Maintaining vintage guitars

[WillMbCdn5]

I have a 51' Gibson Super 300 18" archtop in original finish ( not sure what it actually is - nitro maybe?), which has lovely patina and character crazing. I'm a bit lazy about cleaning it after playing it daily so fingerprints and body oils build up . I know bad me! but hey it is what it is. What is the best way to clean and is a carnauba "protector" coat a good or bad idea.

Will

[Cunamara]

You can find lots of advice in the interwebs about this. Most of it is contradictory. A damp cloth is pretty safe and effective. People will tell you to avoid treatments with silicone... but Jimmy D'Aquisto used Lemon Pledge!

[gitman]

You should clean the fingerboard every couple of months, depending on how often you play maybe more frequently. You can also safely use one of the cleaner-sprays by Dunlop, Gibson, Ernie Ball etc. - that stuff doesn't mess with the old nitro finish on the guitar. Don't let sweat, dust, etc. build up , that will def. affect the finish over time. Any wax/silicone based "protector" is not needed nor recommended.
I would use Lemon Pledge and the like ONLY on new and "un-crazed" finishes - I'm pretty sure that Jimmy D didn't use that on a vintage guitar !

[TOMMO]

You may want to look into this fine product:


About Us - The Virtuoso Group, Inc.

[vinnyv1k]

You must be very careful with any type of milky polish on a crazed finish. It will turn the checks into white veins. Go to frets.com for sound advise on this matter.

[skykomishone]

Vinny's advice is best!

[deacon Mark]

You can us Naptha to do a nice cleaning of the guitar it will remove all the crude and clean fine. Can be used with vintage nitrocellulose finishes. Personally I would not be thing doing this very often if you just wipe the guitar with a clean soft cotton cloth after each time you play it you probably are fine. One can actually be a bit scrupulous about the guitar and what the finish looks like. I even can get that way. The way I combat the problem is I usually play with long sleeves and sometime put a small towel under my right arm as it rest on the body playing the guitar. Wear can start at this point on the finish. You cannot do anything about the back of the neck and maybe a point of joy is after many years the finish is wearing off...……….wow I played my guitar a lot. Nothing wrong with this. Again this wear can depend on the person and the way they play and sweat. I am pretty easy on guitars and my most played guitar in the past 25 years shows no signs of any neck finish wear to speak of.

One thing is that it depends on how much you are playing gigs with the guitar and the general environment it is in. I personally don't gig much at all these days too busy doing repairs and that pays more. For my own guitars I simply wipe them off but not even every time I use the guitar. Maybe about once a year I take all the hardware off and do an nice clean with Meguiars mirror glaze https://www.meguiarsdirect.com/megui...laze-16oz.html

This contains no silicone and does not cut any finish is simply gives the guitar the wet look finish and it is nice. No need to do this very often as I said I do it about once a year. It is the final polish I used on an guitar that has just been completely finished. This means all the sanding, buffing, and hard work is done. This just removes any fingerprint markings and makes the finish look untouched by humans.

[WillMbCdn5]

Thanks all for the great advice and info!!!

cheers
Will

[Longways to Go]

I have a guitar buddy who plays all of the time on a very fancy nice Martin 12th fret acoustic parlor guitar.
It's one of their high $$$$ guitarz. Not really my thing, but his idea of the dream guitar.

In order to protect it, he decided to wear a terrycloth wristband to cushion the point where the right arm rests on the lower bout in order to avoid wear. In an ironic twist of fate, his black terrycloth wristband bled a dark stain into his guitar over time. Oops! Reminds me of getting a tattoo. Not really a vintage story, but . . .

My mantra on vintage guitar maintenance is "don't fix it if it ain't broke".
Dust it off once in a while, or maybe change the strings?

[ptchristopher3]

[...] Dust it off once in a while, or maybe change the strings?

Thank you.

Every other bit of “advice” you have heard can do easily as much harm as good.

Yes, in principle, naptha can be used to clean a nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

But,...

and it’s a big butt,...

Loading up a crud-filled finish crack (craze, gap, etc.) with oil, dead skin, and probably other crap, that has been suspended in naptha is a little shy of advisable.

and...

The arguable problem with EVERY bit of jerk-ass goo being sold as a guitar “polish” is that you will be using it to fill gaps in the finish down to bare wood.

This will sound remarkably un-gratifying (unless you are a ‘player’ above all else), but maybe give it a solid wipe-down now and then. And maybe (if you are VERY VERY VERY careful) give it a wipe down ONCE with a clean cotton diaper (or old handkerchief, washed many times) that has been very lightly exposed to naptha.

The idea being to get the naptha on the surface of the finish but not into the cracks.

But as Longways’ says, just play the thing and note that the majority of “cleaning” protocols carry far more opportunities for harm than good.

Make musical sounds. It is the ultimate cleanser.

In my opinion.