So I was bored today and decided to get rid of the satin finish on my Highway 1 Strat. All Highway 1s come with a satin nitrocellulose finish, I prefer a bit more gloss...
So, off to the Auto Parts store!!
The tools:
2000 grit sandpaper for wet sanding
Sanding block
Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound
Meguiars 2 step system (cleaner, polish, wax)
A Whole Bunch of microfiber towels
Couple screwdrivers and wire cutters
Beer.
The patient on the table, prepped and ready for surgery:
Close up of the front, notice the gloomy and uninspiring stain finish:
Neck and most of the hardware removed, I left the pickguard attached because I could work around it and really didn't want to hunt for my soldering iron:
Step 1:
Wet sand with 2000 grit sandpaper. This removes the orange peel that is part of the satin finish. If you skip this step the end result just doesn't look good at all.... I had read on the net of people using anything from 1000-2000 grit but I decided to err on the side of caution because I didn't want to sand through the finish and the nitro finishes on the Highway 1s is pretty thin...there are lots of "reliced" Highway 1s out there to prove it. Luckily the orange peel areas are pretty easy to see in the light once you get going. Here is the body after wet sanding:
