Slight botch on my Guild M120-E

Hello. I think the nearby thread on guitar finish may well apply to me but I want to be sure before I either embark on sorting this or living with it.

I have a Chinese Guild replica of the M20. It came with these polishing cloths that I now forget the name of, like a leathery feel with a grain on, 8000 grit. Unless I'm mistaken and it developed another way, where I'd used this the finish has gone a bit weird. I'm not down to the wood at all and have tried to buff things out with Meguiars but the botched area has I think now spread as a result. It looks gloss still but different.

So, harebrained as it may sound now, I used a lacquer bought in a hardware store thinking the words I saw on the can were those I'd seen describing guitar finishes. (Yes, I know...) I built up a few layers of this and then went on holiday. Well, I now half-understand it was probably the wrong type of lacquer - stop laughing - but have successfully scraped it off with scarce resistance using the bottom of a bone saddle, thankfully leaving me back where I was with the slightly weird looking finish in this area. You can see it in some lights but not others. If I'd bought it used like this I wouldn't care but it bugs me as a sign of my capacity for goofing up.

I've pretty much mastered making bone nuts and saddles, pickguards, setup etc but finishes are the scary side of the learning curve for me so far. Ideally I'd put this right - can it be done? I thought these lacquers sort of dissolve-blended in but clearly the one I used just sat there on the top.

I'm quite happy to work towards the other side of the learning curve if I can.

No, it's fine, laugh for a bit, get it out of your system. I'm a stereotypically repressed Englishman, I'm used to it.

Advice appreciated (on the finish issue, I'm too old to loosen up now).

Thanks.

[mirwa]

A few issues by the sounds of it.

Most paints adhere by a mechanical means, a few paints / lacquers adhere via thinners in the mix which they dissolve the previous coating and allow it to merge together (example nitro).

If enough paint is already still there, you can wet sand 2000 grit and then lightly buff the surface to return the gloss.

If repainting - First we need to create a surface for future paint coats to mechanically bind into, so i recommend sanding the surface if its good condition with 600 grit wet and dry, this will key the surface for a mechanical bond.

Steve

[Quickstep192]

I would think if you didn't go through to wood, there's still a chance to simply polish it. Which Meguiars product are you using? That could make a difference.

[John Arnold]

I seriously doubt that the guitar has lacquer on it. Most likely it is catalyzed polyester, which doesn't burn in. Some of these polyester finishes will get a dull look once you cut through the outside layer. I would try more polishing with a buffing wheel and very fine compound, but I cannot guarantee that you will get back to the original luster. I have never heard of a new guitar coming with an 8000 grit polishing cloth.

[stuco]

That guitar should have fairly thick poly finish. Get some meguiars scratch x and an buff the crap out of that area with a piece of an old t shirt. I doubt you burned through a layer of finish with 8000 grit anything, that would take quite a long time. I bet you just dulled the finish slightly.