![]() ![]() My very first guitar was an ES-335 12-string ('67) that had been abused a bit. If you've got the money, someone out there is willing to take it from you. No one on the planet has been able to confirm that it makes a bit of difference, but he's got yahoos handing him money and swearing by it nonetheless. He thinks that it's better that his stuff gets absorbed a micron or two deeper into the board. Even though Gibson and Martin have recommended mineral oil and boiled linseed oil for fretboards on their guitars for a jillion years, he thinks he has a better idea (the old one wasn't broken, BTW). While you're at it, you should probably send some money to the Fret Doctor as well. The best you can hope for is that your $20 didn't buy you a problem that will show up in a "while." Ya pays your money and ya takes your chances. I always love to see folks pay big bucks for a tiny bottle of Pledge (Gibson's product). Meanwhile, you've taken the word of some folks who've used it for at most a few years and you're turning around and extolling its virtues while sniffing at my mention of what the prices are after you've used it for fifteen minutes. Forty-three years with excellent results is enough of a "while" for me. You've never had a nitro finished guitar. I'm simply pointing out what you asked what the best polish for a nitro finished guitar is. You're barking up the wrong tree, buddy, criticizing someone for saving $20 on guitar care products. ![]() It took a while for Gibson to realize that the case innerds would react with and even embed in nitrocellulose lacquer, changing the color of white guitars. It took a while for people to realize that certain kinds of rubber reacted with Nitro to cause it to flow and even come off the guitar completely. It took a while for people to realize that nitrocellulose lacquer would rot - that it would break down into sulfuric and nitric acids (two of the primary components of its manufacture) and discolor, check and flake off. It took a while for Gibson to realize that the cherry stain it used in its early guitars was UV sensitive and would fade. It took a while for people to realize that sweat entering the coils of an open-coil pickup could cause it to fail that tiny pinholes in the coating of the wire could lead to corrosion and the growth of crystals that could actually pierce the coating on a second wire and short out the pickup. It took a while for people to realize that pickguards on some guitars broke down (essentially rotted) and released gases that not only clouded the finish (a pretty common occurrence, particularly for guitars that remained in their cases for long periods of time) but could also severely corrode metal pickup covers and even the pickups themselves (see the blog entry from one tech's experience with a Gibson): ![]() Sometimes we discover problems with what seemed like a bright idea at the time a while down the road. I think the polish products have been around since 2000 or 2001? You asked what the "best product for a nitro finished guitar" was. The boys at Virtuoso guitars started selling guitars in 1995. I've taken care of them as the folks at Martin and Gibson taught me to when I was working in a music store selling them back in the late '60's. I've got close to 50 guitars at last count, some of them worth silly money to collectors. Not so much that I'm trying to save $20 on guitar care. Folks have used them with guns and tools for years in a LOT harsher environments than your guitar case. But your strings will last longer and your hardware won't be developing those little pits of corrosion that eventually turn into chrome and gold flake-offs, etc. They emit a bit of a vapor that condenses on metal parts and leaves a film a few molecules thick (no, you can't see it or feel it) that helps protect them from corrosion. These are Vapor Corrosion Inhibitors, and they run about $8-9. I've got guitars dating from 1939 that have been doing very well without Virtuoso, thank you.īTW - one other thing that I'd recommend. No paint manufacturer on the planet will tell you that they do, sorry. Virtuoso products are fine if you would rather spend the money, but they don't do anything any better than the above materials. The wax also helps protect the metal parts from sweat corrosion, etc. And no, you don't get waxy buildup and no, you don't affect the finish in any way and no, you don't affect the ability of the guitar or the finish to do anything that it wasn't doing before you waxed it. Here's a clue: Before Gibson started putting their label on tiny bottles of what amounts to Pledge, Gibson recommended cleaning their guitars with naptha and protecting them with good old carnauba paste wax (like Johnson's Paste Wax, in the tin). You're not going to kill it with a polish! Oferpetesake.nitrocellulose lacquer is a CAR finish (well it was until car makers got wise).
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