Buffing satin/matte finish to semi-gloss

[Ralph124C41]

I am thinking about buying an Eastman E1SS which has either a satin or a matte finish. I don't know as I haven't seen one "live" but there is a shop about an hour's drive away that has one.

I like sunburst guitars. And I like a satin finish on a dreadnought in the natural finish ... but I don't like a sunburst dreadnought in the satin finish and more so if it has a matte finish. To me it just looks ... wrong somehow.

I've checked similar posts here and the solutions seem to range from doing nothing except buffing it repeatedly with a soft cloth to elaborate systems involving several chemicals and some light sanding.

So is there something I can do which would follow the minimalist approach ... that is I just want a little sheen on the surface so that would be something like a semi-gloss appearance (or maybe even a semi semi gloss)? I don't want to do any sanding because I think I might ruin the finish.

I don't want to impair the guitar's structure or its overall sound. I've seen recommendations using a lot of car polishes and cleaners but also some guitar-specific products such as Virtuoso polish.

So ... thoughts?

[Earl49]

Many existing threads on this topic, of course. The short answer: it is easy to burn through the finish while trying to buff, and very difficult to get an even appearance, especially on the top. Satin finishes have a flattening agent added and are often thinner than multi-coat glossy finishes that get buffed out to a mirror-like surface.

Having said that, I own an Alvarez baritone ABT610. The body is satin and originally was very rough, to the point of being noisy against even a soft t-shirt. My goal was making it quieter. I borrowed some McGuire's from a buddy (cannot remember which type but probably "swirl remover") and buffed it out by hand. That took about an hour and turned out well. The finish is slightly semi-gloss now, but quiet. You can never get to a true gloss. I'm actually a fan of matte finishes, especially for stage use.

[phavriluk]

Success rides on the back of the original finish texture. Open-pored or fully filled, just not shiny? I think the first is not a candidate for making the finish shiny, the second might be. Time to have a person experienced in instrument finishing take a look.

[DickHutchings]

I don't think anyone can guaranty the outcome of your work on the guitar you're looking at. Especially if you don't have the equipment or the experience doing this. Maybe you can do it to your satisfaction and I'm wrong but this is my opinion.

There are millions of guitars to choose from. The easy answer, buy a guitar you like.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by DickHutchings

I don't think anyone can guaranty the outcome of your work on the guitar you're looking at. Especially if you don't have the equipment or the experience doing this. Maybe you can do it to your satisfaction and I'm wrong but this is my opinion.

There are millions of guitars to choose from. The easy answer, buy a guitar you like.

I think I like the guitar ... except the finish. It is not a deal breaker.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Many existing threads on this topic, of course. The short answer: it is easy to burn through the finish while trying to buff, and very difficult to get an even appearance, especially on the top. Satin finishes have a flattening agent added and are often thinner than multi-coat glossy finishes that get buffed out to a mirror-like surface.

Having said that, I own an Alvarez baritone ABT610. The body is satin and originally was very rough, to the point of being noisy against even a soft t-shirt. My goal was making it quieter. I borrowed some McGuire's from a buddy (cannot remember which type but probably "swirl remover") and buffed it out by hand. That took about an hour and turned out well. The finish is slightly semi-gloss now, but quiet. You can never get to a true gloss. I'm actually a fan of matte finishes, especially for stage use.

Those older posts mention using Meguiar's Step 2 Deep Cyrstal, which I can't find on the Meguiar's website.

I was just wondering if there was any wood specific treatments I could use or something like that marketed to the guitar community. I know Taylor Guitars used to use Turtle Wax Express Shine which I've used sparingly and I haven't noticed anything bad but I've stopped using it out of concern I had that it contained a tiny amount of silicone.

[Earl49]

Ralph, using Turtle Wax is OK on Taylor's virtually indestructible polyurethane finish. But I would not use it on nitro finishes, and have no idea what type of finish Eastman uses. Silicone is only an issue for future finishing repairs, as it makes them nearly impossible. You never know....

I really should reach out to my buddy when he gets back in town and see which McGuire's product I used for my Alvarez and make note for when this comes up again in the future. That is the only guitar that I am likely to try buffing on, so I did not save the info. I borrowed is almost full bottle and used maybe two tablespoons from it. For your needs, you likely want something that is a very mild abrasive, then go VERY slow and easy.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Ralph, using Turtle Wax is OK on Taylor's virtually indestructible polyurethane finish. But I would not use it on nitro finishes, and have no idea what type of finish Eastman uses. Silicone is only an issue for future finishing repairs, as it makes them nearly impossible. You never know....

I really should reach out to my buddy when he gets back in town and see which McGuire's product I used for my Alvarez and make note for when this comes up again in the future. That is the only guitar that I am likely to try buffing on, so I did not save the info. I borrowed is almost full bottle and used maybe two tablespoons from it. For your needs, you likely want something that is a very mild abrasive, then go VERY slow and easy.

Lucky me. I don't own any nitro-topped guitars. And I don't know, as I said, exactly what the finish is on the Eastman guitar I favor.

Well I went online and found it has a Truetone satin finish. There are some posts here about Truetone. (Btw, my very first electric guitar was a used Truetone. They were sold through Western Auto at the same time as Sears sold Silvertone guitars and amps.)

[Quickstep192]

Most polishing products are intended to produce high gloss. As others have said, it will be hard to achieve a consistent sheen over a large surface with an in-between gloss level like semi-gloss.

In any case, youÂ’re really just smoothing the surface when polishing, the additives in the finish that make it matte will still be in there. Matte finishes polished to gloss have an odd look because the surface is smooth and reflects light like a gloss finish, but the finish is still translucent and still refracts the light and affects how you see the wood underneath.

When I polish to gloss (by hand), I use a sandpaper called Micro-Mesh. ItÂ’s a series of sanding pads that start at 1500 grit and go to 12,000 grit. The 1500 grit pad smooths finish imperfections and by the time you hit 12,000 grit, itÂ’s pretty much gloss. The in-between grits produce a variety of sheens that may be what you want. I polish to gloss using MeguiarÂ’s Show Car Glaze. The Show Car Glaze has a very mild abrasive which can require many applications to produce the final result, but also limits the possibility of screwing up.

If I were trying this, I think IÂ’d try the micro-mesh and see if any of the glosses along the way were appealing and sufficiently consistent. If itÂ’s not consistent, IÂ’d continue through the grits and finish with MeguiarÂ’s show car glaze to make it consistent.

[Nctom]

I may have had good luck on my first attempt, but I used Virtuoso cleaner and polish to buff a satin Larrivee to an almost perfect semigloss. It just required patience (and a lot of experience refinishing and polishing antique furniture). So it should be relatively easy to to do if you take your time and be careful.

[jamf]

Here's a thread where someone buffed the E1OOSS which has the same finish:
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=675855