Instrument Care
It has been suggested that as a furniture
restorer, it may be time for me to write
something on wooden instrument care. In
this regard, I've been in contact with some
kind folk to gain their opinions.
From Graham Wardrop:
"Most of the
instruments I have built I have French
Polished. I believe a lacquered finish is more
practical and hard wearing, but French Polish
does have it's own look and attributes. It's a
very thin coating so there's little or no effect
on tone, which is great for a studio guitar
or a home guitar that doesn't have to take
the rigours of the road, but it is a finish that
requires care and attention. Also it marks a
lot easier than modern lacquer finishes. My
choice is blonde shellac. French Polish is
not a great finish for necks, as it gets sticky
when in hot humid situations - I never take
a French Polished instrument to the tropics,
for instance. Good old polyurethane is a
good finish for necks - I thin with turpentine
to about 50 per cent strength and brush
on several coats, lightly rubbing with xxxx
grade steel wool between coats. I like the
feel of this finish and it seems to stand up to
constant playing very well.
My last couple of instruments have been
finished, neck and all, with Liberon Finishing
Oil and I'm very happy with the results.
Once again I steel wool back quite radically
between coats so that I build up several thin
coats and the result is quite stunning and
much easier going than French Polishing.
Tone doesn't seem to be affected and the
feel on the back of the neck is good.
Both French Polish and Finishing Oil are
user friendly in terms of repairs - you can
blend the finish over and around the repair
relatively easily and near to invisibly.
I like to oil my fingerboards with lemon oil, but
no more than six monthly. Lemon oil helps
to clean as well as lubricate the fingerboard
and has a nice aroma. Natural oils in the
skin keep a much played fingerboard well
lubricated, but eventually things need to be
cleaned. Once again, I clean the fingerboard
with xxxx steel wool and then I rub in a
coat of lemon oil. I have read that oiling the
fingerboard too often can loosen frets - oil
penetrates the fret slot and this can cause
problems. Remember, playing the guitar a lot
will keep the instrument sounding and feeling
better than constant oiling and cleaning.
I use Martin guitar polish to clean the guitar
when I change strings. Depending on my
work load this may be every few days.
Martin guitar polish is a very light polish
that leaves no residue on the instrument. I
religiously avoid any products that contain
silicone (spray-on furniture polishes mainly)
as silicone promotes a horrible stickiness
that is intolerable. I don't want to build
consecutive coats of wax etc., I just want to
clean the surface.
My favourite tip is always to wash your hands
before you play the guitar. This not only
minimizes stickiness and string squeaks,
but also helps to keep your strings sounding
nice and bright."
(Second part of the article next issue).
