In Praise of Virtuoso Polish

[nrand]

My recent purchase of a Guild D55 was musically fine but the finish was tired, and looked as though it had never been polished in recent memory. Further, when I sat outside in warm weather having a play on the first day of purchase, my right arm began to perspire and the whole corner of the lower bout where my arm rested began to cloud up from the moisture on my arm.

It look as though someone had damaged and pitted the surface it from earlier moisture and used some kind of spray lacquer to cover the damage. Bit by bit, over about four hours, 20 or 30 applications and buffing, and a third of a bottle of virtuoso, the gunk and apparent damage has now disappeared and the surface looks like glass.

Best 10 bucks I ever spent.

[Mr Fingers]

Many of us have encountered that icky buildup you describe. I think it's often the product of old wax/polish products, some of which contain ingredients that don't belong on a guitar. Hopefully, there was no silicone present, as polishes with silicone sometimes leave a residue that is virtually impossible to remove. A fair number of stick-necked, cloudy guitars are out there because someone used silicone polish. I've used Virtuoso, too, and it worked well for me. I now use fine automotive polishes (Mother's) but it's basically the same. Good going!

[Howard Klepper]

Virtuoso polish does contain silicone--that's what they told a UMGF member a few years ago, and then they tried to walk it back by saying it was just a trace, and not an "active ingredient" (why was it in there, then?).

If it took you 20 or 30 applications and three bottles to get a good result, I'd say you used the wrong product for the job.

[nrand]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

Virtuoso polish does contain silicone--that's what they told a UMGF member a few years ago, and then they tried to walk it back by saying it was just a trace, and not an "active ingredient" (why was it in there, then?).

If it took you 20 or 30 applications and three bottles to get a good result, I'd say you used the wrong product for the job.

Luckily, it was only one third of a bottle, not three bottles, luckily, and in any case it did the job. The haze that was there is now gone. I applied a lot of elbow grease to finally get rid of the residues. I will know better next time if you can school me on a better product

Is there something out there that does not have silicon or that will undo any lasting impression made by the silicon?

I also sometime use Meguiar's Deep Crystal high quality car polish and their Deep Crystal Carnauba wax - but these products I generally use only once a year or so.

[redir]

I like the Stew Mac Preservation Polish. They say it has no silicone. But even with that stuff it would take a ridiculous amount of buffing to work out pits and scratches and scratches. Sometimes it's better to start with a medium grit polish and work to fine and then finish off with the Preservation.

[nrand]

Originally Posted by redir

I like the Stew Mac Preservation Polish. They say it has no silicone. But even with that stuff it would take a ridiculous amount of buffing to work out pits and scratches and scratches. .

Indeed - my arm was really sore by the time I had finished. When working the polish I found it did get to a point where it felt like the polish was cutting a bit under the cloth. Then I would buff again with a clean cloth to a level/intensity where it felt quite warm under my hand, then start again.


Re the Stew Mac Polish, I did look at that and discovered they will not ship this product outside the US - I am in Australia.


I had found another AGF thread, which was helpful.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=283083

The Godin polish is available here, so I ordered one to try. No one in Australia carries Legend polish, but I think I can order this through All Parts in the US - maybe later.

Lastly some of the Music Nomad literature looks promising, especially on dark finishes like the Guild's antique burst. I ordered a bottle of Guitar One to try as well.

I love how every time i get involved with a discussion on AGF it makes me want to spend money

[Loop & Lil]

Just reigniting this thread to say: "yep!" I've adored the sound of my recently purchased second-hand HD-28 from the word go, but as these things sometimes are I continued to fixate on the superficial finish scuffs, swirls, and scratches that'd marked the top of the guitar in its previous life.

Virtuoso cleaner + polish just wiped them all out to the point of total negligibility in about 20 minutes. I'm delighted! Now I can bask in that sound without any qualms, and the $ deal $ I got feels even better for a guitar that looks practically new.

Looking forward to putting a lifetime's worth of my own dents and scuffs on this beautiful instrument. Cheers to Virtuoso!