thanks for the help! as it happens I rang around and found a local experienced modchip installer that's willing to prep the pads for me for a mere $20NZ. I reckon that's worth it, given the potential risk. I normally hate to bail out on a mission and admit defeat, but the wife would kill me if I killed our brand new ps2, so I'm erring on the side of safety this time round
It's the scraping that scares me most....