elbow grease

[blindboygrunt]

i am getting quite a bit of that sticky / milky build up on my j45 . its probably due to playing it with more short sleeves now that the weather is better .

 

i know everyone raves about virtuoso , its £10 a bottle . one says cleaner and one says polish .

do i need both ?

is it really that much better than the next polish ?

 

i dont mind spending the money if its for something worth it , but £25 to get two bottles of polish delivered seems a little ridiculous

[duluthdan]

Though I have never used it, I hear the cleaner is used in the restoration process, and not for general all around use, and further that if you have a VOS finish, it will soon be glossy. I use Preservation Polish from Stewmac, and its been good.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Abrasives,_polishes,_buffers/Preservation_Polish.html

[dchristo]

I heard everybody raving about the virtuoso also, so I gave it a try.

the cleaner will clean all the gunk buildup off of your guitar, and the polish will put a layer on that will keep the gunk from sticking on again.

also it makes the back of the neck very smooth and not sticky.

I think its worth the money, and it last a long time

[57classic]

I bought both the cleaner and polish. For what you're talking about I would think you only need the polish and several rags. I find the Gibson polish much easier to use and prefer it on the neck to the virtuoso. Virtuoso cleaner is great for getting pick and swirl marks off the guitar and also that haze other cleaner/polishes won't.

[BigKahune]

.

Virtuoso cleaner - if the "sticky / milky build up" is resistant to whatever you've been using, the Virtuoso cleaner will get it off. If the build up is really stubborn you might have to go at it two or three times.

 

Virtuoso polish does a great job too.

 

For everyday clean-up I use pump polish. For that once in a while good cleaning and swirl reduction I use Virtuoso cleaner followed with a coat of Virtuoso polish.

 

 

.

[jdd707]

Virtuoso polish and cleaner are great products! But start now before the "forearm rash" get too bad. My AJ has a case of build up from years of playing in a humid enviornment while wearing short sleeve shirts, often outside. T'was too far gone before I discovered Virtuoso (here on this forum). It has been suggested that the "sweat" from my forearm has caused a chemical reaction with the nitro. In any event, the rash is now part of the patina of the instrument and bothers me not. However, I now wipe down my newer instruments each time I play them and clean them at almost every string change.

[j45nick]

Virtuoso polish and cleaner are great products! But start now before the "forearm rash" get too bad. My AJ has a case of build up from years of playing in a humid enviornment while wearing short sleeve shirts, often outside. T'was too far gone before I discovered Virtuoso (here on this forum). It has been suggested that the "sweat" from my forearm has caused a chemical reaction with the nitro. In any event, the rash is now part of the patina of the instrument and bothers me not. However, I now wshipe down my newer instruments each time I play them and clean them at almost every string change.

 

 

There's a cautionary tale here. Sweat, deodorant, and skin oils react with a nitro finish, and not in a good way. I wear a long-sleeve cotton t-shirt when I play. Tom (tpbiii), who probably has the best collection of vintage Gibsons and Martins of anyone here, recently posted a picture of him wearing an old white sock over his right forearm to protect the finish of a vintage Gibson.

 

I tried that one by cutting the toe out of a tube sock, but found it to be a little too compressive on my forearm, cutting off circulation a bit too much. Maybe it will stretch out and be acceptable. (I have a lot of old tube socks, as we used them to store wine bottles on our boat when we were sailing around the world. Five cases of wine require 30 pair of tube socks. )

 

Gibson says to wipe the finish down with a non-abrasive rag dampened with water. It isn't clear to me that that will actually be enough to do the job, as it seems to me that you may just be pushing the nasty stuff around on the surface if the contaminant is not water soluble. Plain sweat is probably perfectly water soluble, but I don't seem to exude "plain sweat".

 

By the way, I use Virtuoso: a lot of Virtuoso, particularly on finish restoration projects. Cleaner for heavy stuff, polish for more routine maintenance. Your experience may vary. I recently used Virtuoso cleaner to slightly "gloss up" the VOS finish on my L-OO Legend.

[j45nick]

Good thread. I picked up a bottle of the Virtuoso "polish" when I got my new H'bird Pro, but am yet to use it. I do have a classical guitar I need to ready for sale, which has some swirl marks on the backside I'd like to remove. Do you need the Virtuoso cleaner to get these marks off? Or will the polish take care of that. Shouldn't be too much gunk on the guitar, as it didn't get a lot of play time.

 

I always start with the polish on the worst spot, just to see how good a job it does. If you've got old cleaning swirls, scratches, etc., you're probably going to have to go straight to the cleaner, however. It doesn't hurt to try the polish first.

 

Don't expect miracles here, but it can do a surprising amount, particularly on older or cruddy finishes.

 

Scratch removal is tricky. The goal is not to eliminate the scratches--which might result in going right through the finish--but to minimize them.

[bobby b]

I have had pretty good results with the Gibson pump polish.

I notice the same buildup after a few hours of playing. I usually cleanup after playing, but on occasion where I have left it for a day or 2, it takes a few 'cleans' with the pump polish to take it away.

I can see needing a stronger product if I left it too long. .......Hmmm maybe I should get some Virtuoso to have on hand, just in case.

[57classic]

I always start with the polish on the worst spot, just to see how good a job it does. If you've got old cleaning swirls, scratches, etc., you're probably going to have to go straight to the cleaner, however. It doesn't hurt to try the polish first.

 

Don't expect miracles here, but it can do a surprising amount, particularly on older or cruddy finishes.

 

Scratch removal is tricky. The goal is not to eliminate the scratches--which might result in going right through the finish--but to minimize them.

 

I was most impressed with the scratch removing capabilities of the cleaner. I didn't work hard enough to completely remove 1 scratch, fearing I'd go through the finish. I nearly removed it and probably could without hurting the finish but it doesn't bother me enough to risk it. Seems to me the key with using virtuoso is keep several clean cloths available. The maker recommends it and I've found it to be good advice as the clean cloths prevent recontaminating the surface of the guitar and grinding particulate into the finish.