software

I've only had it for a bit over a year...maybe Schecter just skimps a bit on the finish? Does anybody elses black guitars have all those fine little scratches on it?

*EDIT* They only show up in glares like that.

yeah it happens with most glossy finishes....

It just shows that you actually play it!

I just play my 'main players' and never worry about them, no matter what color they are, but....

I've got a $3500 Black Beauty Custom with Gold hardware, and it bums me out that I don't want it to show signs of wear.....such a shame because it plays and sounds better than almost any other guitar. And so it sits. You just gotta know which ones are the 'players' and which ones, if any, are the 'keepsakes.'

Just beat that sucker up till it's all battered. It'll show more character.

break out the polish!

Take an example from xcssive... I have a penchant for shiny guitars too to tell you the truth, but I haven't polished my black Paul once... something about all the dirt on that thing gives it mojo. But my Schecter and Jag are obsessively mirrorlike

slade

I've got a Guild S-100 with a black high gloss nitrocelulose lacquer finish. It's 8 years old now from the fabric and It still looks shinny new.

Do you protect your schecter from the direct sun light? Direct sun light can ruin guitar finishes.

see doing pro car detailing for many years pays off with guitars too...all my guitars look like new and i play the piss out of them all...you just need to know how to care for them to keep them looking new. if you leave them covered in grime and sweat and such it just eats through the finish after a while and makes it even harder to clean later and destroys the chrome also...so take 2 minutes after playing and wipe off the heavy stuff with a soft microfiber cloth, that's all (a quick mist of spray polish can't hurt eithe lazy people hehe). as for the swirl marks in your black guitar...no problem what you need is 3M swirl mark remover...apply it with a foam auto detailing applicator pad in a circular motion in small areas at a time...then buff it off with a microfiber towl...after your done with that use some good car wax (3M is also good for this) with another new clean foam applicator pad and buff that off with a clean microfiber cloth. now your guitar (any color) will be glowing and the wax will help protect a bit from future swirl marks...but they still will happen no matter what, the key is knowing how to get rid of them! some guys say just play it leave it dirty blah blah blah...character yadda yadda...but if you want to sell them down the road you get more cash for mint or near mint than you do rusted and stianed with hazy scratched and swirled paint! the more you take care of it from new the better it stays...there is no magic cure for bad paint and hardware, if you let it build up it just gets worse...you can't clean 6 month old crud off a guitar and get it to look flawless as easy as you can clean off smudges and stuff from a day of playing.

-Mike

Looks like my Bastardcaster Tele. Yea, it happens. I'm not very concerned about my Tele though. I do take pains with other instruments of mine. XSSIVE seems to have the restoration thing down.

That's pretty common My LP Custom does the same thing.

Use Dunlop's Formula 65. It does a great job.

you always get those ultra-small scratches with black finishes. But they are mostly too small to be seen and with some polish you can get rid of them pretty quick.

Yes on the detailing!
Ive also been in the auto collison business and Ive learned a lot about finishes. Even most scratches can be removed with a little wet sanding and 2000 grit 3m paper. Followed by a good hand rub with some quality quot;cleaner waxquot; dont use compound as your just asking for a rub through....

I own 3 black guitrs and small scratches show up more with black than any other colour.

My tech gave me a tip recently and told me to use Mer car polish and lots of elbow grease to remove the silicone thats in guitar polish and remove the tiny scratches.

I was very sceptical but my 80's Yamaha SG is already showning signs of improvement. Every time I restring my guitars they now get a polish too.

Also, remember Polyurethane finishes are harder to get scratches out of than Nitro lacquer finishes.
Nitro is a much softer finish and buffs much easier than Poly.
Poly is very hard and very durable. But, it is a plastic finish and scratches are harder to get out.

Remember when your getting scratches out your actually taking a layer of finish off to get the finish down even to the depth of the scratch.

Kent


Originally Posted by XSSIVEsee doing pro car detailing for many years pays off with guitars too...all my guitars look like new and i play the piss out of them all...you just need to know how to care for them to keep them looking new. if you leave them covered in grime and sweat and such it just eats through the finish after a while and makes it even harder to clean later and destroys the chrome also...so take 2 minutes after playing and wipe off the heavy stuff with a soft microfiber cloth, that's all (a quick mist of spray polish can't hurt eithe lazy people hehe). as for the swirl marks in your black guitar...no problem what you need is 3M swirl mark remover...apply it with a foam auto detailing applicator pad in a circular motion in small areas at a time...then buff it off with a microfiber towl...after your done with that use some good car wax (3M is also good for this) with another new clean foam applicator pad and buff that off with a clean microfiber cloth. now your guitar (any color) will be glowing and the wax will help protect a bit from future swirl marks...but they still will happen no matter what, the key is knowing how to get rid of them! some guys say just play it leave it dirty blah blah blah...character yadda yadda...but if you want to sell them down the road you get more cash for mint or near mint than you do rusted and stianed with hazy scratched and swirled paint! the more you take care of it from new the better it stays...there is no magic cure for bad paint and hardware, if you let it build up it just gets worse...you can't clean 6 month old crud off a guitar and get it to look flawless as easy as you can clean off smudges and stuff from a day of playing.

-Mike

I think this is the whole premiss behind the new guitar care kit Fender came out with not so long ago.
Kent

Once you're done using the 3M swirl mark remover and the 3M car wax, you can put a 3M post it note on your guitar telling people not to touch it!

Somehow.. I've got a Jackson C5A Bass and it's still very black... without scratches... after far more than a year.

Thanks much for the tips on keeping guitars in tip top shape! Expecially XSSIVE.

It's not that big of a deal on my Schecter, but I'll have a USA Jackson comming in within the next 2-3 weeks, and want to keep this one in relatively good condition compared to the Schecter.