Getting rid of scratches

[38thBeatle]

My MIM tele was bought from a moronic former colleague of mine-moronic because I got it for a stupid price and moronic because he'd obviously heard somewhere that removing the finish from the neck makes it play better.

So he took some wire wool to the back of the neck (ok perhaps but not what I'd have done) but wait, why stop there, why not also work away behind the headstock and on the front of the headstock too. Thankfully he didn't go over the Fender decal.

It hasn't bothered me too much as you'd barely notice from 3 feet away but I wondered if there is a quick fix I can try. I saw some stuff in a hardware store that is intended for removing scratches form painted surfaces on cars and the like, does anyone have any experience of this or any other ideas?

[Philly Q]

I saw some stuff in a hardware store that is intended for removing scratches form painted surfaces on cars and the like, does anyone have any experience of this or any other ideas?

T-Cut or something similar?  It works a treat for polishing guitars.

Depending on how scratched-up the current finish looks, it might be worth going over it again with very fine wet-or-dry paper, used wet.  At least 1200 grit (I also use 1500, 2000 and 2500).  Then polish with the T-Cut on a soft cloth until you get a shine, then buff off any residue with another clean cloth.

The only question is whether he just dulled the surface of the existing finish, or whether he actually removed a fair bit of finish.  It's possible to rub through to bare wood with T-Cut if the finish is very thin. 

[38thBeatle]

Cheers Philly, I'll give it a spin.