Belt Buckle Scratches: Avoidance Ideas, Anyone?

[James Watkins]

I have found the soulution. Google "scratch pad guitar finish protector". These are about $20.00 and they work great!

James Watkins

[Jeff Jenkins]

Since the bass is finished with Oil, you can use a light grade of steel wool pad from Lowes or Home Depot #0000 grade preferably to lightly take the scratches out without going very deep into the finish. Belt buckle rash is really not that big of a deal to players, its just a fact of life. Now, collectors see it in a whole new light, because they are looking to own the bass for awhile, take a few pics with it, and then sell it or trade later for a profit, or a new G.A.S. acquisition. Nothing wrong with that, I do it too, but if you intend on playing your Smith live, dents, scratches, and buckle rash are to be expected and should you decide to sell it or trade it later on, its still going to be worth a little something, for sure!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jeff Jenkins

Since the bass is finished with Oil, you can use a light grade of steel wool pad from Lowes or Home Depot #0000 grade preferably to lightly take the scratches out without going very deep into the finish. Belt buckle rash is really not that big of a deal to players, its just a fact of life. Now, collectors see it in a whole new light, because they are looking to own the bass for awhile, take a few pics with it, and then sell it or trade later for a profit, or a new G.A.S. acquisition. Nothing wrong with that, I do it too, but if you intend on playing your Smith live, dents, scratches, and buckle rash are to be expected and should you decide to sell it or trade it later on, its still going to be worth a little something, for sure!

No.......

Guys, Steel wool of any grade can take the finish off down to the wood. Scratches down to the wood can not be taken out that way. Only a re-finish can. Even re-waxing at best might only help hide the marks and mars.

[Bob Faulkner]

I'm thinking I would stab myself in the face with a red hot ice pick before I took steel wool of any kind to my Smith!

[Desmund Nichols]

I noticed that under the G string, there is about 1 inch square or something that is basically scracthes due to slapping. Now I rectified the situation by makng sure my nails are cut before I play, but is there anyway I can make those scratches go away?

[David Powell]

Well, since my last post I have found a nice belt that has no exposed metal buckle parts. It is manufactured by Red Cap Industries in the USA from top grain cowhide for use in the automobile maintenance field where a buckle that would scratch a car's finish shouldn't be worn.

It is available from many suppliers, but I got mine from Automotive Workwear, Inc. They have an online store and the price is quite reasonable and the belt looks like any nice black leather belt. Look for scratchless buckle belt or no-scratch belt on their web site. These have a nice flat face of leather with no exposed metal. Two hooks on the back fasten the belt. The finish will get rubbed off the belt by the guitar (and that's OK) but a bit of shoe polish takes care of that.

[Jason Mendelson]

not sure how mine happened but they do... i keep my bass higher than my belt buckle... when I play upright I have my belt buckle on the side of me...

I think its from the keys in my pocket maybe?