disaster Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Greetings. I just acquired a new G-400 Limited Edition. Very nice guitar, I'm very pleased with it. I have a question regarding polish. The neck has a very slick feel. Faster than any other gloss neck I've played. Not quite as fast satin, but it's good. I'm convinced that it's fast now because it has the "just off the production line" polish on it. I'd like to keep it just as fast tomorrow as it is today. What polish do you epiphoners recommend for your guitars? Is regular old furniture polish a good choice. Silicone polish & furniture don't seem to be a good mix, but I would expect silicone to help keep the fast slick feel the neck currently has. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 FingerEase string lubricant can be used to clean strings, make them faster, AND can be used to wipe down the neck to make it even faster. I know this, because i love this product. The fingerease aerosol spray is perfect for a day when you just dont feel fast enough. It does not harm the neck finish so feel free and spray the neck too. I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrooks0711 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I'm not a big polish the neck guy, but for overall polish I would recommend the Dunlop System 65 kit. For $25 it comes with Polish, Carnuba wax (stuff is amazing), string saver/cleaner, fretboard cleaner, and fretboard conditioner. It has lasted me over a year so far and I'm not more than halfway done with any bottles and that is cleaning 5 guitars at least once every two weeks. it's this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I'm not a big polish the neck guy' date=' but for overall polish I would recommend the Dunlop System 65 kit. For $25 it comes with Polish, Carnuba wax (stuff is amazing), string saver/cleaner, fretboard cleaner, and fretboard conditioner. It has lasted me over a year so far and I'm not more than halfway done with any bottles and that is cleaning 5 guitars at least once every two weeks. it's this stuff. [img']http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/4/9/7/251497.jpg[/img] i second mrbrooks. Best 25 bucks you can spend on maintaining your axe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I personally dislike anything to be applied to the fretboard other than lemon oil. The fast fret etc. products build up, and make future repairs or fretwork more difficult with less chances of success. Son't use furniture polish, its loaded with wax which will impregnate itself into your guitar and is near impossible to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 FWIW.... Don't use anything with silicone on your guitars!!! Silicone will get on every part of the finish over time and make it next to impossible to do a refinish on your guitar if you ever need it. I find that if and when my guitars need shining up, a bit of Naptha (lighter fluid) will take off any kind of gunk and not harm any type of finish on a guitar and then, very rarely, I will sometimes use a good Carnuba based car wax like Zymol which has no silicone, over a finish like what I have on my Taylor guitar (poly) or my two hollow body gutars. I still won't use that on either of my Nitro finished Gibsons but for no other reason than I kind of like the Gibson Pump polish is I am shining them up. It has traces of Nitro in the bottle which seems to make sense to me to use it on a Gibson Nitro finished guitar. On the freboard, about once a year or so, I will use a tiny bit of "Boiled Linseed Oil" which works well and gives the wood a bit oil, but you don't need much and you don't need to do it every string change like I hear some people do. Once a year is good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrooks0711 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Muskiron, as I was looking around I did find a Dunlop System 65 "Guitar Tech" or something like that. It had the string saver, Polish, and Lemon Oil. It also came with a string winder. It's 5 bucks less and seems like it would be more up your alley. I just know that those fretboard cleaner stuff pulls off years worth of gunk on fretboards. I buy most of my guitars in a state of dissrepair/neglect from pawn shops where you could scratch gunk off the fretboard with your fingernail and that stuff pulled it all off. TP- First off nice to meet you. I'm not questioning what works for you, you've probably got way more experience than I have. I just found it funny when I read your post because it reads like "Don't use certain polish, it will mess up a guitar. Use lighter fluid, it's much safer" LOL Usually lighter fluid is not the safer alternative, but I guess here it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Maybe TP meant use a lighter wieght fluid as opposed to a thicker, cream polish? It's how I read it. I use lemon oil on my guitars' freatboards (and my son's, and his friends, because no one cleans theirs off!:)) Anyways, also heard that Guitar Honey is great, and have seen it used on other's guitars. I just use the lemon oil and clothes and a very light hand with a soft toothbrush to get the gunk off of the frets. Of course, my guitars NEVER get a build up, because I always clean after each use. Now, my house on the other hand . . . :) Damp cloth to wipe off the sweat, dry cloth to follow and all should be good with the neck. As long as you are keeping the sweat off of it (sweat has salt, salt will corrode your finish), and don't let dirt build up, the neck should remain faithful. Now if your thumb is like sandpaper, then you'll have other issues. Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 TP- First off nice to meet you. I'm not questioning what works for you' date=' you've probably got way more experience than I have. I just found it funny when I read your post because it reads like "Don't use certain polish, it will mess up a guitar. Use lighter fluid, it's much safer" LOL Usually lighter fluid is not the safer alternative, but I guess here it is.[/quote'] Nice to meet you too mbrooks.... I think I am going to like this place! To answer the question above..... Nope, I really mean using lighter fluid. Naptha is just that, lighter fluid. My personal favorite brand is Rosignol. I participate at the Gibson Forum (Acoustic section mostly) and the Acoustic Guitar Forum as well. Naptha is by far the most recommended solvent for cleaning just about anything off of a guitar at both places. The only thing I really warned about is using any product with Silicone in it. Any good luthier or refinisher will tell you that having silicone on the wood is the last thing they want to do. It makes it nearly impossible to finish or re-finish wood that has been treated with a silicone product. On the other hand, they go through Naptha like it's going out of style. I personally purchased a small bottle of Rossignol lighter fluid (100% Naptha) and it has lasted me going on 2 years now. It would likely last forever if my 3 sons didn't use it to get tape residue off of their hockey sticks every time they change the tape! Of course it is very flammable so I don't recommend smoking while your clean your guitars, but it makes quick work of any gunk that gets on guitars. It cleans it off completely and rapidly disappates leaving no trace. It is safe for all types of finish including Nitro finished guitars. I have used it on all three of my solid wood acoustcis (Taylor 612C, Gibson Advanced Jumbo and an old 1964 Gibson LG1) with no problems at all. And it really works to get anything sticky off of the surface. I wouldn't recommend using Naptha the same way Jimmy Hendricks did on his Strat though! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Totally agree with Naptha, but lighter fluid, well . . . ? I think lighter fluid is not pure naptha, but a combo that can also contain butane, propane, benzene. I'll have to do some research on that. If it works for you, go for it! Sheila Edit: I take it back. Naptha is a combination of hydrocarbons and there are different mixtures that can all be called naptha. Lighter fluid it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrooks0711 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 TP: That is awesome info man, I had heard it mentioned before but never understood about it. So just a couple of drops on a rag I guess? Yeah I guess the Hendrix things was the first thing I thought of when you said lighter fluid now that you mention it. And you will like this place. A lot of other forums turn into argumentative petty crap but 95% of the stuff here does not. Honest answers for people, even people who are new here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsyseven Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 The best products i've used so far are: http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/LSGP.htm http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/GHS-FastFret-String-Cleaner?sku=420451 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I use naptha as well. I don't use it for general cleaning, but if there is serious gunk on a finish (keep it off of raw wood, it will terribly dry it out) the a little lighter fluid on a rag and bingo. You can also use acetone on metal parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 The best products i've used so far are: http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/LSGP.htm http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/GHS-FastFret-String-Cleaner?sku=420451 Lizard spit? Ecch. But not as bad as Gorilla Snot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 I've used Finger Ease since the 70's and have had zero problems with it. I just spray a light coat on the fingerboard and back of the neck at the start of the night and seldom use it again. I don't worry about silicone affecting refinishing since I haven't ever refinished a guitar in my 40 years of playing. I just buy or trade to a new guitar if I want a new look (grin). I'm super careful about dings and have never worn the finish off a guitar. I guess my weekend warrior style of playing hasn't harmed the finish. None of my guitars have the finish worn off where my arm goes across like the road worn models. I use Gibson guitar polish. It puts a new look on poly or nitro finish guitars and contains a touch of lacquer that beefs up the finish. I'm sold on it, but having seen the Dunlop kit in a precious post, I might try one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 On the fretboard, I use some high quality furniture polish with lemon oil in it (it's almost impossible and very expensive to get pure lemon oil - most lemon oil products are petroleum distillates with a bit of lemon oil in it). Note: I use it sparingly and only 4 times a year. Too much can be bad for the fretboard. To wax the guitar, I use Johnson's Paste Wax. It's mostly carnuba wax with no cleaners (as much as the other carnuba wax products). It costs a heck of a lot less than those products made specifically for the guitar, and it's the same thing. My can of wax has lasted about 20 years and it's only about half gone. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maniak Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Ok heres my $.02,,Dr Duck's Axwax and Stringlube!!!For a long time I only found it at Guitar shows and one dealer not too far from here which was ok cuz one 4 oz. Bottle lasts me a year plus and thats with16 instruments. Anyway now my local guy carries it too and acts like he discovered it even though i tried to get him to get it like 5 years ago. Anyway ,,this stuff is the bomb,,works on everything,wood,harware,strings and even plastic parts clean rite up and shine like glass. MY Noisemakers: Epiphone 2008 Sg Custom Prophecy GX Epiphone 2003 Korina G-400 Sg Epiphone 1998 Korina Explorer Epiphone 1998 Korina Flying V BC Rich 1981 Maple Mockingbird Handmade Ibanez 1976 Stratocaster Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom Charvel Fretless Bass Washburn Lyon P bass Guild Madiera P-600 Jumbo Acoustic Applause A-25 Acoustic Chuan Yin Marina Mark 20SS classical Carlo Robelli 5 string Banjo Carlo Robelli Electric Violin Kay Electric Mandolin Lignatone Mandolin Midiman Radium Keyboard 2 Marshall JTM-612 60 watt 1 12 Combos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 NEVER use furniture polish, like Pledge etc. I tried that once and left a NASTY coating! And the lighter fluid was about all that would cleanly take it off. I really don't use any polish, I just make sure I wash my hands thoroughly before playing and wipe my guitar strings, fretboard and finish down after every session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsyseven Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Ok heres my $.02' date=',Dr Duck's Axwax and Stringlube!!! [/quote'] Yes, i forgot Dr. Ducks.....really great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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