Get a glass-like finish on your guitar by wet-sanding it.
Wet-sanding takes time but is worth the effort to achieve a mirror-like quality on your next guitar restoration, or when finishing a guitar from scratch. The wet-sanding process is done by hand using extremely fine-grit sandpaper and a small amount of water. By building a base with multiple coats of guitar lacquer first, you can wet-sand your guitar to achieve the reflective quality found in high-priced guitars. Start out with a stripped down guitar body, spray it with several coats of lacquer, and then you can begin wet-sanding your guitar.
Instructions
1. Strip the guitar of all its hardware. Take off the strings, pickups, tailpiece, bridge and pickguards. Take off all the volume controls, wiring and tone controls. If the neck is removable take that off, too. If the neck is not removable, cover the neck and headstock with masking tape.
2. Sand the stripped-down guitar body by hand using 120-grit sandpaper and a sanding block. When the guitar body is smooth to the touch, hang it in an open, well ventilated garage or workshop by screwing a small screw into the neck cavity where the neck was removed. Using the screw, wrap an old guitar string around it, then hook the string to the ceiling or a rafter so that the guitar is hanging at shoulder height.
3. Spray the guitar body all the way around with lacquer sealer until the guitar body looks wet. Wait ten minutes and then spray it again. Continue spraying it every ten minutes until the can is empty.
4. Sand the guitar body with 180-grit sandpaper, holding the sandpaper in your hand. Spray the guitar body every ten minutes until you have used all three cans of lacquer. Wait 24 hours for the guitar body to dry.
5. Take the guitar body down from where it was hanging. Lay it down on a worktable on a towel.
6. Wrap the 1000-grit sandpaper around the sanding block and soak it in water until the sandpaper is pliable. Begin sanding on the guitar body by hand, holding the sanding sponge in your hand. Sand in small circles, stopping every few minutes to wipe away excess water. Closely examine the area where you are sanding. Do not sand through the existing lacquer. Continue sanding until you have sanded the entire surface of the guitar.
7. Take off the 1000-grit paper. Wrap the 1500-grit sandpaper around the sanding sponge and sand the guitar body, using small circular motions, just as you did before. Continue to examine and wipe away excess dust and water. When the area you are sanding begins to look like glass, move to another area on the guitar until you have sanded the entire instrument.
8. Soak the 2000-grit sandpaper in water and wrap it around the sanding sponge. Sand the guitar body to a fine, glass-like finish, using a small, circular sanding motion. Let the guitar dry for 24 hours. It is ready for the final finish to be applied.
