j45nick Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 My 1992 AJ top and sides shine like new. Virtuoso cleaner and polish here. Agree 100% on this. However, the cleaner should only be used rarely, as it does remove finish over time. The polish is great for regular maintenance. The cleaner can be used sparingly on problem areas, or on the whole guitar if a major clean-up is required. Warning: Virtuoso Cleaner will gradually "un-do" (re-gloss) a VOS finish. I have actually used it for this purpose, as I'm not a fan of VOS finishes, which can sometimes go a bit too far in the "aging" process for my taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Do any of you get "Forearm fog" on the finish after playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Do any of you get "Forearm fog" on the finish after playing? yip , i do ..... someeone's gonna say 'longsleeve' tshirt though :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 yip , i do ..... someeone's gonna say 'longsleeve' tshirt though :) you should wear a long sleeve cotton.t..shiiiirrrr aw Sh!t..hehe seriously tho i have found the Virtouso Cleaner to solve my under arm clouding i get it no matter what I wear :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The dman Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Do any of you get "Forearm fog" on the finish after playing? That would be a big yes. This is my 77 Guild and I can see the same wearing patterns happening on my Gibson down to where my pick scratches the wood. My Gibson is still new and mint but I want to try and keep it nice for as long as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 seriously tho i have found the Virtouso Cleaner to solve my under arm clouding i get it no matter what I wear :) How is it on body odor when used on your underarms? I don't want to be around you if you have a cloud around your underarms...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasAK Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Developing the habit of wiping the guitar down after ever use helps. Also and vote for Virtouso polish! chasAK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trvlr Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I was surprised the job a water dampened cloth did on my 'git for removing smudges and the like. Turned out quite nice. Not enough to clear the cloud effect tho, so there's your Virtuoso remedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 While we are talking Virtuoso and polish, what are we supposed to clean vintage Gibsons with? There is no shine left, and hasn't had one for quite a few years and I don't expect it to come back! Here is my 35 L-50 (Elderly's sale pictures): http://elderly.com/vintage/items/45U-1500.htm BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 While we are talking Virtuoso and polish, what are we supposed to clean vintage Gibsons with? BluesKing777. Virtuoso cleaner and polish were actually developed for use on vintage guitar finishes that had accumulated years of grunge such as cigarette smoke and body oils. I don't see anything wrong with removing those, and you might be pleased with how good your guitar looks after the Virtuoso treatment. If you want the guitar to look dull and dirty, I would not recommend it. A lot of the dullness on older finishes is actually dirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Virtuoso cleaner and polish were actually developed for use on vintage guitar finishes that had accumulated years of grunge such as cigarette smoke and body oils. I don't see anything wrong with removing those, and you might be pleased with how good your guitar looks after the Virtuoso treatment. If you want the guitar to look dull and dirty, I would not recommend it. A lot of the dullness on older finishes is actually dirt. Thanks Nick! Small problem - the reason I don't have it now after reading about for a few years on this very forum - only place that sells it in Australia, apart from a dodgy Ebay, is Byron Music from Byron Bay.......well excuse the hysterics...Byron Bay...Ha ha ha heehheehheehhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo brother. i have never heard of Byron Music, but there website looks nice enough: http://www.byronmusic.com.au/ But seriously, send good money to Byron Bay? Ho ho who pulled the finger? Byron, home of the ole hippy/surfer/guitarist/vergie/Kombi as house - probably where my old guitar teacher headed when his band sacked him.....sorry, Byron....hee hee haahahahahah. I may be wrong, if so, sorry to the Byron residents, but I imagine I would have more chance of getting a bag of weed and some magic mushrooms instead of Virtuoso Guitar Cleaner and Polish at Byron.......hee hee - a bit hysterical again. So, where did you get your bottle, Nick? Guitar Center? They don't sell it international, nor Elderly's, just Byron Music....... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 So, where did you get your bottle, Nick? Guitar Center? They don't sell it international, nor Elderly's, just Byron Music....... BluesKing777. Well, I buy it straight off the manufacturer's website, virtuosopolish.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Well, I buy it straight off the manufacturer's website, virtuosopolish.com. Thanks! I will try them - often you don't know if it will actually ship here until you press the cart button...they like to support their local dealer. I have the Gibson Polish collection which came in the Gibson tin - which I had to have! It is great on the new Gibsons and others, but on the older guitars I just wipe with a cotton cloth. The white polish gets stuck in the various cracks and bips. So some sort of action on my behalf is needed to get something to clean the vintage guitars. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks! I have the Gibson Polish collection which came in the Gibson tin - which I had to have! It is great on the new Gibsons and others, but on the older guitars I just wipe with a cotton cloth. The white polish gets stuck in the various cracks and bips. So some sort of action on my behalf is needed to get something to clean the vintage guitars. BluesKing777. If you get dried polish in the surface cracks, you can often remove it with a Q-tip dipped in naphtha, but you've got to be pretty anal (like me) to go that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 How is it on body odor when used on your underarms? I don't want to be around you if you have a cloud around your underarms...... heh heh glad some one got it. I do think the Virtuoso will keep the 'arm clouding' under control ..it is on my HB..which you know I play a lot. I will clean her maybe once every couple of months..and the Polish just keeps her looking good. I have also given her a couple of deep cleans with the Cleaner..which apparently gives the finish some proection..and makes it a ,lot easier to then remove grime ect . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 This has GOT to the the only place where a conversation about aging nitro can turn into underarm clouds in 2 pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 This has GOT to the the only place where a conversation about aging nitro can turn into underarm clouds in 2 pages. i wonder is there a hygene forum somewhere that end up talking about acoustic guitar finishes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 heh heh glad some one got it. I do think the Virtuoso will keep the 'arm clouding' under control ..it is on my HB..which you know I play a lot. I will clean her maybe once every couple of months..and the Polish just keeps her looking good. I have also given her a couple of deep cleans with the Cleaner..which apparently gives the finish some proection..and makes it a ,lot easier to then remove grime ect . The Virtuoso Cleaner can be scary stuff. Last year I bought a one-owner 1947 L-7 that had been owned since new by a heavy smoker. You could barely even see the grain of the wood for the caked-on smoke residue. I actually had to throw away the old gig bag it was stored in, as it was stinking up the garage. I gave the whole guitar the full Virtuoso treatment. Here's what the back looked like afterward: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 quote name='j45nick' timestamp='1361278420' post='1330794'] The Virtuoso Cleaner can be scary stuff. Last year I bought a one-owner 1947 L-7 that had been owned since new by a heavy smoker. You could barely even see the grain of the wood for the caked-on smoke residue. I actually had to throw away the old gig bag it was stored in, as it was stinking up the garage. Well, my old Gibsons will soon enough be shiny like Nick's, because I last night ordered two serves of polish and cleaner. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Well, my old Gibsons will soon enough be shiny like Nick's, because I last night ordered two serves of polish and cleaner. BluesKing777. That should probably last the better part of a lifetime. I finally finished up my first bottle of cleaner after three years and several major resurrections. Be sure to use soft, pure cotton rags if you can. I cut mine into small pieces and throw them away regularly if I'm doing a major job like that L-7. Good instructions on the Virtuoso website, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 That should probably last the better part of a lifetime. I finally finished up my first bottle of cleaner after three years and several major resurrections. Be sure to use soft, pure cotton rags if you can. I cut mine into small pieces and throw them away regularly if I'm doing a major job like that L-7. Good instructions on the Virtuoso website, by the way. Good point there, Nick - on the webpage it says the 'chemical reaction' will leach other stuff on a rag. I usually use a microfibre cloth that I got a packet like the Gibson polish from a guitar shop, to clean; and then an white pure cotton t-shirt that was too small to polish... Do I need to buy cotton rags? I thought I would get two lots of Virt to last me without needing another delivery out here in the wilds. Do I need a rag delivery? And while I am asking you questions, I meant to ask about (dangerous, could be very dangerous for me) footage on YouTube with the L-00 Legend. Do you have any good links? I saw one at Dream Guitars, since sold, and went on a mission to find some Youtubers, but it is all pretty scarce... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 And while I am asking you questions, I meant to ask about (dangerous, could be very dangerous for me) footage on YouTube with the L-00 Legend. Do you have any good links? I saw one at Dream Guitars, since sold, and went on a mission to find some Youtubers, but it is all pretty scarce... I haven't seen any videos of the L-OO Legend. I don't think they've made that many of them, since it's an expensive little guitar. The TV version seems to have most of the features for a lot less money. As far as cotton rags go, I buy them by the big box at the local Home Depot. I also seem to have a lifetime supply of old T-shirts, but I carefully cut out areas of those that have dried paint, printed logos, or other contaminants on them. I haven't used microfibre much, as it seems to vary in coarseness quite a bit. Cotton is good because it absorbs things. I cut old shirts or rags into pieces about 10cm square for cleaning, and discard them as soon as they start getting seriously contaminated, which will be really obvious. For a serious cleaning job, I concentrate on small areas (say, 10cm square) at a time, gradually working on larger areas after the initial de-grunging, so that by the time I get to the polish, I might be doing half the back in one shot with a single rag. It requires patience, and a zen-like approach to the job. The L-7, for example, took an entire day to do the body, and another day to clean and detail the fretboard and dress the frets, another day to re-condition the tuners. But I enjoy that kind of stuff. (I spent 10 years of part time work--12,000 man hours--building my last boat, so I'm the patient type.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Awaiting delivery of my Virtuoso bottles, I was thinking about the Martin 000-15 I have (Mentioned in another string thread). It is really a 000c-15e - cutaway model like this pic: http://images.tradem...l/246274271.jpg I read somewhere that the Virtuoso cleaner will remove the shiny 'contact' marks from the satin finish - just like the attached pic, I have marks from my right arm on the top lower bout and also the neck (glad to say the neck is polished evenly all over!) Anyone tried this? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Me again! My Virtuoso stuff was delivered from the only place I could get it here in Aust - Byron Music! I sat down on my computer to work after the delivery (plus some breakfast) and then received an email from the said Byron Music to tell me that my order had been processed and would be here in a few days! I am awfully glad the person who sent that email is not the same as the one who sent the order! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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