StewMac Preservation Polish

[Brent Hutto]

So just how safe is this stuff? I ordered some Preservation Polish sort of on impulse when getting a couple other things from StewMac last month. Partly because I thought it might help clean up some hide glue residue (which came off with warm water and elbow grease, no polish needed) and partly because I wanted to give a good cleaning to the new, old M. Sakurai guitar I recently bought.

I used it like the label says, dabbed it on with a cloth, wait a few seconds, buff it off with a clean cloth. Did the back, sides, top, neck, even headstock veneer. It looks nice but then again it looked fine before, it's a gloss finish with some kind of catalysed lacquer anyway.

But I must say the neck feels like it isn't even there now. My thumb moves up and down with almost no resistance, this one had been slightly draggy for the months I've owned it. I always wash my hands before handling or playing the guitar but there must have been something built up on it before.

Is this stuff safe to use maybe 2-3 times a year? Or should I just save it for an annual cleaning or less? Because I'd be tempted to do the polish on that neck again first time it feels draggy, although as for the back and the soundboard I could really care less as long as it isn't visibly dirty.

I also polished the frets with 0000 steel wool and then gave the ebony fretboard one very light swipe with the same stuff followed by a wipe down with a few drops of naptha on a towel. My goodness, there's grain in that wood! It has been kind of shiny before but now all that "shiny" is sitting on the towel I wiped it with...yuck! I guess a guitar can get kinda dirty in 32 years.

[Jim Bancroft]

I use preservation polish and it works fine, I don't see any cons.

It seems to work great on vintage instruments if you want to spiff them up some. I like it that the stuff doesn't seem to build up any white residue in nicks, cracks, ect., like most polish compounds do.

Jim

[Brent Hutto]

Jim,

Yep, I tested it on my other guitar first and noted the same thing. It comes off when you buff it and doesn't leave stuff in the crevices and pores (the other one has a open-pore nongloss finish on the mahogany so it was a good test case). In my brief days of viola playing a few years ago the guy that worked on my instrument always preached that you want a polish that cleans the wood, not coats it.

So I take it you've used it on vintage instruments with nitro or similar thin finishes? If it's safe on that kind of finish then it's bound to be safe for mine.

[Jim Bancroft]

I've used it on a number of vintage instruments, some that come to mind are a 00-42 Martin and a 1950 000-18, plus a few others, with no problems.

Jim