So I Polished My Satin Martin… - Page 3

Zissou Intern · #31 03-08-2022, 10:39 AM

That area of “natural polishing” on the lower bass bout is what prompted me to polish the entire guitar. You definitely took it to the next level…the best I’ve seen.

CollingsPicker · #32 03-08-2022, 11:22 AM

It looks great. I have polished out several guitars over the years but I have never sanded them. I always just polish the existing finish.

RobG814 · #33 03-08-2022, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zissou Intern

That area of “natural polishing” on the lower bass bout is what prompted me to polish the entire guitar. You definitely took it to the next level…the best I’ve seen.

Thanks for the kind words. That was also happening on a few places on the body. I was definitely a little hesitant to go all in and polish it but now I am very glad I did.

slooky · #34 03-08-2022, 08:42 PM

beautiful! nicely done!

FoxHound4690 · #35 03-08-2022, 08:44 PM

Looks terrific man, nice job. Nice guitar too =)

TDavis · #36 03-09-2022, 07:20 AM

I’m definitely a gloss-finish guy, and not at all a fan of satin/matte-finish guitars. That is the number one reason I’ve never been interested in keeping an all-hog model like a series-15 Martin or something, even though I love the tone.

But…I really like the look of that polished wood on the OP’s Martin. It still has that sort of open-pore look, especially on the headstock that is very attractive. Very, very nice.

The idea might actually cause me to rethink possibly getting an 00-15 in the future. Now…if I could only get past my inherent laziness…

ewalling · #37 03-09-2022, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDavis

I’m definitely a gloss-finish guy, and not at all a fan of satin/matte-finish guitars. That is the number one reason I’ve never been interested in keeping an all-hog model like a series-15 Martin or something, even though I love the tone.

If you're into shiny and it's not exclusively Martin that you're after, Larrivee makes some glossy all-hog guitars. You may well have seen them.

jjbigfly · #38 03-09-2022, 08:53 AM

Years ago I had a satin top on a guitar, and I dislike satin finish. I used a nice well laundered t-shirt and a tin of pure carnuba wax. Many times.
I had heard that there was a possibility that the sound would end up being somewhat muted, but I assumed that I could remove the wax if there was an issue. I (could be me) never noticed a tone difference and I had a gloss finish.

Goat Mick · #39 03-09-2022, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDavis

I’m definitely a gloss-finish guy, and not at all a fan of satin/matte-finish guitars. That is the number one reason I’ve never been interested in keeping an all-hog model like a series-15 Martin or something, even though I love the tone.

But…I really like the look of that polished wood on the OP’s Martin. It still has that sort of open-pore look, especially on the headstock that is very attractive. Very, very nice.

The idea might actually cause me to rethink possibly getting an 00-15 in the future. Now…if I could only get past my inherent laziness…

The 15 series will polish up nicely. Here are some pics of my 000-15 Streetmaster after polishing.

drive-south · #40 03-09-2022, 10:49 AM

That guitar looks nice. Not super shiny (that's a good thing).

A shiny finish is a level finish. Sanding and polishing levels the finish to a mirror shine. If you do it right you don't remove much of the finish.

McGuires Mirrorglaze is available in many grades. I probably would skip the wet sanding and use #4, then #7, and lastly #9 swirl remover. Sanding is really only necessary on a new finish.

I've thought about polishing my Larrivee parlour and BT-03, but I decided I have enough shiny guitars now.

Bridgepin · #41 03-09-2022, 11:56 AM

Looks great, I for one much prefer the look of a polished finish on a guitar.

RobG814 · #42 03-10-2022, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDavis

I’m definitely a gloss-finish guy, and not at all a fan of satin/matte-finish guitars. That is the number one reason I’ve never been interested in keeping an all-hog model like a series-15 Martin or something, even though I love the tone.

But…I really like the look of that polished wood on the OP’s Martin. It still has that sort of open-pore look, especially on the headstock that is very attractive. Very, very nice.

The idea might actually cause me to rethink possibly getting an 00-15 in the future. Now…if I could only get past my inherent laziness…

Lol I hear you with the laziness. I bought the polish months ago and it took me forever to get around to actually doing it.

I also have a 000-15 but I like the satin finish on that guitar. For some reason I think the mahogany looks good as is, but the rosewood on this one was just asking to be shined up a little.

RobG814 · #43 03-10-2022, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

The 15 series will polish up nicely. Here are some pics of my 000-15 Streetmaster after polishing.

That looks killer, nice work!

sublro · #44 03-12-2022, 08:33 AM

have done this a bunch of times on different types of guitars - open pore finishes are a different beast- putting those aside, here’s most often how it works. most guitars are finished in multiple layers, with the last layer being most carefully done and deciding the final look- a satin finish almost always has one or more glossy layers below it. see for yourself - in bright light pick up your satin finished guitar and raise it up to look across the surface, when you get to an extreme enough angle you will see the surface reflecting the lights/windows/surroundings -youre then seeing the gloss finish that’s right below the satin final coat. meguire’s et all dont “polish the satin to a gloss”, they simply contain light abrasives in the liquid (think “softscrub”) that simply remove the satin top layer exposing the gloss underneath…