Finish Care

[sliding-tom]

Don't know if this has ever been talked about: what do you all use to take care of your precious guitar's finishes? I'm currently running out of my Gibson and Martin polish and need to restock soon. I'm talking about thin nitro-based finishes, for the poly based finishes I just go with window/glass cleaners. Your choices?

[hank]

I use the standard Martin polish on all nitro finishes.

[JrGtr42]

I use either Dunlop or Smith polish. It works for me, though I'm pretty lazy about polish and string changes, so when I do the one, I do the other.
I know the Virtuoso is very highly regarded, though I haven't tried it myself.

[sliding-tom]

The Virtuoso is top notch stuff - especially the cleaner when you have a guitar with some seriuous grime build up. It's a bit costly, though for using it on guitars that I mainly play at home and keep in the case when not in use.

[Rockabilly69]

You guys make think I'm nuts, but after every gig, I wipe the headstock, back of the neck, and entire body with warm WATER, then, quickly buff the finish dry. Most the crap on my guitar is water soluble. I also do the same with the strings. I clean the fretboard with every string change. I wipe the fretboard down with warm water, follow with naptha if needed, and then oil the neck with Dr Ducks Ax Wax (actually an oil). I noticed extended fret life with constantly keeping the fretboard and strings clean between gigs. Once a month, I polish the main gigging guitars with a very light coat of Dunlop 65. This regimine seems to work for every guitar I own. I gig so much that constant polishing with wax after every gig seems to be a waste of time for me.

Dan

[gakees]

Ernie Ball Guitar Polish :bh . Sorry, but that's all I have at the moment. Fret Doctor on the fretboards about every other month or so.

[sliding-tom]

Thanks for your replies so far, guys. Dan, I don't think, you're nuts - luke warm water is being used even by Mr. Dan Erlewine - not soakin' wet rags, just dampened, though. And as long as the finish is intact, that's perfectly O.K., I'd say, but with nitro finishes there might be cracks where water could seep in and make things worse. :mad:

[Rockabilly69]

Tom,

I just use enough water to get the crap off, I never soak anything with it. I do soak the fingerboards in the oil though.

Dan

[bluespckr]

As I recall from the last time I read Dan Erlewine's guitar care books, too much poliching can be a bad thing -- the stuff can saturate the wood and change its tone. Obvioulsy it's not a problem for poly-finished guitars, seeing as the poly pretty much seals everything over. But nitro breathes and thins over time, and the stuff you use can be absorbed over time.

Dan recommends polishing something like once or twice a year, and simple cleaning and wiping the rest of the time. A huff of breath moisture or two, wiped with a dry cloth, will take care of the sweat spots on the body.

Having said that, what do I use? That Fender Maquiars cleaning and polishing kit. I don't use the polish much -- a couple times a year. But I like that spray spritz quick clean stuff. spray and wipe, and it's good to go.

[sliding-tom]

FWIW - I don't "polish" much, either, I rather clean the finish and I think some of the products that are called "polish" are cleaners, as a matter of fact, like the Gibson and Martin sprays.