Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Silica is not silicone. Silica is essentially super fine sand. It is in there with the wax to add some polishing ability to the wax (which basically has no real polishing ability by itself). Polishing is done by abrasion, and to do that, you need to add some sort of really fine abrasive. Other mineral additives can be something like kaolin (a clay - as in both Scratch-X & Zymole). The neat thing about it is that as you polish with it, the particle size gets broken down into finer and finer bits - essentially changing the abrasive grit size as you work to finer and finer grit sizes. Any product that claims it is a "cleaner wax" is likely to contain some sort of abrasive grit to do the cleaning. It may or may not contain silicone, which tends to speed up the process of creating a new, shiny look by saturating oxidation so that it is less visible.

Even Xymole contains a some silicone. This is from the Zymole MSDS
And here is the definition of that stuff.

"Polydimethylsiloxane, also known as dimethylpolysiloxane or dimethicone, belongs to a group of polymeric organosilicon compounds that are commonly referred to as silicones. PDMS is the most widely used silicon-based organic polymer, and is particularly known for its unusual rheological properties. Wikipedia"

It is absolutely true that residual silicone can cause horrible problems when painting or refinishing something and it is very difficult to remove it all before painting. Contamination causes your paint or varnish to "fisheye" - small circular voids open up where the wet paint won't stay put, no matter how many times you paint over them. If you have never encountered fisheyes from silicone during a painting project, consider yourself blessed.

So the key to silicone in polishes is pretty much a question of how much the stuff can contain before it causes residual silicone problems - if the guitar ever needs some finish or touch-up work. I don't know the answer to that one - and there may be different answers for different finishes. Zymole has proven to be safe. Gibson guitar polish certainly could be as well, and it would not surprise me, but we don't know for sure. Other polishes from hardware or automotive stores and most likely any infomercial "magic" instant polish may not be.

I have used it on my '89 340mg and '98 360jg for years, no issues, looks great

There is no way a company the size of Gibson with its history is going to market a guitar polish that can damage other makes of guitar. It would not be worth the risk to their business or reputation.

andyenobs wrote:There is no way a company the size of Gibson with its history is going to market a guitar polish that can damage other makes of guitar. It would not be worth the risk to their business or reputation.

Isn't that the same company that marketed robo-tuners? You sure you want to say something about that company risking reputation?

And to answer the five year old OP post, I have a bottle of that Gibson polish (I think we all have a bottle of that stuff somewhere about our homes), and though I haven't used it on a Ric, I have used it on just about every other guitar manufacturer's gear. No problema.

Tommy wrote: Isn't that the same company that marketed robo-tuners? You sure you want to say something about that company risking reputation?

It works fine on any guitar I’ve used it on, including numerous Rics.

I have to agree the Gibson self tuners are ****. I bought a new 50s Tribute Gold Top and took off the G Force tuning system and put on Grover tuners. Perfect but unfortunately I never got on with the guitar - the neck was terrible - sold it at a big loss.
As you are probably aware we pay a lot more for American made guitars in the UK and always have irrespective of the exchange rate.

Use original Zymol in the light blue bottle.

I bought some Brillianize (is that right ?) On eBay and with postage it cost me £27 say about $35 but I have to say it is good for a great shine. I have also used Taylor Guitar Polish and they are a reliable company. John Hall recommends the Brillianize so it should be safe.

I’ve been using Gibson pump polish on my ‘92 360/6 JG for about 17 years now. No issues with the finish. I use the Gibson pump polish to clean off the guitar body and fingerboard most times I change strings.

fiveightandten wrote:I’ve been using Gibson pump polish on my ‘92 360/6 JG for about 17 years now. No issues with the finish. I use the Gibson pump polish to clean off the guitar body and fingerboard most times I change strings.

I use just the Ric cloth most of the time, but if it's hothouse warm out (like today) and I've managed to get a little sweat from my arm on the bout, a very small amount to Turtlewax liquid and a little buff restores the top and gets rid of those little bits of whatever that collect on it on hot nights.