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     Brian Medway (Winston) Senior Member Username: Winston Post Number: 176 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 206.116.77.118 |
Can any one tell me if this stuff is any good? Excerpt from Article By Steven Stone Dan Blom, master luthier says, "I have used almost everything out there and now only use Legend. In my line of work I get such dirty guitars that other polishes would gum up or turn the finish opaque due to heavy buildup of dirt, sweat, smoke, and bad polishes. Sometimes the only way to clean off a badly abused finish is to wet-sand the crap off and buff it out. I used to use a wet system (Meguires) and still do occasionally. Meguires is fine but there is something out there that is better and easier. That's Legend polish. I've been using it for six years. I'm no chemist, but what I understand is that the polymer cleaner actually pulls the dirt and contamination out of the lacquer and then protects the finish as well. It does not feel oily or greasy, and has hardly any smell at all. I can take a guitar that I used to wet sand and buff, and use Legend instead. It eliminates 98% of the jobs that used to need wet-sanding. Imagine how well it works for regular polishing jobs." I tried it, and Dan exaggerates not one bit. This stuff is great. Not only does it work well, but it's easy to use. The only trick is you've got to employ two nice clean soft cloths per guitar. Now I've finally got a use for the bottom halves of all the cotton athletic socks whose top halves become anti-sweat armbands! Legends instructions are simple - shake well, apply the polish to cleaning cloth #1, rub some on your guitar, then rub it in till it dries. Next wipe it off with cloth #2. You'll most likely notice that the polish turns from white to cream, or even light brown depending on how dirty your guitar is. You will probably have to use more than one application on especially dirty instruments or trouble areas like a guitar's upper bout where body secretions can leave especially groady spots. My first test subject was my 1955 Gibson SJ. It had an especially dull and disgusting spot on the upper half of the lower bout where some `ol boy had sweated out some of the best hours of his life strumming away. This "pit-spot" had resisted all my previous best efforts to remove it. On first application I thought that Legend too had met it's match, but since I'm a stubborn sort I tried an second application. Eureka! The dreaded spot vanished like two hour old ingested beer. Now you can't tell the previous owner perspired like a racehorse. Naturally I did the rest of the SJ as well. While finish crazing didn't suddenly seal up like the Red Sea after it was parted, the guitar's finish did look like it had shed at least ten years. It is now uniformly shiny with a luminous quality that the finish never had before. The most surprising aspect of the SJ'S transformation was that black parts are MUCH blacker after being cleaned with Legend. The headstock and edges of the sunburst are now a rich ebony. I did one half the headstock first to see if Legend would make any difference on painted surfaces. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy. It went from dark gray to a real black. I showed my wife and all she could say "You ARE going to do the whole headstock right?" Next guitar I "Legendized" was a 1941 Martin 0-15. This satin-finish all-mahogany guitar had developed a semi-gloss finish over the years that's halfway between an gloss and satin. Legend cleaned the guitar without altering it's semi-gloss patina. The mahogany's ribbon is now more pronounced, it's richer and more luminous. Even the tortoiseshell headstock veneer is shinier and more beautiful after a Legend cleaning. Finally I tried Legend on my `ol bluegrass hoss, a 1951 Martin D-28. This guitar has seen way too many smoky bars. Its got multiple burn marks in the headstock from a previous owner who used the Keith Richards method for storing still-lit cigarettes. On the back a first-sized spot has been scrapped down to bare wood by an overactive belt buckle. For symmetry's sake the top has also had a large portion of the original finish scrapped off by overzealous flatpick activity. While Legend polish didn't return abraded wood to virginal factory fresh condition, it did return the remaining finish to a bright shiny and schmutz-free state that hasn't existed for many a year. It's now so clean that I'll feel guilty the next time a spill beer on it. Final assessment - this stuff is great. The only downside is that your guitars will all look so good that you'll want to leave them out so you can admire them. If your wife or significant other walks into the room during display-time they'll finally know the awful truth of how many guitars you really do own. That could be very bad. |
