Sanding and Polishing

I spent some time yesterday polishing up the Rick body to try and make it as shiny as I could. I used the instructions on the Manchester Guitar Tech site as a guideline having bought all the bits and pieces I'd need in Halfords.

I treated the the back and front as two separate jobs and did the back first. I used a sanding block and sanded down with Halfords P800 wet and dry paper, using plenty of water. I then sanded down with Halfords P1200 paper, again with water. This left the surface of the guitar fairly smooth but matt.

I then rubbed down the guitar with Tetrosyl rubbing compound by applying the compound firmly with a cotton cloth and rubbing it off when dry with a clean cloth. I did this twice to achieve a very smooth but still matt finish.

Next, I used Safe Cut scratch remover to start to buff up the shine, applying like the rubbing compound - firmly with a damp cloth and polishing it off when dry. I kept on doing this until I could see no noticible difference in the reflections of the ceiling lights on the guitar body. It took about eight passes to achieve this.

Finally I applied two coats of Autoglym Super Resin Polish to really bring out the shine.

It all took quite a lot of hard work, but I think it was worth it. The surfaces of the guitar are now shiny and mirror like as shown in the pictures below. (The marks in the finish are where the hardware was previously applied and removed. They will be covered up by the hardware again when it is reinstalled)