Polishing the 59

Geezer101 · Jul 26, 2021

Ok so I know this has been covered in the other threads but can I clarify the best way to polish a 59 ADB. Has anyone got any photos of the ADB colour polished up?

heartburn · Jul 26, 2021

I used Meguiars Scratch X (maybe the 2.0 version, not sure). Polished by hand for about an hour. I only did the top and the headstock (lightly on the headstock, to avoid removing the silkscreen). I used a terry cloth for the bulk of it and then a light polish with a microfiber towel, re-assembled and a quick wipe down with a microfiber towel.

Geezer101 · Jul 26, 2021

So once the cutting compound has been used did you use actual polish or wax? If so will this need topping up periodically?

heartburn · Jul 26, 2021

I did not, without the clear I expect normal play wear and will just let it take it's course. I haven't had to deal with excessive sweat or grime yet, so I am not sure what I will do at that point. I expect just an off the shelf guitar polish will be fine. I have not seen any hazing or anything that would lead me to believe that it will require any sort of wax but I don't think it would hurt if someone wanted to do that. Before I polished mine I noticed that the area my arm rests on and the neck had already polished to a gloss, and I have seen other matte guitars just show signs of play via glossy areas. I don't think there will need to be a regimen of re-polishing or anything.

DavidP51 · Jul 27, 2021

Any chance of a closeup of the polished headstock?? Inquiring minds want to know how it came out!

heartburn · Jul 27, 2021

DavidP51 said:
Any chance of a closeup of the polished headstock?? Inquiring minds want to know how it came out!

I'll snap some pics this evening.

DavidP51 · Jul 27, 2021

heartburn said:
I'll snap some pics this evening.

Great, thanks!!

rbraad68 · Jul 30, 2021

I did mine not too long ago and i dont reget it one bit. I didn't go all crazy with it just enough to add a little shine to it. I also used that Meguiar's scratch remover from walmart for like 10 bucks. I just did one area at a time moving shit out of the way until i had the whole top complete. i didn't do my head stock nor the back of the neck or sides of the guitar. I started off on the back cause i hated the gritty feeling anyways.. take your time man your going to have to go over it a few times. I also did mine by hand.....

heartburn · Aug 2, 2021

Well, took me a little more time to get a headstock pic, had some tech issues that knocked me off for a bit.

Picture isn't great but I grabbed a shot with a bit of sunlight coming through blinds.

rbraad68 · Aug 4, 2021

heartburn said:
Well, took me a little more time to get a headstock pic, had some tech issues that knocked me off for a bit.

Picture isn't great but I grabbed a shot with a bit of sunlight coming through blinds.

i tried to pollish the headstock on my gold 59 it didn't come out that good man. Nice job!!

DavidP51 · Aug 4, 2021

Nice job on the headstock!! Umm, just how 'lightly' did you go over the headstock with Scratch X??

heartburn · Aug 5, 2021

DavidP51 said:
Nice job on the headstock!! Umm, just how 'lightly' did you go over the headstock with Scratch X??

I probably spent 10 or 15 minutes polishing versus probably an hour on the body. Again I only polished the face. I was trying to avoid cutting through the silkscreen so kept the polishing fairly light and stayed out of the silkscreen for much of it. After doing this I think I could do a bit more without removing the silkscreen and may do so in the future, but I am pretty happy with it as is.