The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi All,

I have a a Sho-Bud LDG that needs some cleaning up. Any suggestions on what to use on the wood finish and what to use to polish/brighten up the hardware? Looks like a bit of a project. I don't want to do any damage to the finish or hardware finish obviously.

Also, who does nice professional Sho-Bud restoration these days? I checked with Jeffrey Surratt but he's pretty busy with new guitars.

Thanks,
Keith

Ricky Davis Does Great Work. Randy

Ricky Davis.

Ricky Davis did a great job on mine

Ricky made mine look and play like it just came from the factory.

Ricky is the un-contested "Shobud whisperer". Ricky's 'de man!!

On the keys and the down near the roller I would recomend Mothers Aluminum polish. I put on the aluminum trim on my Emmons and it looks like a brand new guitar. BTW I also used it on my pedal rack too.
Talk about shine, when the light hits it.
Tommy

The "ONLY" aluminum polish I've ever used for anything made and polished originaly out of aluminum is Solvol Autosol.
It comes in a toothpaste sized tube. I used/sold it for many years in a motorcycle business and even polishing little scratches in something like a plastic wristwatch dial covering will eliminate them.

All Z.B.est.

Bob Mainwaring

I tried a little bit of Flitz (because it's what I had on hand) and it seemed to polish it a little better...but not w/o great effort. I'll check out some of these other suggested products.

Thanks guys.
Keith

You can clean the body (lacquer and mica) with a good car cleaner for clear coat finishes. Then put a good car wax over it. It'll make a world of difference. As for the aluminum, Mothers alum mag polish works great. I've sanded the endplates before and then worked them with Mothers and they come out with a mirror finish.

On this little S-10, I used Mequiar's Professional Swirl Remover 2.0. Did that 3 or 4 times. Then, believe it or not, Nu Finish once a year car polish. The stuff in the orange container. Couple coats of that. Mequiar's Show Car Glaze. Couple coats of that too.
I polished all the changer parts, the keyhead and the Grover's on my bench buffer. Sanded the endplates and rack up to 1200 wet and dry, then took them to a plating/ polishing company in Cleveland. I think he charged me $30. After I took this pic, I removed the white residue with an old, worn out, soft toothbrush.

Tripoly Black and then another round of Tripoly brown. I just finished my Pro 2 and for a left handed screwdriver type person it looks pretty good. I do advise that you tie back any long hair if you're going to use a dremel on small parts and your eyes are as bad as mine. I have a one inch round bald spot in the middle of my left cheek.And did I mention there are times I'm not very smart either