Buffed off some finish from Martin LX1 need advice

[Purfle Haze]

Originally Posted by Jambi

I think it looks pretty cool that way.

You could sell it as a mini Streetmaster!

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

I'm an adventurous sort, and pragmatic. That would make me want to put some type of finish back on the LX1, if only to protect the spruce from dirt and grime. I'd lightly sand the top to bare wood, being careful not to sand too much and thin the top. Then I'd use some sort of wipe on finish - whatever is readily available locally. It might not be the ideal guitar finish, or something I'd recommend on a new build, but this is not the ideal situation.

The challenge in sanding the top is that the bridge is in the way and it is difficult to sand to bare wood immediately adjacent to the bridge. No matter what you do, resist the temptation to sand with sandpaper around your fingers. Instead do all sanding with some sort of rigid or semi-rigid backing to the sandpaper. (A small piece of cork can work well as a backing for sanding the difficult areas.) ALWAYS sand in the direction of the grain, especially in the hard to get at bits. Start with 180 grit abrasive then finish with 220 grit. It shouldn't take much sanding to remove that thin finish.

Remove all sanding dust with a clean dry rag or use a vacuum cleaner.

A simple, effective, hard-to-screw-up finish is Minwax Wipe On Poly. Two or three coats of that, applied in thin coats per the directions on the can, will offer you a simple to apply non-penetrating finish. It's available in satin and gloss. Satin will better hide any surface irregularities or imperfections.

[catfish]

Thank you, Todd and Charles, for your guidance!
Maybe one day I will do just that, but for the time being I will leave in a gig bag as it is.
I very rarely play LX1 since I have two full-size guitars.
I bought it on a whim, was looking for a parlor, but in Russia parlor guitars are not extremely popular, very limited choice.

So, I grabbed LX1. Being a very cool instrument, with good playability and intonation, it did not win the competition with its bigger two sisters (tonewise).

[vindibona1]

Мы все усвоили хороший урок. Спасибо, что поделились своей историей.

[catfish]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

Мы все усвоили хороший урок. Спасибо, что поделились своей историей.

My motivation to post this thread was purely egoistic -- I was researching is it possible to do anything with this

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

Which Planet Waves product did you use (exactly). Is there a link? How did you "buff" your guitar? Did you use the product exactly as directed and intended? Were there any warnings not to use on certain finishes or circumstance?

I'm not sure I'm going with this at the moment, but if you used the product as directed, then I would have to wonder, if you the user are wholly responsible for the damage if you used the product as intended?

The OP is SOLELY responsible (as he has admitted) for the damage. Using any kind of polish (which by nature and definition, is abrasive) on ANY matte finished product is always a bad move.

[AllThumbsBruce]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

You could sell it as a mini Streetmaster!

Good one! Maybe that's how Martin came up with it!

[George Henry]

It that guitar was mine, I would go ahead and carefully sand the top to bare wood and apply an appropriate finish. To do a really clean job, I would remove the bridge and reglue when the new top finish is complete, but that would require bridge clamps. You've kind of destroyed the guitar anyway, so why not use this episode as a learning opportunity?

[Amanda S]

paint it brite green

[catfish]

Originally Posted by George Henry

You've kind of destroyed the guitar anyway, so why not use this episode as a learning opportunity?

Destroyed? Oh, my...

[catfish]

An update.
I waxed the top with the French made Liberon wax:


The result was quite good, light 'elbow gloss':






The whitish areas were still visible, particularly if looking at the angle -- but overall not as prominent as they were before waxing.

I put the guitar in the ads for sale at our sort of local CL, describing all I've done to the top with the pictures. After one week, the guitar was sold. The buyer was glad with it. He did not care much for the 'destroyed' top, as the guitar itself was in 'like new' condition (save for the top).

[Wade Hampton]

Then all's well that ends (sort of) well. It would be nice if your experience with this will stop others from making the same mistake, but chances are that it won't.

Thanks for the followup post.


whm

[catfish]

Thank you, Wade!

[Kerbie]

Well done, Catfish. Glad it came out OK.

[catfish]

Thank you, Kerbie!
The wax is 10 years old but it works like new, the lid is very tightly fit.