Which Polish for vintage 61 Jazzmaster ? I had a scare....

[othomas2]

So I just had my original 61 Jazzy out of the case decided to use some polish I had...



I assumed this would be fine as it's made by Gibson and assumed Nitros friendly blah-de-blah... and perfectly compliant with my Fender.

I continued to dot the liquid over the top of the body and then began to polish, with a guitar cloth. Straight away it left noticeable circles in the finish where the drops lay. Luckily its a fairly beaten Jazzy and not a closest classic.... but you can still see the marks slightly. I grabbed a very damp cloth a cleaned off what I could.

This is probably the worst affected area showing the best example of the damage done....



Now is this taking a layer of dirt off or a reaction to nitros ? I looked at the bottle and it says it contains. Petroleum Distillates, is something that isn't Nitros friendly ?

It had me a little worried. Seems really aggressive stuff. I can rub it over with my finger and it's smudge over, but still leave the slight indents as shown here. It seems there is a lot of surface grime... but it's always been this way. As is the paint has never cured properly. I'm looking for advice on what is a safe option to clean and polish the guitar ? There's a lot mistiness to the finish and it seems to me it needs a clean and buffing up. Re-lustered if you will...

Any suggestions on what maybe have happened here, and the best way to proceed ?

thanks
Owen

[DGNR8]

There's no telling what this is doing. Polish should be fine, but clearly something is wrong. Is the polish old or does it need mixing? I would try using it in a small area that is not highly visible to see what it does. Maybe it is just removing dirt and oils. Is the polish silicone based? I use a car Polish called Finesse, and it buffs old lacquer to look like new.

[benecol]

Oh shiiiiiiiiiiit. Two things:

1) Dan Erlewine always recommends just using mild soapy water to clean, and a dry rag to buff to a polish. Start off with that.
2) All mockery aside, there are some questions that Offset is perfect for.

[stewart]

in my opinion, this:

Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument. You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

is good advice when it comes to old guitars. i would just leave it, but i prefer things like that to have a certain patina.

[othomas2]

The site crashed on me after writing a long post lol.

I'm normally in your camp Stewart but recently I've began to clean my guitars... I also think it can accentuate the age and glory in a good way. Dirt and dust too just aren't good for the electronics, so also just a part of the general maintenance. I've seen so many guitars brought into the shop that aren't working and it's mainly due to lack or use and neglect... being left in a garage etc.

The polish is only about a month old. Needs no mixing or anything. It has been really really good on my Poly Fenders... which is probably why just jumped right in there.

I've posted on offset. One chap tells me a should seek expenses for damages, and another told me not to pore straight onto the guitar.

I've managed to buff those marks out to a point where it's almost invisible on close inspection, so all good now.

If it had been a brand new Thinskin Jazz or something I would be livid, but it's quite a battered and bruised guitar anyways which quite frankly, I will never sell. Just another story to tell.

Think I will try this stuff, as most of the big guns seem to recommend:




thanks
Owen

[DGNR8]

I like the grime that doesn't come off, but not the surface gunk.

[othomas2]

Yup me too, I'm not meticulously restoring... just a good old clean !!