Marks from rubber guitar tuner pads on headstock: white gloss

[MaxJaffa]

Hi All,
Can anyone assist? I have a PRS S2 Standard 24 in full gloss antique white - a lovely piece of kit!
Unfortunately, it now has a couple of blemishes on the head where I positioned a tuner. Not for long - as soon as I saw what it was doing I removed it and now use pedal or phone tuners only.
My question is - is there any kind of polish / process that will remove the blemish? It's not the end of the world, but I would like to smarten it up again.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

[László]

Hi All,
Can anyone assist? I have a PRS S2 Standard 24 in full gloss antique white - a lovely piece of kit!
Unfortunately, it now has a couple of blemishes on the head where I positioned a tuner. Not for long - as soon as I saw what it was doing I removed it and now use pedal or phone tuners only.
My question is - is there any kind of polish / process that will remove the blemish? It's not the end of the world, but I would like to smarten it up again.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Assuming they're not marks where the rubber melted the finish chemically, you could try polishing out the marks with a good polish. I'd recommend the two Virtuoso Polish products. You start with the heavier grit, and then move to the lighter grit for final polish.

A soft microfiber cloth generally won't leave swirl marks, unlike cotton.

I use these for polishing, but I confess I'm a perfectionist:

Microfiber Plush Edgeless Towels, Set of 6

Our Microfiber Plush Edgeless Towel's long, plush nap and edgeless design make them a versatile addition to your car care arsenal.

www.griotsgarage.com

Rub fast and light, not hard. Let the polish do the work. The object is to have the polish break down into smaller, finer particles, and then move to the lighter grit and do the same thing.

 

[dmatthews]

Curious to know what clip-on tuner it was/is?

 

[MaxJaffa]

I use 2 kinds of tuner - the Fender FT-1 and the Snark SN5. I don't know which of those tuners caused the problem.

 

[MaxJaffa]

Assuming they're not marks where the rubber melted the finish chemically, you could try polishing out the marks with a good polish. I'd recommend the two Virtuoso Polish products. You start with the heavier grit, and then move to the lighter grit for final polish.

A soft microfiber cloth generally won't leave swirl marks, unlike cotton.

I use these for polishing, but I confess I'm a perfectionist:

Microfiber Plush Edgeless Towels, Set of 6

Our Microfiber Plush Edgeless Towel's long, plush nap and edgeless design make them a versatile addition to your car care arsenal.

www.griotsgarage.com

Rub fast and light, not hard. Let the polish do the work. The object is to have the polish break down into smaller, finer particles, and then move to the lighter grit and do the same thing.

Thanks for your help with this László. I'll give it a shot.

 

[JasonE]

I have never been a fan of clip on tuners. I bought an Intellitouch clip on tuner when they came out. This is the one that everyone wanted. It worked well in a quiet room. I tried using it on stage with an acoustic guitar. If anyone else made noise on the stage it would vibrate the guitar and make the tuner useless. I much prefer using a tuning pedal. That way I have a direct signal into the tuner and can tune silently. The issue you have is yet another reason to not buy a clip on tuner. I have always had a pedal board when playing electric guitar and have always used a tuner pedal in this situation.

The approach that @László gave you will work if it isn't melted into the finish. There are a few polishes or compounds you could use. You could use a rubbing compound for automotive paint. Just be careful with it and check how it looks often. You could use something like a #9 swirl remover. It will take longer to get where you want to go because it is much less aggressive but you will also not take off too much and end up with something else you don't like.

 

[MaxJaffa]

I have never been a fan of clip on tuners. I bought an Intellitouch clip on tuner when they came out. This is the one that everyone wanted. It worked well in a quiet room. I tried using it on stage with an acoustic guitar. If anyone else made noise on the stage it would vibrate the guitar and make the tuner useless. I much prefer using a tuning pedal. That way I have a direct signal into the tuner and can tune silently. The issue you have is yet another reason to not buy a clip on tuner. I have always had a pedal board when playing electric guitar and have always used a tuner pedal in this situation.

The approach that @László gave you will work if it isn't melted into the finish. There are a few polishes or compounds you could use. You could use a rubbing compound for automotive paint. Just be careful with it and check how it looks often. You could use something like a #9 swirl remover. It will take longer to get where you want to go because it is much less aggressive but you will also not take off too much and end up with something else you don't like.

I'm beginning to think that that might be the best approach Jason. The blemish does seem to have penetrated into the finish. I'll carefully try an automotive product that I have, but will be prepared to be very gentle - and to back off if it's not working.
Thank you for your help.

 

[László]

There are a few polishes or compounds you could use. You could use a rubbing compound for automotive paint. Just be careful with it and check how it looks often. You could use something like a #9 swirl remover. It will take longer to get where you want to go because it is much less aggressive but you will also not take off too much and end up with something else you don't like.

This also works. I used Meguiar's products on my cars and their swirl remover on guitars for a long time. Most excellent stuff.

I switched to the Virtuoso polish because the light one gives me a gloss that's indistinguishable from new, and it works very quickly without a lot of rubbing. Maybe the particles are finer, I have no idea. But it works.

 

[John F]

I have used Magic Eraser on many things to remove blemishes. Only used water and a new pad to get the job done. Try it lightly in a small area before getting busy with it to be sure it doesn’t cause a problem.