Questions about polishing a satin 335

[adibiaso]

Hello All-

Today the 2014 ES-335 Satin that i ordered from Chicago Music Exchange arrived. It is everything i hoped it would be and more. Setup was dead on right out of the case. Neck is SO comfortable, and i was surprised to find how forgiving of a player it is. During my lunch break i plugged it into my Marshall Class 5 and it sounded so smooth and creamy. Later this evening i brought the 335, a little pignose amp and a few fingers of bourbon out onto the deck and sat down to really get to know the guitar. It is safe to say i am quite smitten.

I chose a satin finish because i have three other gloss finished Gibsons, and always felt like the gloss was too thick and seemed almost "plastic-y". I also prefer plain tops, and it seems like the plainest tops are satin-finishes. That being said, i feel like it is a bit too satin-y. I'm planning on giving it the Virtuoso polish treatment with it's first string change... my ultimate goal is for it to look more like a 50 year old closet queen... a bit of shine but nothing crazy.

I know many of you folks have already done this with your satin 335's. The main question i have is... can Virtuoso be used on the headstock veneer? 

Thanks!

[merciful-evans]

I cant think why not. 

Regular playing will shine up a satin finish anyway (eg: where your hand comes into contact with the body). This has happened to mine anyway (not a 335), and I quite like the transition.

[littlejohnny]

I used virtuose cleaner and polish to make the satin finish on my es 335 look a little more shiny, treated the headstock just like the rest. The result came pretty close to the vos finish on high end gibsons, if you look closer you see, its just a little rougher. Go figure!

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by littlejohnny