Faded /flat finish's. How do you make yhem shine?

[marantz1300]

I just got a Gibson smartwood Exotic. How do I make the flat finish shine.The top is Peroba.                                                                                                                      

[Mr. Air]

That's a very beautiful guitar. I don't know how to make it shine, but if it was my guitar I wouldn't change it. I like the look as it is.

[indysmith]

No idea but nice guitar! Why change it?

[Philly Q]

As I mentioned in the other thread, you could just dive straight in with some T-Cut.

But I'm not sure (a) how thin the finish is (danger of rub-throughs) and (b) whether it'll turn out to be perfectly smooth if you polish it.

I agree with the guys, personally I'd leave it matt - then change the hardware to nickel to make it look less "furniture", more like a workhorse.

[marantz1300]

Thats what I'm aiming for.Like the Briggs.But that was polished.

[indysmith]

change the hardware to nickel to make it look less "furniture", more like a workhorse.

Ohhh good plan!

[Philly Q]

Thats what I'm aiming for.Like the Briggs.But that was polished.

Try polishing with T-Cut on an inconspicuous part of the guitar - maybe somewhere on the back, just a little bit to see how it looks. 

If it looks bad, you can get the finish back to matt with some wire wool, micromesh or fine wet/dry paper.  If it turns out OK you can take the plunge and do the rest of it!

[marantz1300]

I'll  try a small area like under the pickup rings or under the switch ring.

[gwEm]

i used t-cut on a faded finish V and it works well to give a shine... but be careful - its easy to get t-cut stuck in the grain, and it doesn't look good! looking back, i would try a different way to shine it

[pagan7]

Short of giving it a couple of coats of clear laquer for a glossy finish, then liberal amounts of any beeswax based furniture polish well buffed will make it shine more but I agree with Phily - leave it as it is and change the "bling" hardwear for something more workmanlike.

p.s. avoid silicon based polishes as they can give a hazing effect on some finishes

[Tellboy]

My PRS Standard has a similar satin finish. I found that by regularly using a good quality guitar polish (I use Gibson and give the guitar a good clean/shine everytime I change strings) the guitar finish will get much shinier. Also I went for the chrome covers when I fitted the calibrated Cold Sweats

[marantz1300]

That looks great. I'll buy some guitar polish .