Pick guard

[John p pickens]

I have a question about a 1963 Gibson J45, but come to think of it maybe applies to most acoustics.

what is the best way to bring a pick guard to a nice gloss appearance if one does not have a buffer?
wet dry sandpaper followed by Micromesh ? To what grit? Then polish? I would expect it may depend on the pick guard material-but how would the approach change with the material? Thanks.

[Jason Gatewood]

Hi, I use Stewmac's polishing compound set... it has Coarse, Medium, Fine, and Swirl Remover.  Tape off the are surrounding the pickguard, apply the first polish and let it set up for a few minutes, then rub it out, clean the pickguard good with water to make sure all the particles of the current grit of polish are gone before moving on too the next... use soft cotton or microfiber cloths, and use a different one with each grit.  I hope this helps.  Good luck

[Mark Pollock]

Hey, are those pickguards on top of the finish, or covered with finish?

(And hey, why the heck does my spell-check insist on underlining pickguards?)

[Thomas James]

I start with Legend cleaner from Allparts. It really picks up dirt and gives a great sheen. Work in small circles. it won't hurt the surrounding finish. Be careful if you decide to put tape on an old finish. Low tack and low time. Not sure about this specific model, but some old pickguards have a murky ooze that can't be rubbed or buffed out.

[Jason Gatewood]

True about the tape, and in all reality, you don't really need it if you work carefully.

[Hesh Breakstone]

Although I know that you are looking for a method to polish a pick guard I thought that it might be helpful to also add to be sure to remove the super-thin plastic protective covering if this is a new pick guard....  I went a year attempting to get a pick guard as shiny as I could, with no success.... before I realized one day that the guard that I had installed actually had a very thin plastic protective covering....  Man did I feel stupid the day that I noticed a corner of the plastic lifting and then yanked on the thing....

Pick guards are much nicer looking..... under the plastic protective covering.... ;)

[John p pickens]

This appears to be original pickguard.  True it is "foggy" and maybe that can't really be changed after 50 years-but

I always like the way a glossy pickguard looks-clean

[John p pickens]

I know this sounds cheapskate, but can a light auto wax/polish in progressively finer grits be used?

[Jason Gatewood]

Absolutely

[John p pickens]

Thanks to all