After 4 hours of work and the invaluable assistance of fellow forumite Ron Viney, my 360v64 is born again! Paul's advice regarding the use of Scratch-X and Zymol in polishing Ricks is absolutely spot on!!
I've tried to show the shine without any glare but due to the mirror finish I cannot avoid the reflections:
Thanks Paul and Ron.... I can now confidently "attack" the others.
It's the cleaner wax in the light green/grey bottle, Mike. Well.... that's the best description I can offer. On the back of the bottle there appears to be a part number - Z-503.
I think Scratch-X is really the main ingredient to the finish. It removes all those swirls and little pick scratches. The Zymol gives it the incredibly deep and lustrous finish. And it has the added bonus of a luscious smell.
Great job, Howard!
I've bought some of the stuff, but am afraid to try in case I make a mess!
JG is one of those finishes that either looks great, or doesn't, depending on wear, & you really brought that one up to perfection!
For the record, the photo above is a pretty accurate depiction of the color of Zymol cleaner-wax. The bottle is transparent plastic and what you are seeing is the wax itself.
Aitch, I call it "light blue" but no way is it gray-green...
The stuff seems to be a trackdown project in OZ and Europe. Fortunately, Target here in the States carry both.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Your right Paul, from the info gathered it seems unlikely that high street automotive stores in the UK will carry these products. However, Howards info and the part number lead to a web search, showing several quality automotive product suppliers in the UK with both items in stock. There are many Zymol wax/polish, Howard's info was specific enough to find the correct one.
Crikey! I didn't know the bottle was transparent, Paul - I haven't used enough of it to find that out. It's going to last a long, long time! Yes, the polish itself is definitely light blue but the appearance of the bottle belies that somewhat IMO.
Well it seems you may have many more people hooked on Scratch X and Zymol Paul - they're fantastic products and thanks for the heads up many moons ago!!!
It was really is pleasing to see the results Howard obtained on his pride and joy - maybe the closest thing to a refin.
I agree. As I mentioned to Aitch, I have a regimen when I first buy a guitar or when I do a restoration, refinish, or partial.
I disassemble the entire guitar, removing strings and all hardware including unsoldering the pickups. I then buff it with a special foam pad wetted with 3M Perfect-It III Machine Rubbing Compound. This applies to everywhere I can get the pad into. I mount this foam pad on a special mandrel in my drill press.
Any areas left over are carefully done by hand. Hazy areas are then gone over with Scratch-X by hand.
Then I wax the guitar or bass twice minimimum, using the light blue Zymol Cleaner-Wax. It has 100% organic oils, and the smell you smell, Melissa, Ron and Aitch, is the strongest of them--coconut oil.
I can do this whole process, start to finish including reassembly and setup, in about an hour and a half to two hours.
But if you're going to do JG by hand without disassembly, the way Aitch and Ron do it is the hot setup.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut