ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Non ADA Gear => Guitars => Topic started by: rnolan on June 11, 2015, 04:08:06 AM
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Thought I'd start this topic just based on some recent experience. All I've ever used to clean the lacquered surfaces on my guitars is a little drop or two of lemon oil on a nice guitar cloth (I pick one corner). The lemon oil cleans any dirt/oil/dust really well and easily. I then just use a clean area of the cloth to wipe off and polish up. Worked well for me for years.
I noticed MikeBs LPC was nice and shiny, he uses the Gibson polish so I bought some to give it a try (I got the Gibson "bucket", 3 cloths, polish, finger board oil and metal parts cleaner). So tried the polish the other day on my Anderson (Nitrocellulose lacquer), hey, it's ok but I find the lemon oil works much better/faster/easier.
Though, no mater what you read elsewhere, DON'T use lemon oil on unfinished surfaces like rosewood/ebony whatever finger boards (fine for lacquered maple) as it has water in it which lifts/swells the grain and also leaves an annoying white residue.
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- Oil-Soap, Birchwood/Casey Tru-Oil and Gunstock Wax for back of neck
- PRS Fretboard Conditioner for the fretboard
- Dr Duck's AxWax for body
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Gibson polish. I used to use Pledge furniture polish until I got a nitro neck.
Most of the time my fretboards are "conditioned" with dead skin and finger funk. If I feel like cleaning them, I use a fingernail and tissue. Once every few years I use Fret Doctor on the rosewood fingerboards.
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Dunlop Formula 65 and an old T-shirt
On the neck: Dr. Stringfellow Lem-Oil
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BodyGuard - Spray & Guard Maintenance
BodyGuard - Guitar Wax & Polish
Proline - Lemon Oil Fretboard Conditioner
Lint-free clean rag.
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I'm using the Dunlop 65 pump spray currently. I used to use the Fender pump spray, but they don't make it anymore I suppose.
The real trick is not to use these new micro fiber polish cloths they are selling these days. They suck farts out of bus seats. Get the old style flannel polish cloths for buffing out the finish after you wipe it down. This makes the finish as slick as wet glass :thumb-up:
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Tend to agree about the micro fiber cloths, I was given one a while ago and use it for some things, but not polishing the guitar. So I use a bunch of old style lint free cloths, each guitar has it's own, and I use a couple of others dedicated to fingerboard cleaning/oiling. So I bought some Gibson polish recently (a bucket/tin with polish, metal cleaner and FB oil and 3 (old style) cloths. I tried the polish on my Anderson, isn't as good as lemon oil IMO.
The thing with polishing is that most are a very fine cutting compounds and the particles break down and get finer the more you work them (getting a good glassy finish takes elbow grease) so they take out their own scratches which get finer and finer the more you work it. Mistake is to keep reapplying the polish (backwards step). Brasso works very well as long as you keep working the same application, then buff with a wool buffing wheel in your drill (wipe ALL brasso off first and careful/slowly/gently), this then heats/melts the lacquer taking out the last of the brasso scratches (this is with Nitrocellulose BTW and after spraying the guitar then sanding with 1200 wet/dry using soap and water). Most guitar polishes are designed for after this step just to keep it nice and shiny and why I find lemon oil works well, doesn't polish, just cleans.
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Martin Guitar Polish
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A long time ago, I used to use a Gibson Polish that came in a black and white aerosol spray, and that wasn't bad, but I haven't seen that around in a long time either. I think it might have been Pledge with a different label :dunno:
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I have accidentally sprayed lemon oil on the body of my guitar several times (thinking it was the Formula 65), and it does a good job of cleaning the guitar too :)
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I use planet waves Restore shit (I wont buy it again though so only till it runs out)
it smells like turtle wax and probably is. I use this on guitar until is goes dull. Then I buff off with Micro Fibre cloth. I find Micro fibre cloths good for everything if you don't want to scratch. I clean cds and dvds with them also!
I don't polish with them I just buff with them.
I also use DR Ducks Axe wax. Its not wax at all though. I've had the same bottle for about ten years. Good shit so it is. Pisses me off though as it can be greasy and particularly on hardware/chrome etc.
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I was trying to restore the nitrocellulose lacquer finish on an old flying v, went through so many different cleaners and polishes, and to be honest it was making the finish worse, almost as if the lacquer was too soft and sticky. I ended up taking a chance and buying some Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish (bloody expensive though), it worked really well and also seemed to harden the surface of the lacquer (so no more sticky neck).
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That Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish,is this something special,never heard of it before?
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Hey MJMP, I think the Virtuoso stuff is made in the US but I managed to find one place that sold it in the UK. I thought the sticky flying v was heading for a complete re-spray, the colour was meant to be cardinal red but had gone milky in places ... so I guess the Virtuoso got me out of trouble.
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Ah ok thanks for the info.
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To get ingrained muck I breathe on the neck to loosen the grime, then use elbow grease. Then after a thorough clean I'll use Gibson polish
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I have accidentally sprayed lemon oil on the body of my guitar several times (thinking it was the Formula 65), and it does a good job of cleaning the guitar too :)
That's all I use on the guitar body, cleans it really well, I've never used polish on the Anderson, the lemon oil just cleans, doesn't polish as such (typically polish involves scratching the surface (albeit very fine scratches)). If your guitar is finished with nitrocellulose lacquer, you can use a lambswool buffing wheel (on your drill), this melts the lacquer and takes out the polish scratches. If you really need to polish your guitar, use brasso but make sure your keep working the same brasso (don't reapply more) as it breaks down to keep taking out it's scratches, then buff. After that just keep clean with lemon oil (though not on unfinished finger boards as most lemon oil has water in it and it swells the wood grains). Although there are some that don't IIRC from a previous post.