Satin finish maintenance and top crack repair

[Ron Moucka]

Again, my thanks to all who responded regarding my top crack on a Martin DX1. I was shocked by how much re-hydrating closed the crack. Had to have gone from an 1/8" down to less than 1/64". I was able to glue/clamp and cleat from the inside, and it doesn't look half bad. My next question is what is best for maintenance of a satin finish? I had a Martin Backpacker that someone had used Johnson's floor paste wax on. It had a nice soft feel to it, and seemed relatively well protected, but I don't think I want to go there. Any other suggestions on the cleaning, conditioning, and protection of a satin finish?

Thanks,

Ron

[Fran Ledoux]

I've been using Meguires for quite a few years now and would not recommend it on a satin finish. Using Meguires will actually start to bring out a shine on a satin finish. I had a customer a few years back that wanted to have a gloss brought out on the top of a Martin 000-15 with a satin finish on it. Put it to the buffing wheel and very little shine was brought out. Use Meguires and very little elbow grease and a very nice shine came out much to the approval to the customer.
As far as cleaning, I would agree with using Martin polish. It does a good job of cleaning and not pulling any kind of shine out of the finish. For the back of the neck area, I would actually use a Scotch brite pad (green) and rub lightly. This will clean and return the neck closer to the original feel than anything I've tried in the last 32 years. Works great on the back of maple necks especially. I always leave the decision to rub out a back of the neck to the customer by rubbing out a small area and letting them feel the difference and choosing for themselves. If they want a bit of gloss because the hand started to shine up the back of the neck as the hand goes over it, I'll put it to the buffing wheel or hit it with Meguires to match up the sheen across the entire neck.
I've also used the ScotchBrite pad (lightly) and a little soapy water on crack repairs after the crack had been repaired, cleated and touched over to match the sheen as close as possible and lightly finish off with 1000 grit sandpaper and soapy water to match up the sheen of the finish.
I, personally, would avoid wax on a guitar. Bill Cumpiano had told me way in the past to avoid wax and silicon on a guitar finish because of the nightmare when trying to do a repair be it finish or crack related
As mentioned before, always try things out in an area that is not noticeable. It's better to play it safe than sorry.

I hope this helped as I started to get carried away and slightly off topic.

Fran