Removing Grunge From Old Guitar - FRETS.NET2024-03-28T20:05:30Zhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/removing-grunge-from-old-guitar?commentId=2177249%3AComment%3A138023&feed=yes&xn_auth=no No offence intended, but goi…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-12:2177249:Comment:1381702014-10-12T23:02:01.648ZKerry Krishnahttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/KerryKrishna
<p> No offence intended, but going from water to alcohol as a cleaner in a single step seems way out of left field to me. I would have tried the 'few drops of soap in hot water' thing next, and that would have likely got most of it. If I have a big cleaning job on an old axe, I use cotton rags, warm H2O and a few drops of soap. With some elbow grease even the worst 'smokey guitars' will eventually all come clean. It seems to me you are not so much cleaning the guitar as stripping the whole top…</p>
<p> No offence intended, but going from water to alcohol as a cleaner in a single step seems way out of left field to me. I would have tried the 'few drops of soap in hot water' thing next, and that would have likely got most of it. If I have a big cleaning job on an old axe, I use cotton rags, warm H2O and a few drops of soap. With some elbow grease even the worst 'smokey guitars' will eventually all come clean. It seems to me you are not so much cleaning the guitar as stripping the whole top layer off of it. </p>
<p>Like you said though, this is your guitar and you did post here and ask our opinions too. </p> Dan, no, I have no problem wi…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-12:2177249:Comment:1382632014-10-12T21:21:43.815ZGlen Hhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/GlenH
Dan, no, I have no problem with what you do with your git. It just seemed maybe a little over kill from cleaning it. I did not mean to imply that you were doing something that you shouldn't .
Dan, no, I have no problem with what you do with your git. It just seemed maybe a little over kill from cleaning it. I did not mean to imply that you were doing something that you shouldn't . Dan
No judgement meant at all…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-12:2177249:Comment:1382452014-10-12T17:22:31.804ZEd Minchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/EdMinch
<p>Dan</p>
<p>No judgement meant at all - just an observation. I am in the middle of this:</p>
<p></p>
<p>file:///Users/edminch/Desktop/Repair%20of%201934%20L-00%20-%20an%20album%20on%20Flickr.webloc</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I was told by a number of people that I shouldn't desecrate this great instrument by repairing it myself. It's yours and you can certainly do what you want with it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Ed</p>
<p>Dan</p>
<p>No judgement meant at all - just an observation. I am in the middle of this:</p>
<p></p>
<p>file:///Users/edminch/Desktop/Repair%20of%201934%20L-00%20-%20an%20album%20on%20Flickr.webloc</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I was told by a number of people that I shouldn't desecrate this great instrument by repairing it myself. It's yours and you can certainly do what you want with it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Ed</p> Glenn and Ed
Sorry to be dese…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-12:2177249:Comment:1380532014-10-12T17:04:49.402ZDan Penningtonhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/DanPennington744
<p>Glenn and Ed</p>
<p>Sorry to be desecrating a piece of guitar history, but unless either of you wants to buy it and do a proper restoration, I'll keep on cleaning it up. I like the color that's coming up. </p>
<p>It's got cracks in the top and back that need to be stabilized and it needs a neck reset. I want to make it into a decent player.</p>
<p>The sides and back are even uglier and dirtier than the top.</p>
<p>I've built a double handful of guitars so far and I hope that in 80 or 90…</p>
<p>Glenn and Ed</p>
<p>Sorry to be desecrating a piece of guitar history, but unless either of you wants to buy it and do a proper restoration, I'll keep on cleaning it up. I like the color that's coming up. </p>
<p>It's got cracks in the top and back that need to be stabilized and it needs a neck reset. I want to make it into a decent player.</p>
<p>The sides and back are even uglier and dirtier than the top.</p>
<p>I've built a double handful of guitars so far and I hope that in 80 or 90 years if someone finds one of my guitars in this condition, I want them to scrape all the grunge off of it and get it playing some music again.</p> Dan
Some of that lovely color…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-12:2177249:Comment:1382992014-10-12T14:50:07.241ZEd Minchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/EdMinch
<p>Dan</p>
<p>Some of that lovely color is in the finish, so if you use alcohol on shellac you will be diluting the color. Look at the spot where the bridge came off and you will see close to the original color. The aged top looks much better IMHO.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">Anybody ever used ionized water for this purpose?</span></p>
<p>Ed</p>
<p>Dan</p>
<p>Some of that lovely color is in the finish, so if you use alcohol on shellac you will be diluting the color. Look at the spot where the bridge came off and you will see close to the original color. The aged top looks much better IMHO.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">Anybody ever used ionized water for this purpose?</span></p>
<p>Ed</p> I thought you wanted to clean…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-10:2177249:Comment:1380272014-10-10T19:15:03.858ZGlen Hhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/GlenH
<p>I thought you wanted to clean it, it sounds now like you want to strip it. </p>
<p>I thought you wanted to clean it, it sounds now like you want to strip it. </p> Thanks for your suggestions.…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-10:2177249:Comment:1381332014-10-10T19:02:41.533ZDan Penningtonhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/DanPennington744
<p>Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>I've heard that some people's sweat does very bad things to shellac finishes.</p>
<p>I'll clean the whole guitar with alcohol and then touch it up with French polishing.</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>I've heard that some people's sweat does very bad things to shellac finishes.</p>
<p>I'll clean the whole guitar with alcohol and then touch it up with French polishing.</p> I tried water and it did noth…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-10:2177249:Comment:1380232014-10-10T18:56:52.236ZDan Penningtonhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/DanPennington744
<p>I tried water and it did nothing. Then I tried some Everclear alcohol and that did the trick. So it probably was a French polish to start with. It left the finish a bit tacky, but hardened up very quickly.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2167748065?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2167748065?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I tried water and it did nothing. Then I tried some Everclear alcohol and that did the trick. So it probably was a French polish to start with. It left the finish a bit tacky, but hardened up very quickly.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2167748065?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2167748065?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p> I do things a lot like Mike d…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-10:2177249:Comment:1379632014-10-10T18:28:54.418ZNed Knepphttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/NedKnepp
<p>I do things a lot like Mike does it. It s amazing what plain water can do sometimes. If the surface appears to be free of bare wood, I will move to warn water with a few drops of Dawn dish detergent which is very good at breaking up oils. I had a couple of bad experiences with the process because I tended to forget to test the finish with any solvents I tried BEFORE I actually started scrubbing away. </p>
<p></p>
<p>I do things a lot like Mike does it. It s amazing what plain water can do sometimes. If the surface appears to be free of bare wood, I will move to warn water with a few drops of Dawn dish detergent which is very good at breaking up oils. I had a couple of bad experiences with the process because I tended to forget to test the finish with any solvents I tried BEFORE I actually started scrubbing away. </p>
<p></p> I prefer to dig up the guy wi…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2014-10-10:2177249:Comment:1379602014-10-10T16:13:28.522ZHesh Breakstonehttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/HeshBreakstone
<p>I prefer to dig up the guy with the dirty arm and make him clean the thing up.....;)</p>
<p></p>
<p>Water first, lightly spritzed and if it's still too dirty to go to a cleaner/polish I resort to Meguiars "2" "Fine-Cut Cleaner" available at automotive stores.</p>
<p></p>
<p>This one is likely french polished shellac so a minimalist approach might be prudent.</p>
<p>I prefer to dig up the guy with the dirty arm and make him clean the thing up.....;)</p>
<p></p>
<p>Water first, lightly spritzed and if it's still too dirty to go to a cleaner/polish I resort to Meguiars "2" "Fine-Cut Cleaner" available at automotive stores.</p>
<p></p>
<p>This one is likely french polished shellac so a minimalist approach might be prudent.</p>