am:    Hi all, this is my first post here. Anyway, I bought a beautiful '82 AM 205 on ebay about a year ago, and I've been in love with it ever since. Based on what I see some of these going for, I'd say I got a pretty ridiculous deal. But anyway, that's besides the point. The finish on my guitar is looking a little dull, and I really want to bring out as much of that awesome wood burl as possible. I'm not too familiar with the type of finish on these guitars, so before buying some sort of of polish, I wanted to make sure I didn't get one that would potentially hurt it. Also, there are a number of swirl marks on the back, and a few on the front, what would you reccomend to help clean some of these blemishes up? Thanks alot, and I look forward to chatting about more great vintage Ibanez guitars in the future! P.S. If anyone has a Carved Ash top Artist or Weir model for sale, I'd love to add one of those to the "collection" sometime in the future. Orange Username: Orange Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 3:58 am:    Get some good car wax and go wild, Its what works best. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 11:57 am:    The finish on your guitar is actually very tough and thick. If you really want to bring out the finish, you can do what I, and a few others here have done: wet sand the guitar, follow with rubbing compound, swirl remover, polish, then wax. My AM200 finish looks like glass now. Or if you are OK with any bumps and scratches, at the very least, use the polish and wax. Meguiars deep crystal polish is magic. I use a little foam buffing bonnet in my drill for the polish. This will re -Sven Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 1:10 pm:    Sven, Can you describe the basic points of wet sanding a guitar? Or do you know of a website that might explain this? I'm curious to give it try but I've never done it. Thanks, Darryl Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 3:58 pm:    Here is a website I found explaining wet sanding. Is this a similar process to what folks do to remove scratches and such from the finish of a guitar? http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/da ta/226.xml&catref=wd14 Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 4:01 pm:    P.S. By the way, that article talks about a complete re-finish. I'm assuming the wet sanding procedure used to polish out scratches on a guitar is similar to step 6 in the linked article. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 5:10 pm:    D, The wet sanding you do on a guitar is more like an automotive process. You are using much finer grit: maybe 1000 then 1500, soaked in water overnight. You can take it to a higher grit if you want. After removing all hardware, tape off the fret board and fill f-holes with newspaper. I then hand sand using foam sanding blocks, and regularly wipe down the guitar and dip the paper in water with a little dish soap, so as to wash away any grit. The soap adds a little lubrication. Be careful not to sand through on the guitar edges. After sanding with 1500 or 2000, your guitar will be dead flat, and have a dull matte finish. I then go through 4 step rubbing process using small foam buffing discs in my drill: 3M medium rubbing compound, 3M fine cut compound, swirl remover, finally Meguiars deep crystal polish. Then top off with Mothers pure carnuba wax applied by hand. It will take the good part of a day, and you can get most of the supplies at a pro automotive finish shop. I find the foam discs at stewmac to be too large - I use 3" dia. discs - I'll have to track down the place I got them - I have a couple guitar finishing books that outline the process. You are welcome to borrow them. Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 5:47 pm:    Sven, That is very helpful information. I think I'd like to order a book. What are the titles of the ones you have? Sounds pretty involved, but I assume if you do it slowly and carefully, there is little risk to the guitar. One thing that comes to mind is not over sanding. I wonder how easy it is to go through the clear coat? Anyway, thanks for the comments - that really helps. Darryl

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