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Cleaning my guitar


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Hello,

 

I'm new to this forum, but not new to taking care of my guitar, except for my 2018 Les Paul Tribute model. I bought it last year, my first Les Paul in 34 years of playing (couldn't afford one) and I absolutely love it. I've mostly owned cheap Ibanez's and bought a Parker guitar on sale brand new 20 years ago, but never a Les Paul, until last year. It has the honey burst satin nitrocellulose finish, which is why I'm seeking opinions.

 

I've seen around the web that some have used distilled white vinegar to clean the body surface (not the fret board, that's lighter fluid or naphtha), so that's the question...

 

Is white vinegar OK to wipe down and only clean the body surface?

 

I reached out to Gibson themselves and they said they've never used it, so they didn't recommend it, but only cause they've never tried it. They just said a very damp 100% cotton cloth. I've tried the vinegar twice in a year with no problems, but will stop until I see some of the opinions on here.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

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My advice is to get some cleaner from a music store made for guitars. Your chances of causing an issue diminishes I would imagine... No use trying to save a few dollars - and I mean a few - to use on a guitar that costs a small fraction of that entailed in the price of guitar cleaner. There are many choices to decide on, and I will bet they blow away the results of vinegar - and probably smell a lot better too... Just remember that guitars are made of once living things - i.e. organic. You need to think about how you would want to approach deciding what to spatter all over it. I have some real nice finished Gibsons, and mostly, I use a dry soft cloth. As a matter of fact, the cloth I use is a Gibson cloth... Like Rockgitarristen said, best options that you can't go wrong with is what he has suggested. There are others too, but his claim is a sure bet.

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Best thing I've found for Nitro finishes is Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish. It comes in a kit, one bottle of each and while more expensive than vinegar a little goes a long way. I think I bought my last kit about 5 years ago, own 8 guitars that I use it on and both bottles are still probably half full. You use the cleaner first, and then finish it with the polish. Be sure to use a really soft cotton cloth to avoid swirl marks.

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