GuitarJunkie Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 For about 3 months now, I've had everything ready to do the "Virtuoso Polish job" on my Tobaccoburst faded Les Paul Standard, except the time of course. For those of you not familiar with Virtuoso products, the sell a cleaner and a polish specifically designed for nitro finishes. The cleaner will clean your guitar including removing small scuffs and scratches without damaging the finish. The polish, besides making your guitar shiny, also makes your finish more fingerprint resistant and offers UV protection (less prone to fading) with no build-up. http://www.virtuosopolish.com/ I had read quite a few posts on several forums about other faded Les Paul owners who had used it to "shine" their LPs. Their results were pretty impressive. Luckily there was a place in town that sold the stuff so I picked up the cleaner and polish. I also wanted to add nickel pickup covers and knob pointers while I had the guitar apart. This week I finally got a few hours of free time so I took a couple "before" shots, took everything off the front of the guitar, and started rubbing. Here are a couple shots of it in it's original state... I removed the strings, bridge and tailpiece as well as the studs. After removing the knobs, I pushed the volume and tone pots down into the control cavity to keep them out of my way (same with the pickup selector). I wrapped the pickups in a sock and then taped them (masking tape) to the neck leaving a bit of slack in the bridge pickup wire so I could move it when I needed to polish around it. I also taped off the end of the fretboard. I applied the cleaner as per the instructions (a spot about the size of a dime to do a 6 x 6 inch area, rub it in, wipe the excess off, then buff it with a clean cloth) doing all of the work by hand. I read that it's the cleaner that makes the big difference. It smoothes the finish out and brings out the grain. The polish alone doesn't make that big of a difference (as far as shining a faded finish). I only did one application of the cleaner since the finish is pretty thin on these guitars, and I wasn't sure if it was possible to buff through to the wood. Once I applied the first coat of polish, I immediately started to see results. I wound up doing 5 applications of the polish and might have done more but I had to get ready for work. Here are some shots prior to reassembly... I added some nickel covers and knob pointers to make it look a bit more like a vintage Standard. The WD covers have the wrong screw spacing so I only slipped them on for the photos and the shop has ordered the correct Gibson ones for me. The whole job, from taking it apart, polishing it, putting it back together and restringing it took about 3 hours. I'd be tempted to use a low RPM buffer and do a few more coats of the polish. Here are some final pics. I had to go out of my way to force myself to take photos showing glare so you could see the difference. The before shots at the beginning of this thread were also taken he same way (that's how dull the finish originally was). For those of you that are active on the other forums, you'll probably see this post copied word for word there as well, since I had requests to post my results when I was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Very Nice, looks great Does if feel as good as it looks - sorry if thats a weird question but the one thing I like about the faded is the satin feel did this change that dramatically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 No, it doesn't give it that "sticky" feeling you sometimes get with a thick, gloss finish. It still feels like the faded finish, just not as rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 thanks thats exactly what I was asking about some gloss finishes are very sticky to the point it effects play. I have a few Rickenbacker guitars and the necks look and feel like marine varnish was used I'll take nitro every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaresz Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 That looks great! Is it the cleaner, or polish that would remove the light scratches you mentioned? I'm considering getting some to use on my regular finish standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mca Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 So nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRom Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Dang dude, you really went to town on it! Turned out great though. Good stuff that Virtuoso product is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 That looks great! Is it the cleaner' date=' or polish that would remove the light scratches you mentioned? I'm considering getting some to use on my regular finish standard.[/quote'] It's the cleaner. When I bought my used LP Classic (the little one on the left) back in january, it was pretty dirty. I used the cleaner on it and it also took out most of the scuffs and scratches. The polish shined it up, but the best thing is now it resists fingerprints and sweat. When I gig, I used to always get that cloudy spot where my strumming arm rested on the bass side of the top. Not anymore though. I go to wipe it at the end of the night, and there's nothing there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This one goes to 11 Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I know exactly what you mean by the cloudy patch on the lower bout. The results are great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibis Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I must tell my friend about this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schizophrenica Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Would this work as well on a gloss finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 If you look a few posts up I mentioned cleaning my used Classic, plus the added bonus of it now resisting fingerprints. Just like the faded finish, the amount of shine depends on how much work you want to put into it. I've seen photos of guitars where guy went nuts with the cleaner and polish on a gloss finish, and the results are astounding. Check a little over halfway down this thread. The guy did his Custom Shop LP and hollowbody, a VOS LP, and a Classic Antique; http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les-pauls/8550-virtuoso-polish-my-faded-lp-finally.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schizophrenica Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Wow that's very shiny. I saw your posts but I wasn't too sure coz LP's are new to me and I know very little about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_randy Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Interesting.I use that polish on my Gibson LP Studio and SG Standard.I always heard to not us it on faded models so I was afraid to try it on my sg faded.After seeing your results ,I did little search and found this sg faded polished http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1575 Your lp looks great by the way.Nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 Everyone quotes the Virtuoso site where they say not to use it on satin finishes. The reason they say that is not because it will do any harm, but because when you're done you'll no longer have a satin finish. Some people want their finish to stay dull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbuhl Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Does the addition of nickel covers change the sound of the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 Not that I've noticed, but what do I know? I'm just a rock pig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plank_Spanker Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Great job! The guitar looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibis Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Not that I've noticed' date=' but what do I know? I'm just a rock pig. [img']http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/jammin.gif[/img] Rock Pig don't like disco Rock Pig don't like dance Rock Pig don't like ambient Rock Pig don't like trance Rock Pig don't like R&B Rock Pig don't like soul Rock Pig just likes heavy duty Bad-*** Rock 'N' Roll -- Edward Monkton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertigoPT Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Everyone quotes the Virtuoso site where they say not to use it on satin finishes. The reason they say that is not because it will do any harm' date=' but because when you're done you'll no longer have a satin finish. Some people want their finish to stay dull.[/quote'] I'm considering doing what you did on my Studio Faded. Just have one question: What do you mean with it no longer having the satin finish? Is the satin finish that makes it look dull? I though that the satin finish was what made the faded slightly (just slightly) shinny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Paul Fanatic Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Very Nice Sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_randy Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I use the viruoso polish and cleaner as directed on my guitars also.It works well.Only thing I find is that it does not last long or as long as they claim until it needs polish touch up.It comes right back to life again with just a little polish,but must be way I sweat or s omething becasue it gets that cloudy area back on the guitar body within a week,so touch it up and ok again. I emailed the company and asked them and they said it sometimes is that way with some people and as long as it comes right back again with little polish,there will be no issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight sun Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I also have a faded std in HCSB. I have thought of removing all the parts as you have done but wonder what it would like if I had it coated with nitro clear coat instead. Has anyone thought or had their faded painted with nitro? Would it look weird or become much like a normal standard? Just wondering if it is wise to put a notro coat on a faded. Sorry to deviate a bit out the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyF Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 WOW! That came out GREAT!!! I've been meaning to try that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman831 Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 i basically did the same to my highway tele and strat with the maguire,s guitar polish.i rubbed a coat on and buffed for 5-7 times and now my guitars have a nice gloss and finish.i used frnder maguire products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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