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New J15 clean and polish products advice


sbGuitarLover

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Just brought home a new WC J15 LTD AE with a walnut fingerboard.  I've never owned a good guitar before, only $125 good-enoughs.   What a nice sounding guitar and nice to play.  Anyway...  I don't know how to take care of it.  The fingerboard, neck, and strings are a little sticky because I bought the floor demo model.  I want to slicken things up, but want to make sure I don't mess things up instead.  I have Gerlitz Guitar Honey which is said to be for dark fretboard woods, Dunlop 65 string cleaner, and Dunlop 65 guitar polish.  Looking for some help on what I should do to get my new guitar polished up and remove the sticky feel.  Thanks!

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Congratulations on the J-15, they are fabulous guitars, a classic for the future.

I use Dr Duck's Ax Wax on my Walnut fretboard and bridge, sparingly mind. And I use Dunlop 65 polish for the guitar, not had any problems. The only concern for potential owners of this model appears to be whether the Walnut fretboard will stand up to regular use, in comparison to Rosewood or Ebony. I've had mine almost four months now, and played it at length every day. There is barely a sign of wear, in fact I've seen Rosewood wear faster than this.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine, and welcome to the forum.

Steve.

Edited by frenchie1281734003
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I can only tell you what I use on a new to me grimy guitar.  I go with Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish on the guitar body.  On the board I use Fret Doctor although any good bore oil will work.  But after that initial cleaning I use no cleaners or polishes on a regular basis but only wipe the guitars down with cheesecloth or something.

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Welcome and Congrats !    There was a thread here a month or two ago on Fretboard Oiling / Care which was pretty detailed.  See if you can find it with the 'search' function.  

Two suggestions though:  Your guitar finish - nitrocellulose, is possibly still 'curing' -  you should avoid anything other than mild cleaners and polishes for a year.  At all costs, do NOT spray it, or your arm, with Insect Repellant. It will leave a permanent smear, and ;  Keep your fretting fingers clean when playing and you won't be grinding  all sorts of foreign substances into your walnut fretboard.   G'Luck !  

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1 hour ago, fortyearspickn said:

Two suggestions though:  Your guitar finish - nitrocellulose, is possibly still 'curing' -  you should avoid anything other than mild cleaners and polishes for a year.  At all costs, do NOT spray it, or your arm, with Insect Repellant. It will leave a permanent smear, and ;  Keep your fretting fingers clean when playing and you won't be grinding  all sorts of foreign substances into your walnut fretboard.   G'Luck !  

And I thought you were just  going to tell SB about Virtuoso polish. The stuff does seem to work so well with Gibson nitro finishes. That should take care of some of the new guitar stickiness that some report on the back of new Gibson guitar necks. Of all the new ones I’ve brought home, never experienced that, because a little time spent with the Virtuoso polish is one of the getting-to-know-you things done when warming up to a new guitar.

40Yrs- also good to caution a nitro newbie about insect repellent and n. lacquer finishes. 

And as always… pics or didn’t happen!

congrats/enjoy 

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For the top, body, back of the neck, and headstock, I  use Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze #34/ProfessionalFinal Inspection on all of my guitars after nearly each gig.   I used to use an easy wipe off Fender polish at times as well as an easy wipe off Piano polish...and, noticed that it n both bottles it said the polishes were made by Meguiars for Fender.   I liked the way those polishes kept my guitars clean and well kept without any residue, etc.
 

So, I called Meguiars (having used their various polishes for 30 years on cars I’ve owned) and told them I’ve seen that they have private labelled guitar and piano polishes for Fender and asked them if they make any polishes under their own name that are equivalent to the ones they private label for Fender.  They pointed me to their Meguiars Mirror Glaze #34 polish and told me I’d be very happy with it on my Gibson nitro finishes as well as on my Epiphones with poly finishes, plus they assured me it would not damage my vintage Gibsons or Epiphones.   They told me it is the same formula as they private label for Fender guitar polish and Fender piano polish.   So I purchased a bottle of their #34 polish and have not turned back since nor looked for any other polish, reordering only the #34 polish and have used it for years without it ever harming my guitars and always working great on them as a non-abrasive wipe on/wipe off polish.    It is my guitar polish of choice even though it is not specifically labelled a guitar polish.
 

Just my experience.

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

 

Edited by QuestionMark
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I have the virtuoso, and used it on my J45 once,.  Did a nice job cleaning and polishing it up, but then I came to the conclusion that people are paying extra for a guitars with a thin finish - so it doesn't make sense to put coats of polish on it, so I just use a rag and some distilled water now.  Probably some backward a$$ logic, but, well, hmmmmm.....

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1 hour ago, uncle fester said:

I have the virtuoso, and used it on my J45 once,.  Did a nice job cleaning and polishing it up, but then I came to the conclusion that people are paying extra for a guitars with a thin finish - so it doesn't make sense to put coats of polish on it, so I just use a rag and some distilled water now.  Probably some backward a$$ logic, but, well, hmmmmm.....

Its your guitar do what makes you happy. I usually only polish my guitars a few times a year and sometimes just where my arm rests and it feels all nasty. My satin finish guitar never gets polished. I think Taylor now makes a cleaner for Satin Finished Guitars.

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1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Its your guitar do what makes you happy. I usually only polish my guitars a few times a year and sometimes just where my arm rests and it feels all nasty. My satin finish guitar never gets polished. I think Taylor now makes a cleaner for Satin Finished Guitars.

Had a satin finish guitar... polished it.  doh.  And agree 100% - your guitar, do what you want, as long as it's for playing and not collecting.

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Sounds like a beautiful guitar! Virtuoso as others have mentioned..particularly for Gibsons. But wait several months to a year so the finish can cure as mentioned above. If it gets really sticky use it lightly in the mean time. I use absolutely nothing but Virtuoso on all my Gibsons. And use it sparingly, it does not need to be cleaned and polished often. ..maybe once a year with light touch ups in between. It restores the nitro finish to a sheer glass finish, removing all smudges from arm contact, and on the neck when applied and used as directed.  Use the cleaner first..then the polish.  You will need both. Amazon sells it and here is the virtuoso web site which also sells it. It's expensive. ...The really good things usually are lol! And Virtuoso is good...really really good for restoring and maintaining a nitro finish. Good luck with that fabulous guitar, it will sound even better when it breaks in and ages a bit!  An added note..Virtuoso is for gloss finishes not matte finishes. ...Al

https://virtuosopolish.com/

Edited by ALD323
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On 9/10/2020 at 2:53 PM, sbGuitarLover said:

Thanks for all the thoughts. 

How about using Talcum Powder? 

I've read in a couple of places that performing players use talcum powder to make the neck slick.  Then I read not to do it because it caches.  Anybody use Talcum Powder on their hands with a Gibson Acoustic?

What if it sticks to the Nitro?  I wouldn't risk it, just play it and let it sort itself out in it's own time.  My J15 just gets better and better with time and playing, I have to say the J15 has "developed" more than any acoustic that I've ever had.

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4 hours ago, IanHenry said:

What if it sticks to the Nitro?  I wouldn't risk it, just play it and let it sort itself out in it's own time.  My J15 just gets better and better with time and playing, I have to say the J15 has "developed" more than any acoustic that I've ever had.

D or C cup?

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