Guitar detailing 101?

LowSlowJoe. I'm located in PA and a good friend of mine is a master guitar/bass Luthier. If you are any where close, he can surely help with any of your guitar/bass needs. Let me know.
 
Ah... I'm over in southeastern Michigan.

gibson24 said:
LowSlowJoe. I'm located in PA and a good friend of mine is a master guitar/bass Luthier. If you are any where close, he can surely help with any of your guitar/bass needs. Let me know.
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LowSlowJoe said:
Ah... I'm over in southeastern Michigan.
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I believe I remember seeing that model PRS go through Motor City Guitar, in Waterford. I taught drums there for years, but I was exposed to the vast selection of guitars there. I loved the green/blue ten top guitars from PRS. The sound was very crisp and clean. I ended up buying an Ibanez S440 (I believe ). It had the S series thin body, flame maple teal burst top, and gold hardware.... I loved that thing... After that I bought a Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus, Heritage Cherry Sunburst. I pulled it off the wall as soon as it went up. I had guys offering to buy that guitar every time I took it out.

I never knew how to maintain the finish that your guitar has. All I know is that satin finished instruments received something like tongue oil, and lacquer finished guitars received Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover.
 
dlc95 said:
I believe I remember seeing that model PRS go through Motor City Guitar, in Waterford. I taught drums there for years, but I was exposed to the vast selection of guitars there. I loved the green/blue ten top guitars from PRS. The sound was very crisp and clean. I ended up buying an Ibanez S440 (I believe ). It had the S series thin body, flame maple teal burst top, and gold hardware.... I loved that thing... After that I bought a Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus, Heritage Cherry Sunburst. I pulled it off the wall as soon as it went up. I had guys offering to buy that guitar every time I took it out.

I never knew how to maintain the finish that your guitar has. All I know is that satin finished instruments received something like tongue oil, and lacquer finished guitars received Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover.
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The Les Paul in a Heritage Sunburst is just unbelieveably awesome, IMO there's no other color scheme that looks as good. And I've seen a 100 custom shop models in pics, from a Gibson Factory Rep, crazy stuff, like an Air Brushed "Al Capone" model, with his face on the guitar, and Chicago gansters on the running boards of a 30's car with Tommy Guns. That one was "only" $5500 at the time. :-)

My Cousin has a Les Paul Studio in brandywine Cherry Tint, real pretty, and I once had a Studio Model in all black with gold Hardware which was an absolute bugger-nightmare keeping clean.

Dumped it for some bass, either an Alembic Europa, or a '62 re-issue J-Bass, forget, but both had bad, back-bowed necks, and they too were history quickly, bringing back for full refund.

Never had any luck with Alembic, all dogs, as was Pedulla. Great sound on the Pedulla, but horrid finish work, bubbles in the finish, knots on AAA Flame or Quilt Maple, right on the front, I can see the back which was usually another Base Wood, but NOT the front!
 
I have a coming up yearly maintainence on both my Fender P-Basses, which both have "active" EMG Pickups, rather than conventional passive pickups.

The 9V Battery is buried under the Pickguard, in the Tone Control-Volume Control Cavity.

Have to dismount the Pickguards, which I always sweat doing for fear of scratching the finish (Which both are pristine)

I'm thinking of hitting both with some type of wax or sealant.

Out of about 30 LSP's I have laying around here I think I might simply apply a coat of Wolfgang Liquid Seal WOWA.

I have many good nuba pastes, and sealants, but worried about residues being buried in hardware areas and I don't wish to rip each Bass down to the last screw, they don't need it.
 
MarkD51 said:
The Les Paul in a Heritage Sunburst is just unbelieveably awesome, IMO there's no other color scheme that looks as good. And I've seen a 100 custom shop models in pics, from a Gibson Factory Rep, crazy stuff, like an Air Brushed "Al Capone" model, with his face on the guitar, and Chicago gansters on the running boards of a 30's car with Tommy Guns. That one was "only" $5500 at the time. :-)

My Cousin has a Les Paul Studio in brandywine Cherry Tint, real pretty, and I once had a Studio Model in all black with gold Hardware which was an absolute bugger-nightmare keeping clean.

Dumped it for some bass, either an Alembic Europa, or a '62 re-issue J-Bass, forget, but both had bad, back-bowed necks, and they too were history quickly, bringing back for full refund.

Never had any luck with Alembic, all dogs, as was Pedulla. Great sound on the Pedulla, but horrid finish work, bubbles in the finish, knots on AAA Flame or Quilt Maple, right on the front, I can see the back which was usually another Base Wood, but NOT the front!
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As a drummer, the bass is critical for me. My bassist uses a lacquered ebony stain model, whichever their high end line is.

The only real reason I ever got into Zymol products, was for my drums. I bought an ebony stained Birdseye maple lacquer drum set, and wanted to try something other than Megs on that drum set. I use the HD Cleanse, and Carbon wax on them. To maintain them I use their Field Glaze.

There was actually a local reseller, but he's since closed up shop. There should be pics on my "official" drum page on facebook. I'd post pics, but I just can't seem to make it happen on my phone.

Also, as it turns out, I really liked the Zymol on cars too. But to be honest, Megs Gold Class, #26, and Surf City Barrier Reef Carnauba all do a fine job. Megs #7 and #26 = gorgeous!
 
dlc95 said:
As a drummer, the bass is critical for me. My bassist uses a lacquered ebony stain model, whichever their high end line is.

The only real reason I ever got into Zymol products, was for my drums. I bought an ebony stained Birdseye maple lacquer drum set, and wanted to try something other than Megs on that drum set. I use the HD Cleanse, and Carbon wax on them. To maintain them I use their Field Glaze.

There was actually a local reseller, but he's since closed up shop. There should be pics on my "official" drum page on facebook. I'd post pics, but I just can't seem to make it happen on my phone.

Also, as it turns out, I really liked the Zymol on cars too. But to be honest, Megs Gold Class, #26, and Surf City Barrier Reef Carnauba all do a fine job. Megs #7 and #26 = gorgeous!
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When I first acquired my 1980 Slingerland Barrett Deems Drumset in White Marine Pearl, I did the set carefully with Meguiars #20 Pro Poly Sealant, and it came out very nice. Probably the first time any product had ever been used on the Set

That acquisition was about 13 years ago.

Since then, I've probably done it a couple times with simply a spray detailer, more or less just dusting. Getting around Lugs, Tom Mounts, Legs, Pedals can be difficult, and was always wary and cautious about leaving behind dried residues.

About 3 weeks ago, I used Ultima Paint Guard Plus on the Set, Stands, and even many of my Cymbals, which except for the Zildjian New Beat Hi-Hats are all Paiste Signatures, and have some sort of coating on them.

I tried a small area first bottom of Bass Drum (to be safe), and waited a few days. All looked well, and continued on to do the whole Set.

This WOWA was easy to work with, simply a small sponge applicator, spray product to applicator, apply to the entire Set, waited about 10 minutes, then buffed off with a soft ultra plush Boa MF Towel.

All came out nice, liking the fact that there was very little work in the way of clean up around all the hardware.
 
I just posted a pic to the Surf City FB page, where I used Killer Chrome on my brilliant Zildjians!

I've been playing Paiste cymbals since 1990, and have over 100 in my personal inventory. Yes, they have a coating, and their cleaner has abrasives that remove it easily. I use duragloss 101 on them if they need a deep cleaning. Of just regular maintenance, m34, and some sort of spray wax.

Cleaning cymbals was my gateway to detailing more than anything else.

I remember seeing that drum set, when searching for Glasur on google! My Slingerlands are from 1972, chrome over wood. I'm going to try the killer chrome on them next.

That's a fantastic idea using some sort of synthetic on the wrapped drums! Maybe I'll try some duragloss 111 on them.
 
dlc95 said:
I just posted a pic to the Surf City FB page, where I used Killer Chrome on my brilliant Zildjians!

I've been playing Paiste cymbals since 1990, and have over 100 in my personal inventory. Yes, they have a coating, and their cleaner has abrasives that remove it easily. I use duragloss 101 on them if they need a deep cleaning. Of just regular maintenance, m34, and some sort of spray wax.

Cleaning cymbals was my gateway to detailing more than anything else.

I remember seeing that drum set, when searching for Glasur on google! My Slingerlands are from 1972, chrome over wood. I'm going to try the killer chrome on them next.

That's a fantastic idea using some sort of synthetic on the wrapped drums! Maybe I'll try some duragloss 111 on them.
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Over the years I've tried various Metal Polishes on Cymbals like Zildjians, Simichrome, Collinite Metal Wax, Brasso, Flitz, 200MPH, some others from off the shelf.

Because of the Lathing, seemed all left black residues in the Lathing Grooves that was just about impossible to get out.

While I know many drummers have said cleaning Cymbals alters the sound, I myself think that's an old wife's tale that isn't completely-entirely true. I believe IMO, it restores their new sound, the sound that it originally had, and one that was probably the sole reason one bought that particular Cymbal in the first place. Of course opinions differ on this.

My teacher's tip over 40 years ago for Cymbals was always "Barkeeper's Friend", and yep, works easy, fast and never leaves all the black muck in the lathe grooves.

Some Cymbals, such as the Brilliant finished ones often have less in the way of deep lathe grooves, and perhaps in those instances, a quality metal polish works just fine.
 
Yep 70s chrome laminate Slingerland here too. I use the Z series power crashes that are stamped. The tarnish never came out of the grooves on spun cymbals(and I always cracked them). Basically my theory was coating the kit with beer,sweat and blood.
MarkD, I use two 9 volts for a little more oink out of my J-bass. It's tight but doable.

BTW...I like this thread
 
MarkD51 said:
Over the years I've tried various Metal Polishes on Cymbals like Zildjians, Simichrome, Collinite Metal Wax, Brasso, Flitz, 200MPH, some others from off the shelf.

Because of the Lathing, seemed all left black residues in the Lathing Grooves that was just about impossible to get out.

While I know many drummers have said cleaning Cymbals alters the sound, I myself think that's an old wife's tale that isn't completely-entirely true. I believe IMO, it restores their new sound, the sound that it originally had, and one that was probably the sole reason one bought that particular Cymbal in the first place. Of course opinions differ on this.

My teacher's tip over 40 years ago for Cymbals was always "Barkeeper's Friend", and yep, works easy, fast and never leaves all the black muck in the lathe grooves.

Some Cymbals, such as the Brilliant finished ones often have less in the way of deep lathe grooves, and perhaps in those instances, a quality metal polish works just fine.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. For regular maintenance of brilliant cymbals, and traditional finish Zildjian type cymbals I stay away from pastes, and thicker liquids and use Meguiar's Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner. If needed, I use a Terry cloth towel to agitate the cleaner, and quickly rinse it off. As I rinse, I also use a microfiber cloth to help remove stubborn residue.

I like my cymbals clean too! The ones I use most are Paiste 2000, and 3000s, from the 80's. I get many compliments on their appearance for being the age they are!
 
spazzz said:
Yep 70s chrome laminate Slingerland here too. I use the Z series power crashes that are stamped. The tarnish never came out of the grooves on spun cymbals(and I always cracked them). Basically my theory was coating the kit with beer,sweat and blood.
MarkD, I use two 9 volts for a little more oink out of my J-bass. It's tight but doable.

BTW...I like this thread
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That is awesome!

I got mine in 94 from a great friend of mine. He was the only guy I know that split one of those Z dyno beat hi hats.

Yep, drums, and car polishing. My two obsessions merging!
 
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