Questions about removing some finish scuffing

[DiabolusInMusic]

I have 3 different glossy sunburst basses, and they all have some scuffing, not enough to break or crack the finish on any of them but the scuff is large enough to bother me on two of them, the other is going up for sale and I would like to make it look purdy.

I will say first and foremost, I have no body work/paint experience so this is an experiment for me, any beginner tips you have are greatly appreciated.

First I have a 2010-1 Squier VM fretless jazz, the body is polyurethane, this one I am positive of.

Second I have a 2004 Fender Standard Precision bass (MIM), Fender doesn't list the specs on their site, I am guessing it is polyurethane, I don't know.

Third I have a pre-2007 Jaco Pastorius artist bass, I believe it is a nitrocellulose lacquer, it came with a little pamphlet about lacquer finish and crazing, I could be wrong though.

So I am wondering what works best to bring these back to their old shine. I have been told turtle wax and a chamois works great, but I heard that for poly finish, will it work for the nitro as well or will it damage it? The last thing I want to do is damage any of these worse. Anything you guys have used that works better?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Pilgrim]

To remove stuffs you need more than wax - you need to use a polish, meaning a substance with mild abrasive in it. The abrasive removes a small amount of finish material, smoothing the scratch/scuff into the surrounding finish. After that, a wax can provide shine. Poly is much tougher than nitro.

[DiabolusInMusic]

Ok, so I just get some car polish to bring down the scuff and car wax to shine it up? Sounds easy enough. Any brand work better than others? Anything I should be cautious of?

[Pilgrim]

Check discussions here for mention of Meguiars products. Although there are many products made for guitars, the auto products from Meguiars are used by many people.

Remember, you can always rub MORE. Go slow, check often to make sure you're not creating marks or removing too much material.

[Jazzdogg]

http://homesteadfinishingproducts.co...rubbingout.htm

[DiabolusInMusic]

You guys are great. This should keep me busy this weekend. Thanks a ton.

[testing1two]

3M Finesse-It or Meguiar's Scratch-X are as aggressive as I would recommend to do by hand and those are really only meant for fine scratches and swirl marks. For anything more aggressive you should really be wet sanding and then buffing on a wheel with 2 or 3 compounds.

Another option I like a lot is Micro Mesh: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sa...sives_Kit.html

[DiabolusInMusic]

Ok, so I did the buffing. I went to Canadian Tire, they didn't have any of the numbered meguiar's or 3M supplies, but they did have Meguiars ultimate polishing compound and Meguirs HDX wax (or something, it was in a black, shiny box). I got some terry clothes to work with. I was thinking about scratch-x but I thought it might be too much.

I must say, the results were nothing short of astounding on all 3 basses, I wish I had done this sooner it was so darn easy. They don't look perfect but you have to really look for them to see them.

Thanks again for the assistance!