Made my Highway 1 Strat finish glossy

[Post Toastie]

Just bought a Honey Blond Strat and took some TR-3 Auto polish(Blue and silver Can) and just rubbed it on with a rag and polished it out and WOW.Nice and Glossy thin skin look a la Custom shop.Try this first before you do the sandpaper and auto buffer and maybe you can eliminate that.I like the fact that I did't remove much finish at all,Why take off more than necessary.Sorry i cant post pics but for 6 dollars for TR-3

[Durvish]

pics please

[Post Toastie]

Durvish sorry i am not able to do photo posting.It still has some orange peel, but i dont mind that because i just wanted it to be glossy not satin.I didn't want to remove any more finish than necessary and it worked fine.Take off your back plate(spring cover) and try a little where the cover is so if you don't like it the cover will hide the glossy finish.I swear by TR-3, i had a 1965 Red Mustang with the original paint and used this on it and it looked great.73000 miles and some Know it alls said i was lying and just told them show me the seam lines from the original and the repaint. It smells scarey so be forwarned this stuff is powerfull.People love the relic look but if you want to make something like the plastic pickguard look good(newer) done.

[boris bubbanov]

I agree. Whether Strat or Tele, 1st Gen or Upgrade, try the polishing first unless the orange peel is obscene.

I made an additional pass on this Highway One Upgrade (nitro over heavy vinyl) Sunburst Strat that had fallen on porcelain, but mostly on the tail strap button, and with a thorough polishing and new Dunlop strap buttons, she's looking so good. I used:

Turtle Wax White Polishing Compound; in the big white and green plastic tin;

Meguiar's Paint Cleaner, Step #1, available in most auto stores;

Mother's Clay Bar with the spritz on detailer as lube to gather up any residue. I use a hunk about the size of my thumb and keep folding it, toss it if it touches anything;

Meguiar's Carnauba Wax Step #3. NOT the 'cleaner' wax.

Except for the clay, everything was applied with clean cotton washcloths and buffed with a cotton handtowel.

So glad I did not use the sandpaper on this one. I'm just gonna redo it like this each 6 months, but really most of the orange peel is long gone.

It is so slick like this, gotta be careful once again where you set it.

No scratches showing, but the gloss is such I can see the alder body join by the jackplate telegraphing thru, that was invisible before.

[Tim73]

I'd love to see pics too - a few posts on this recently but I'm yet to see any pics. I like the guitar but was put off by the tone. It actually sounds like a great & simple modification for this guitar

[Post Toastie]

Hey Boris your right about the seams.I couldnt really notice them until i polished mine and now i can see a seam on the upper 1/4 of the guitar,but i dont mind.It is worth it to also see the grain of the wood through the finish.The finish reminds me of the way Telecasters in blond or butterscotsch look with the grain showing.I have a 1986 Squier tele MIJ Butterscotsch Blond finish and i can see the 4 piece body seams through the finish.I think it is the glue that is used that causes the seams to stand out over time.I love that guitar by the way,Ohhhhhhhh watta neck!!

[Doug Ferguson]

If you can get some pics up, that would be awesome. I like everything about the Highway 1's (strats and teles) but the finish. It's just a real turn off for me. Normally I'm fairly indifferent to such things, but these just rub me wrong. Glad you've been able to improve the looks of yours!

[boris bubbanov]

I did go over the second red Highway One Tele, the one with the Keystones and a Warmoth neck, with 2000 wet or dry lubed by Mother's Showtime Instant Detailer. Then polishing compound, etc. as with the others. This took out all the pebbling left, plus lots of extraneous scratches left over from the previous smoothing job I did. I also swapped the # 0099 thick bridge for a $ 9 Fender one, even more twangy.

[Canadiense, El]

Sorry, guys. I'm a little confused. Where does the orange peel or pebbling come from? I thought this was a straight forward "buff out the satin" type job. Do you run into problems depending on what product you apply or what buffing technique you use? These seem like cool guitars, but I'm in the 'don't like the finish' camp for sure. Thanx!

Oh, and pics would be extremely helpful... somebody? ... anybody?... !!!

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by Canadiense, El

Sorry, guys. I'm a little confused. Where does the orange peel or pebbling come from? I thought this was a straight forward "buff out the satin" type job. Do you run into problems depending on what product you apply or what buffing technique you use? These seem like cool guitars, but I'm in the 'don't like the finish' camp for sure. Thanx!

Oh, and pics would be extremely helpful... somebody? ... anybody?... !!!

To address your question, in most cases (Note most)...just using compound and Polish will net you Glossy Orange Peel...to eliminate that you should blocksand 1st w/ #1000 Wet Paper, even up to #2000, and then Buff...and watch those edges !

[boris bubbanov]

I went ahead and did a satin poly Squier Tele Special (walnut stain over agathis). Sanded again with the 2000 lubed with the Mother's detailer ( yes, block sand ) followed by the polishing compound, Meguiar's paint cleaner, etc.

And I stuck a set of Squier 51 pickups in place of the so so ones it came with. very impressive. This proves how mediocre the stock pups were.

So, I've got a choice of taking some material off the undersides of the two outboard # 5167 saddles, or trying to get some Joe Barden's on there. The Joe's slant A LOT and so I don't think they'll fit, the through string hole is right there behind the saddle, too close for comfort. The action is too high, my other choice is to shim. I hate shims.

[Canadiense, El]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

To address your question, in most cases (Note most)...just using compound and Polish will net you Glossy Orange Peel...to eliminate that you should blocksand 1st w/ #1000 Wet Paper, even up to #2000, and then Buff...and watch those edges !

Wow! Is that what I should be expecting after the job's completed? It looks so different, and in the best way possible. lol That's fantastic... I've got a chance to pick up a Hwy1 bass in that colour and that seems more worthwhile all of a sudden!

[appar111]

Is sanding w/ 1000-2000 grit wetsand absolutely necessary to get rid of the orange peel? I have a black Hwy 1 tele body as part of my partscaster and it has the orange peel a bit on the front that I'd like to be able to get rid of without disassembling the guitar or having to wetsand it.

[mellecaster]

Others might know some tricks...but that's the only way I have had any success with eliminating it....don't think you can get away with leaving it all together, and have a nice looking end result...but some folks ain't as Picky as me ?

[appar111]

I'm kinda picky too. Even w/ a bit of orange peel, it still looks better than the flat/satin black did. Plus it's relicing up nicely otherwise so I think I'm just not gonna worry about it. The more it gets dinged & scratched up, the less I'll notice that bit of orange peel :)

[ryanrobinson]

Hi,
I also have a Highway One strat body that I used for my partscaster (which sounds amazing btw, fitted with Peter Florance Voodoo ST-60 pickups). I love and play the guitar to death, but I too am very annoyed with the "orange-peel" finish. In my case it is extremely severe, over the entire body and very noticeable close up. Otherwise it is a fairly glossy finish, but I would really like to remove the orange peel. I asked a company how much they could do it for, but to add another coat of clear and then buff it to a shine was going to cost me £200. After spotting that others had experienced the same problem as me with Highway one bodies and fixed it themselves with auto products then I decided to go down the DIY route and save myself a lot of money. I am terrified of taking sand paper to it though, as Fender advertise the finish as "thin-skin", and I'm worried of sanding through to the paint and ruining the body I already love. Could anyone please give me advice on how to get rid of it with detailed descriptions of each step? If so it would be much appreciated. Thanks
RR
(I'll attach some pics of the finish as it stands at the moment)

[still_fiddlin]

I would just build up some clear coats on top of that and start leveling from there. Deft spray cans seem to be the choice over here. Not sure what's availble where you live. Make sure the surface is clean of all other polishes, oils, etc., and scuff lightly with 600 or greater would be how I'd start.

[boris bubbanov]

I think you just gotta swallow and take some 800 sandpaper to it - sand off the nubbles and what carefully. I've done it on a couple of Highway Ones and did not blow through.

[Derek McNelly]

I'm in the minority here, but I love the way orange peel looks.

[Al Watsky]

I have 2, HW1 bodies on partscaster builds.
They both sport the orange peal look.
I notice that any where they are touched they buff up.
I was considering buffing them, but after using one quite a bit saw that the
finish was very soft. Very soft. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go right through it in a short time in the area between the bridge and control plate on the Tele.
I would not personally bother with buffing out this finish without overspraying first.
Even then I would fear that the under coat was so soft that the finish would not be very durable. I think they are intended by Fender to Relic naturally and quickly. I'd say they achieved their goal.
I like both bodies, both bursts , one Tele one Strat. Good weights. both sound fine.
Soft finishes. Don't seem as durable as standard nitro finishes.
Fun thing is the mat finish makes the guitar look older and it doesn't reflect lights in stage pics. Less glare. Its OK .
If it was hard and was mat that would be fine with me.

[boris bubbanov]

Al, those Highway One bodies you found yourself owning:

Are they June 2005 and older, or are they the newer, Upgrade version?

Reason I ask is, some seem to believe the finish was changed, the formula, from a soft lacquer to a much harder one. If yours are early, and the finish is very vulnerable, this could be why.

I've had a second mishap with my highway one Strat (Upgrade) in sunburst, shown above - a loaded Tele control plate fell onto the face of the alder body (don't ask how!) and dented the alder - but left the finish uncut. I'm thinking the newer ones have to have a tougher finish - this is the second time this guitar body has taken a big hit and this is minimal finish damage.

[isaiah91]

heres my 2009 highway one tele...wet sanded and buffed out
101709_1831[00].jpg101709_1831[01].jpg

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by isaiah91

heres my 2009 highway one tele...wet sanded and buffed out
Attachment 33576Attachment 33577

Yep...that's really the only way to get those kinda results w/o respraying...Nice Job.

[madmark]

thats sweet nice job...

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by isaiah91

heres my 2009 highway one tele...wet sanded and buffed out
Attachment 33576Attachment 33577

This is a great job, Isaiah!

Looks very glossy and wet.

[isaiah91]

thanks guys...i pretty much just followed what mellecaster said, and some advice from my dad(he's a body man). I thought i was insane at first, because i had just bought the guitar and the next day i was tearing it apart. I thought i may sand thru, but there was enough nitro to prevent that. Like mellecaster said, i started with 1000 grit, then 1500, then finished with 2000.I followed that by hand buffing it with a micro fiber cloth with some professional grade 3M perfect-it compund, then following that up with 3M machine glaze, which took out some of the swirl marks. But a big thanks to mellecaster because after i saw his tele, it made it seem worthwhile to do it all.