Hey all,

I have some minor scratches on the pickups of my recently acquired Orion 5.  I was wondering about the thickness of the plastic pickup covers and if they are substantial enough to tolerate a wet sand and buff to remove them?  Judging by the depth of the embossed "Alembic" lettering, it appears that I would be OK, but thought I'd ask around first...

Thanks!

Steve

On a 5-string pickup there is no cover, the coil is enrobed in polyurethane in a silicone mold as a unit, forming the decorative portion of the pickup. You should have a little more than the depth of the letters before you would hit the coil (actually you'd hit the shielding first), so sand away.

Wet sanding (carefully) with 600 then 1000 or higher is good, with the right sandpaper. Don't get water all over though. Then I use a high quality rubbing compound (many are graded) and an old Tee shirt, and work it into a shine. Lastly I use wax.


Really deep scratches might need a more coarse paper, but it means you have to do more work sanding out the marks the coarse paper makes.

David,
  Please give us an update on how well this works out. Maybe a few pictures?
I have a couple of Series pickups that the last owner / owners gouged grooves in them.
It hasn't gouged to the shielding or effected the sound in anyway, its just a cosmetic thing.
Curious on how well yours come out and method of polishing up.

Pete

Thanks everyone!  Mica, that is reassuring news...I'll post some before and after pics when I'm done!

+1 on David's tip... wet-sanding with fine/ultra-fine grit. I just fixed a chip in the ear of an AXY, then shined up like this.

Go easy on anything rougher than 600-grit, follow through with 1200-grit, then polish out with some rubbing compound. (I like Meguiar's #7)

Success!


Sanded with 2000 grit and polished with Meguiar's Scratch-X.  They look like new again...thanks everyone!