1967 Ric 330
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Paul, Is that the same stuff you would use to clean teak on a boat? I used to buy a 2 part kit. One part was an acid (I believe) the second part a bleach. I now use a 50%/50% solution of hot water and ammonia with a Scotchbrite pad. This works very well cosidering teak is an oily wood (on top of being oiled) that seems to really collect the dirt. Either of these methods pull alot of dirt out. My concern with a guitar would be getting the wood too wet unless you could do a small area at a time.
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jingle_jangle
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I've got the same concerns, so a bit of caution is called for here. I have done several maple woodies (wood station wagons) with the acid/bleach treatment and there were no ill effects, even on glued-together parts. Since then, I've done a half-dozen or so guitars. No problem. This stuff does not attack binding, but make sure all your hardware is removed from the guitar--it is corrosive. Keep it away from the truss rod cavity, too. A piece of duct tape over the TRC opening will work fine--just keep checking it for leaks.
My suggestion to Len is to follow directions on the package, don't use steel wool unless you've taken the pickups off and the harness out (advised anyway if you're going to use water-based products). Using an old windex or other type of spray bottle, spritz on some acid solution (step #1) and let in soak into the finish for ten minutes or so. Don't put so much on that it gets drippy. You will see the dirt rise out of the wood. Don't use this stuff for spot treatment, by the way. You must do the entire wood surface at once.
Next, with the wood still damp, using a second spray bottle, spray on some #2 (bleach). The surface will begin to foam. You will see grayish areas of foam--that's the dirt.
Take a damp sponge and wipe off the residue and foam after another ten minutes or so. Then let the surface dry. It's OK to towel the surface to get it dryer. Then let the entire guitar dry standing vertically and leaning up against something so air can get at the whole surface.
This treatment raises the grain on maple and actually converts the top layer into a soft mushy material (it's broken-down cellulose). Wear a dust mask--this stuff is caustic! Dry-sand using a rubber block and #150 garnet or aluminum oxide paper until all the soft stuff is off and you get to the clean wood surface all over the guitar again. Then keep dry-sanding with finer and finer grits (#180, #240, #320) until the whole surface is smooth as can be!
Then you will be ready to oil. Use tung oil or Watco's Danish oil, uncolored. Wipe off the excess oil, let dry, and wax with a good paste wax (Johnson's, Butcher's Boston)--the kind that comes in a flat can.
Sounds complicated. The hardest part is the sanding. The guitar must be absolutely dry before doing any sanding. This usually takes several days. Do not force-dry!
My suggestion to Len is to follow directions on the package, don't use steel wool unless you've taken the pickups off and the harness out (advised anyway if you're going to use water-based products). Using an old windex or other type of spray bottle, spritz on some acid solution (step #1) and let in soak into the finish for ten minutes or so. Don't put so much on that it gets drippy. You will see the dirt rise out of the wood. Don't use this stuff for spot treatment, by the way. You must do the entire wood surface at once.
Next, with the wood still damp, using a second spray bottle, spray on some #2 (bleach). The surface will begin to foam. You will see grayish areas of foam--that's the dirt.
Take a damp sponge and wipe off the residue and foam after another ten minutes or so. Then let the surface dry. It's OK to towel the surface to get it dryer. Then let the entire guitar dry standing vertically and leaning up against something so air can get at the whole surface.
This treatment raises the grain on maple and actually converts the top layer into a soft mushy material (it's broken-down cellulose). Wear a dust mask--this stuff is caustic! Dry-sand using a rubber block and #150 garnet or aluminum oxide paper until all the soft stuff is off and you get to the clean wood surface all over the guitar again. Then keep dry-sanding with finer and finer grits (#180, #240, #320) until the whole surface is smooth as can be!
Then you will be ready to oil. Use tung oil or Watco's Danish oil, uncolored. Wipe off the excess oil, let dry, and wax with a good paste wax (Johnson's, Butcher's Boston)--the kind that comes in a flat can.
Sounds complicated. The hardest part is the sanding. The guitar must be absolutely dry before doing any sanding. This usually takes several days. Do not force-dry!
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― Kurt Vonnegut