Hi there

Trying out “Guitar Scratch Remover” for myself...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:02:09 +0000

OK - At Christmas I started to distribute the Guitar Scratch Remover product by Eternashine. I started to distribute it because I’d found it to be the gentlest, most effective refinishing compound that I’ve ever used.
I’ve been holding back from doing a personal review until I’ve had a guitar with enough damage to warrant a serious challenge!

Last week I got hold of this Gibson Nighthawk, described on ebay as being used - with a few marks...
A generous description, but I think it ticks the boxes for this test.....

1. It’s badly worn, the lacquer shows significant scratches and pick marks.
2. It’s black gloss - the most unforgiving finish.
3. I paid for it and I want it to look right!!

Here we go....

Firstly - removed the gold hardware (I don’t want to wear that any more than it is already...

As you can see - loads of dulling of the finish - scratches etc.
First treatment - remove all the dust and gunk that I can with Smudge Off - the last thing I want is it rubbing in and scratching the guitar more!!

Good result - but the scratches now seem even more apparent!

Now at this stage I’ve used the Scratch Remover once - the blue type, and once with the red type. Although the “swirl marks are still there” I’m not sure how many were new ones from bits of fluff on the cleaning cloth I used - the oxidisation of the lacquer, sweat marks and most of the scratches are gone.

I decided to leave it after one treatment - the guitar looks great - not showroom, but hey some of it’s wear is always going to be there. It now just looks “cared for” rather than abused!
Cleaned it with Smudge Off and waxed it with Nº1 wax - beautiful...

Incidentally Smudge Off brought the metalware back to a shine without having to resort to Brasso et al. all the dead skin, grease and dried in dust - gone....

...... Now ..... where are those strings I bought.....

:)

Always good to hear....

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:24:22 +0000

This chap was kind enough to video his use and reactions to the Gerlitz products - nice one!

2006 Gibson ES137 Neck - issues

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:39:05 +0000

This beautiful ES 137 arrived this week. In great condition - apart from a couple of light scratches which I removed using the “Guitar Scratch Remover”
But it’s only real problem was how dry the rosewood on the fingerboard had become:

As can be seen in the above photo, the rosewood is bleached looking and incredibly dry - thankfully it’s not cracked though.
Note as well the tarnishing of the frets that has given them a Yellowish dull tinge.

I sprayed with “Guitar Honey” and it was almost immediately absorbed into the fretboard. I sprayed again - and this time used a little 0000 grade wire wool to polish the frets.

Taking care to wipe the metal pieces from the wire wool AWAY from the pickups, I then polished the fretboard - only to find that it still looked pale.

Unusually I resprayed with “Guitar Honey” - and this time left it overnight with a generous amount resting on the fretboard.

Next morning I cleaned and setup - the fretboard felt smooth and silky and finally had replaced enough of it’s oils to look a respectable colour:

1969 Fender Mustang in Competition Burgundy Blue

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:11:38 +0100

Yesterday I took delivery of a fantastic example of a Fender USA 1969 - Yep 41 years old! - Fender Mustang.
This is the long scale version at 24” and was immortalised by Kurt Cobain in Nirvana’s “Smells like teen spirit” video (although he used the Left Hand version!).

According to the seller this item was bought new in 1969 and passed onto his son who didn’t play, and consequently the guitar is in incredibly good condition! It even came in its original orange lined silver tolex case, with Fender strap, Trem arm and bridge cover.

Really it’s in such good condition I wondered whether to clean it or not...
.... but then again I can’t resist it....

Firstly I slackened off the strings with a string winder, then clipped them to remove them from the headstock and bridge. Then using a Cross head screwdriver I removed the bridge plate - 5 screws and done!

This revealed a little bit of damage where the lacquer has adhered to the Bridge underside.
Thank goodness this is hidden when the guitar is reassembled!

One thing that I learned really early on when doing up guitars was ALWAYS to put every piece I remove into a plastic tray of some form, and to use ONE tray PER guitar - it saves a lot of confusion and searching on the floor later!

The bridge is in great shape, no pitting, scratches or rust!

Both the body and the neck look to be in great condition - let’s get on with it!

Another lesson I learned to my cost was TAKE YOUR TIME - check and check again......

In this photo you can just about see a thin wire leading from one of the bridge socket to under the control plate. This is some form of earthing wire - all too easy to break these and end up in a “World of Hum!”

Removal of the Control plate reveals period correct pots and cloth braid insulation wiring.
PHOTOS!!! - as you can see I take lots! - this is again a lesson learned from experience. It’s all too easy to start poking around and for some old solder to break and then you’re left with a “Now where did that come from moment!”

In this photo you can see that little earthing wire again - it had become bent downwards and wasn’t doing it’s job properly - we can fix that later!

Removal of the pickguard again is rewarding in that the wiring and pickups are correct.

There’s a little oxidation on the switches, appearing as a white fuzzy powder. The good news is that the soldering and wire is intact and doesn’t need fixing.

There’s significant shielding and earthing here - beautiful!
A quick check ensures that all the solder joints are intact and secure. (It looks like they’re all wired in series, so a break anywhere will result in hum.)

Time for the reverse.
A few dinks and scrapes, but for a 41 year old it’s pretty good.

The back of the headstock is OK
The tuners are a little tarnished but should clean OK. The screws and bushings all seem tight and secure - no need to remove them.

The neck likewise is in great condition. Sighting it along one edge confirms that it’s not twisted or bowed.
The reverse of the neck is smooth and the lacquer un-chipped, no need to repair that then!

Careful removal of the neck plate shows that again some of the lacquer has adhered here - however thankfully that will all be hidden when we reassemble!

The neck shows period correct stamp marks and even the overspray of lacquer on the lower (treble) side of the neck pocket is correct for the period.

Observation of the neck stamp shows the digits 16 433 119B. Again all this is correct for the age of the guitar, 16 is the code for a Mustang, 433 is the batch lot, 11 is the month and 9 is the year, so my guitar neck was made in November 1969! B is the code for the 1 5/8” nut width.
Whilst the neck is off I cleaned the fretboard with a coat of Guitar Honey and 0000 grade wire wool, this polished the oxidation off the frets, and fed the rosewood fingerboard, also removing any finger grease off there. I wiped that down and resprayed the neck with guitar honey and put it on one side whilst I got on with the rest of the guitar.
The body I rubbed with a little Swirl Remover from Stewart MacDonald, not too hard though as I’m not sure how hard or thin the finish is on this guitar! This refinished any oxidised or dulled laquer, I then cleaned the finish with Smudge Off and the Blue fluffy cloth from the Duo Pack. I took special care to avoid snagging that little wire in the bridge post socket. Whilst the pickguard was off and the control cavity loose I waxed the lacquer with Nº1 Carnauba Wax.
I took the opportunity to spray a little conatct cleaner/switch lubricant into the two pickup switches. wiping off the excess with a blue microfibre cloth from the Pro Duo. This suitably removed the oxidation, a little unseen rust from inside, and helped the switches move better.
I then refitted the pickguard and control plate. I added a little oil to the screws as I replaced them - I always feel this helps them become secure in the dry wood of the body when they are replaced.

I polished the tailpiece with a little Smudge Off and the Chamois cloth from the Duo Pack, all fingermarks gone. Looking good!

Time for the bridge...

Each roller saddle has a specific position in the bridge with regard to its height.
I generally find it best to lay out the parts in order on my bench and treat them one at a time.

I cleaned the bridge base with Smudge Off and the yellow cloth from the Pro Duo, then cleaned each roller in the same way.

A drop of 3 in 1 oil on each saddle screw, and reassemble! - beautiful!

By now the neck had had plenty of time to soak in it’s dose of Guitar Honey, so I wiped it down and buffed it to a beautiful satin sheen with the blue cloth from the Pro Duo set. I cleaned the headstock and neck with Smudge Off and the blue cloth from the Pro Duo. The tuner housings I polished up with the Smudge Off and Yellow cloth from the Pro Duo. A quick treatment with Nº1 Carnauba wax on the headstock and neck (avoiding the fingerboard), and then replace the neck and screw in tight with a cross head screwdriver.

I then went through the usual procedure of restringing the guitar (with Ernie Ball 10’s - I might change these for 11’s later if tuning proves to be a problem as a result of the slightly shorter scale length and the tremolo system).

I checked and adjusted the intonation of each string.
I adjusted the height of the bridge, using the the two allen key screws in the feet of the bridge, until I got a low/buzz free sound. (I must admit I tend to do this by ear rather than using suggested heights of adjustment...)
I adjusted the height of the tailpiece to avoid the strings catching the back of the bridge, but still give enough angle over the bridge for a clear pitch.
I plugged in an blasted through “Smells like teen spirit.”

Nice!

NOTE: in this picture you can see the lacquer “checking” that is a sign of some age - expansion and contraction of the wood has caused the lacquer to fracture leaving a series of horizontal lines following the grain - you can’t see it unless you look - but the flash photography shows it up !

Jackson DK2 Fretboard - Beyond Repair?

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:04:02 +0100

The above Jackson DK2 came in with a fretboard that felt like sandpaper!
Lemon oil had left its typical white residue and the solvents inherent in many brands had not helped the condition of the ‘board!
Treatment was as ever - OOO grade wire wool and “Guitar Honey”.
Wipe clean.
Respray and “leave to “rest.”
After about 4 treatments things were starting to look more “normal!”

Harvey’s news on Guitar Honey

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:56:05 +0100

This evening I spoke to Harvey Gerlitz regarding the use of naptha/alcohol to clean and degrease fretboards prior to the use of Guitar Honey.

Harvey Says "In my years of guitar repair I've used naptha, alcohol, turps & various cleaners, degreasers, etc.... basically that's how I arrived at the Guitar Honey formula. Guitar Honey has a very high quality form of mineral spirits, which does (in my opinion) the best overall job of cleaning & degreasing (as well as oiling).
Degreasing with naptha, etc. before treatment with Guitar Honey really shouldn't be necessary. I've found a thorough cleaning of the fingerboard with #0000 steel wool prior to treatment with Guitar Honey is as complete a "system" of fingerboard conditioning/dressing as is needed (short of something fairly in need of professional repair)."

I guess that once again Harvey has thought of everything!

ES 345 Stereo

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:19:59 +0100

Don’t know what happened to this...
Must have been A “Friday guitar” as you can still see the milling on the fingerboard!

Anyway - short story -

1. Wire wool (000 grade) with Guitar Honey.
2. Wipe with old cloth taking the wire particles AWAY from the pickups.
3. apply Guitar Honey generously.
4. Leave it to soak for 10 mins.
5. Re-wipe the neck and buff.

Check out below - nuff said!

Used and Abused

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 14:21:41 +0000

The above Les Paul (1980’s) was the “workhorse” guitar of a friend of mine. Having used it for years in a variety of sweaty pubs, the lacquer had become rather dull and clouded.
I proudly proclaimed that a “dose of Smudge Off” would do the trick - and took it home to refinish.

How wrong could I be!

The dullness was not actually the result of an accumulation of grease and dirt, but rather the result of years of abrasion of sweat and grit on the surface.

I ended up using a little Colortone polishing compund (from Stewart MacDonald) - I used the medium grade first by hand to remove the worst of the wear, then the fine grade with a buffing wheel - taking GREAT CARE to avoid burning the surface and wearing through the lacquer, and using “Guitar Honey” as a lubricant for all this. I then finished off with the Colortone “swirl remover” by hand.

Then an application of “Smudge off” to clean, and “Nº1 Carnauba wax” to protect - and check the result....

I guess “Smudge Off” is not the answer to everything, but it does help.....

Totally dried out and abused

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 14:18:16 +0000

I purchased this Jazz Bass on ebay yesterday! - the fretboard was completely messed up!

Look at how dry and sad it looks! (above)
A little “Guitar Honey” treatment later, and look it’s happy again! (below)\

Mint!

“Smudge Off” really works!

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 21:27:29 +0100

The Tele above was in need of a little TLC when I got it. The marks shown above are really nothing uncommon to all of us. A simple result of our excited sweaty little palms molesting our favourite guitars.
The point here is that a little Smudge Off goes a long way!
After I’d finished sorting the electrics and other stuff I cleaned the guitar above with Smudge Off, this removed all the finger marks that you can see above. After that I used Nº1 Carnauba Wax to put a protective coating on the guitar.
The Smudge off can be used inbetween waxing to just keep your guitar looking in tip top condition (especially if you’ve a Black guitar like the one shown here - fingermarks are a complete nightmare!)
The guitar is shown below - shot in daylight - which I believe to be less forgiving than the flash lighting used above!
Result!