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Virtuoso Guitar Polish


drathbun

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I have been an avid proponent and advocate of Virtuoso Guitar Polish for at least a decade. I bought my bottle of Virtuoso Polish and one of the cleaner at Long & McQuade for about $14.50 Cdn (each), 10 years ago. I have been using it very very sparingly over the last couple of years because it doesn't seem to be available in Canada anymore.

 

I have plenty of the Cleaner left, but the polish is down to the last little dollup. So I decided to bite the bullet and order a bottle from Virtuoso directly. I was pleased to see a bottle is only $10US which is $13.77 in Canadian dollars today. Woohoo! However, once you add shipping to Canada (I know we're half-way around the globe from Canoga Park, California), it comes to a whopping $49.72 Cdn! Holy spit 'n polish Batman!

 

ehjRNW2.jpg?2

 

So I decided to do some research on substitution and went down the internet rabbit hole. I have Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 but I've read that contains silicone. I'm not sure it does because people over at the Rickenbacker forum have been claiming for years that it works great and is silicone free. However, I looked further.

 

From what I've read, the consensus is that other than Virtuoso, Meguiar's Mirror Glaze 9 Swirl Remover 2.0 is silicone free and just the right amount of fine cut for a nitrocellulose finish. Meguiar's has a line of products that are "Body Shop Safe" meaning they don't contain elements that impair paint adhesion. According to Meguiars, #9 is Body Shop Safe (yellow bottle).

 

I looked for it at Canadian Tire. It is on their website but not available online or in any store in Canada. I looked at the Meguiar's website for retailers and found WalMart Canada carries it. I went to WalMart.ca and found they don't carry it in any brick and mortar store in Canada. However, you can buy it online for $70 a bottle with added shipping. [scared] [scared] [scared]

 

Seriously? It is $20 Cdn a bottle on the CanTire website! It looks like WalMart found there was a world-wide shortage of Meguiar's too and has jacked prices as if it is a drug needed for life and death illnesses.

 

So I went to Amazon.ca and found a bottle for $20.73 with free shipping (Amazon Prime). I ordered it yesterday and it arrived today. No wonder Jeff Bezos is rich!

 

HsqYjUX.jpg?2

 

So here are some calculations on the price indices of polish.

 

Virtuoso Polish - Cdn $49.72 (shipped) for 4 oz bottle = $12.43 per ounce

 

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Swirl Remover - Cdn $20.72 (shipped) for 16 oz bottle = $1.29 per ounce

 

I will give it a try and render a verdict. If it works as well as Virtuoso, this bottle will last me (let's see 4 oz for 10 years = .4 oz per year, 16 oz divided by .4 oz per year equals 40) forty years!

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It cost way...y.y.y more than that here and the only place with it in stock at the time was a place in hippyville on the north coast (Byron Bay) and I thought it could take a while to get them so I ordered 2 each of polish and cleaner and considering a lot of my guitars are matt, satin or no finish from so old (DON'T USE on satin finish! Makes it shiny) - they are going to last me about 450 years at the rate of usage! <_< Waterloos are matt, Lowdens are satin buffed back, Martin 000-17 is matt, Matons of mine are matt...etc

 

I always wipe my guitars with a cotton t-shirt after every play and that cuts the amount of waxing, polishing too, and now I mainly use it (Virt) for spot cleaning.

 

 

BluesKing777.

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I used a bit of the Meguiars on the SJ200. The guitar strap always rubs on the heel and leaves an abrasion. It is a good, small spot to test.

 

I put a small drop on a microfiber cloth and swirled it in small circles and then buffed with a clean microfiber cloth.

 

It came up as smooth and shiny as glass. I think it is a winner!

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It cost way...y.y.y more than that here and the only place with it in stock at the time was a place in hippyville on the north coast (Byron Bay) and I thought it could take a while to get them so I ordered 2 each of polish and cleaner and considering a lot of my guitars are matt, satin or no finish from so old (DON'T USE on satin finish! Makes it shiny) - they are going to last me about 450 years at the rate of usage! <_< Waterloos are matt, Lowdens are satin buffed back, Martin 000-17 is matt, Matons of mine are matt...etc

 

I always wipe my guitars with a cotton t-shirt after every play and that cuts the amount of waxing, polishing too, and now I mainly use it (Virt) for spot cleaning.

 

BluesKing777.

 

Now I have five guitars with nitro; Martin 00028vs, Gibson Hummingbird 12, Gibson SJ200, Yamaha FG150 and my American Deluxe Strat. So running out of Virtuoso was not on.

 

When I have short sleeves, I have a polyester sleeve I can wear on my right arm to keep the haze off the guitars. But even with that, they get hazy on the lower bass bout and get some abrasions from my knee and from the strap. I generally use Dunlop 65 and a microfiber cloth to wipe down the guitars after playing. During string changes, I will go after the swirls, haze and scratches.

 

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I have been an avid proponent and advocate of Virtuoso Guitar Polish for at least a decade. I bought my bottle of Virtuoso Polish and one of the cleaner at Long & McQuade for about $14.50 Cdn (each), 10 years ago. I have been using it very very sparingly over the last couple of years because it doesn't seem to be available in Canada anymore.

 

I have plenty of the Cleaner left, but the polish is down to the last little dollup. So I decided to bite the bullet and order a bottle from Virtuoso directly. I was pleased to see a bottle is only $10US which is $13.77 in Canadian dollars today. Woohoo! However, once you add shipping to Canada (I know we're half-way around the globe from Canoga Park, California), it comes to a whopping $49.72 Cdn! Holy spit 'n polish Batman!

 

ehjRNW2.jpg?2

 

So I decided to do some research on substitution and went down the internet rabbit hole. I have Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 but I've read that contains silicone. I'm not sure it does because people over at the Rickenbacker forum have been claiming for years that it works great and is silicone free. However, I looked further.

 

From what I've read, the consensus is that other than Virtuoso, Meguiar's Mirror Glaze 9 Swirl Remover 2.0 is silicone free and just the right amount of fine cut for a nitrocellulose finish. Meguiar's has a line of products that are "Body Shop Safe" meaning they don't contain elements that impair paint adhesion. According to Meguiars, #9 is Body Shop Safe (yellow bottle).

 

I looked for it at Canadian Tire. It is on their website but not available online or in any store in Canada. I looked at the Meguiar's website for retailers and found WalMart Canada carries it. I went to WalMart.ca and found they don't carry it in any brick and mortar store in Canada. However, you can buy it online for $70 a bottle with added shipping. [scared] [scared] [scared]

 

Seriously? It is $20 Cdn a bottle on the CanTire website! It looks like WalMart found there was a world-wide shortage of Meguiar's too and has jacked prices as if it is a drug needed for life and death illnesses.

 

So I went to Amazon.ca and found a bottle for $20.73 with free shipping (Amazon Prime). I ordered it yesterday and it arrived today. No wonder Jeff Bezos is rich!

 

HsqYjUX.jpg?2

 

So here are some calculations on the price indices of polish.

 

Virtuoso Polish - Cdn $49.72 (shipped) for 4 oz bottle = $12.43 per ounce

 

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Swirl Remover - Cdn $20.72 (shipped) for 16 oz bottle = $1.29 per ounce

 

I will give it a try and render a verdict. If it works as well as Virtuoso, this bottle will last me (let's see 4 oz for 10 years = .4 oz per year, 16 oz divided by .4 oz per year equals 40) forty years!

12th Fret in Toronto has it for Cdn.$16.50 .

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Generally I just wipe my guitars down with a slightly distilled water dampened diaper or t-shirt.

 

While I have used Virtuoso cleaner and polish, I prefer Renaissance micro-crystalline wax. This is the stuff I used while working as a museum curator. It is chemically neutral and free of any damaging acids or solvents. If it is good enough for the Smithsonian . . .

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I may be missing something here and I appreciate the fellow who wants to keep their guitar as pristine as the day it rolled of the showroom floor.

But as a classic rat rodder and Fender "real" relic guy I just can't get behind the whole polish until you can see yourself in the finish thing.

What happens when the polish gets in the cracks and checking that mom nature took so long to to acceive? Just spit on a old diaper and rub those

scratches until it looks like one of Elvis' old Cadillacs. I have never put anything on my guitars that came from a turtle and I never will.

Just sayin'

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I may be missing something here and I appreciate the fellow who wants to keep their guitar as pristine as the day it rolled of the showroom floor.

But as a classic rat rodder and Fender "real" relic guy I just can't get behind the whole polish until you can see yourself in the finish thing.

What happens when the polish gets in the cracks and checking that mom nature took so long to to acceive? Just spit on a old diaper and rub those

scratches until it looks like one of Elvis' old Cadillacs. I have never put anything on my guitars that came from a turtle and I never will.

Just sayin'

 

 

OK Hoser, what's the vintage guitar in the picture?

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Generally I just wipe my guitars down with a slightly distilled water dampened diaper or t-shirt.

 

While I have used Virtuoso cleaner and polish, I prefer Renaissance micro-crystalline wax. This is the stuff I used while working as a museum curator. It is chemically neutral and free of any damaging acids or solvents. If it is good enough for the Smithsonian . . .

 

Considering the vintages you own, that's a good idea msp_thumbup.gif

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I have always been highly satisfied with Gibson Pump Polish. And it smells divine.

 

I also use Scratch X to remove small scratches and marks on plastic bits like pick guards. But not for regular cleaning and polishing. That's what Gibson Pump Polish is for. I use it after every time I play, almost.

 

Red 333

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I have always been highly satisfied with Gibson Pump Polish. And it smells divine.

 

I also use Scratch X to remove small scratches and marks on plastic bits like pick guards. But not for regular cleaning and polishing. That's what Gibson Pump Polish is for. I use it after every time I play, almost.

 

Red 333

I second that , Red. I used to wonder about Gibson's polish and why it wasn't touted by many players so I tried it and was surprised at how good it worked. A little goes a long way and it lasts a long time.Seems underrated to me.

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