The Steel Guitar Forum

Years of smoke in bars leaves that nasty build up on the sides of your steel and every other part. Whats is everyones favorite cleaner to get rid of that smudge,look that builds up on the stainless looking parts??

Thought this would be a great question for the forum. Have not seen anything in a while on this.

Moved to "Pedal Steel".

Some people swear by Mother's or Maguire's chrome polish. I use Blitz Cloths to clean my strings and when they get so nasty that the strings are dirtier after using it, I save them for a while. They work great on pedalbars and endplates. If ther are small scratches, I'll use Simichrome polish which is slightly abrasive and can leave tiny scratches. I'll use the old Blitz Cloths to polish out the micro-scratches, then buff with a clean, soft cloth.

And, when they're newer and cleaner, there's no better string cleaner than the Blitz Cloth in my book. One usually lasts me 2-3 months of daily use. Then I'll use it on the big polished aluminum parts for another 6 months or so.

Some of that 'baked on' road and bar gunk is hard to remove from undercarriage parts, but the external stuff can be polished up more easily.

Hope this helps.

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<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Someone posted a while back that the orange cleaner advertised on TV works well for cleaning smoke stains.

Fire really works well. I had several that needed a coat of this, some of them even got it.
It didn't do much for the tone but it did prevent me from having to listen to it.

Mr. Cleannen Burn
(pyrotecnition, on tour)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 10 March 2003 at 08:21 PM.]</p></FONT>

What's best for removing shallow scratches from a high gloss mica? Thanks-------bb

I, too, would like to hear of a polish/scratch remover for Formica.

I have tried the Nova polish for Plexiglass, but it seemed like it made the Formica dull. (I tried it in a small, "hidden" spot.) I think Formica has a very thin gloss layer, like a clear coat.

For general cleaning on the Formica I like a product called Brillianize.

Naptha, which is a mild solvent, seems to work well to clean metal parts.

Where Can I Find BLITZ CLOTHS? For Polishing . SONNY.

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SONNYPRIDDY

I use "steel" wool. Got this tip from Bobbe.

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<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Peter on 14 March 2003 at 02:05 PM.]</p></FONT>

On laquer guitars,I've used a cloth dampened with a little soapy water and once its clean I put on a coat of guitar/violin polish and buff it out with a soft cloth.On Formica guitars like my Sierra and Excel I use watered down Windex and an old T-shirt to get the gunk off the mica AND the aluminum parts - and then I use Pledge to put a coat of protection and shine it up with a soft cloth.Another trick I learned somewhere along the line is to use a new unused paintbrush to clean the dust off the fretboard - right through the strings. I used to shine my military brass up with Blitz cloths and it seemed like a good idea for cleaning strings but they do leave a slight coat of oil on the strings which will kill the twang of brand new strings.I don't know if that's good or bad but I HAVE observed that effect. -MJ-

Saint Bernard slobber!

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

Hopes counter top polish,in a white 8oz bottle,Lowes home center.Works good on formica and laquer.3M also has a clearcoat polish/compound that works well on laquer,semichrome polish on aluminum/stainless.

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Bill Ford

What I use to both polish my laquered finish
woods and metal parts is..........my wife.
It does a great job!

I Have Formica guitars,
Clean with windex,
Polish with any non-abrasive car polish
Dust with paint brush.
Either mothers or wading polish on the metal.
I do not believe there is any way to polish scratches out of formica, the glossy surface is too thin, you always dull it no matter what, my two cents,


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Lashley Legrande D10 8x7,Emmons Legrande 8x7, Sierra Lap-Top, Webb Amps

Hey my "Rock Band" back in Washington D.C. used to play at the 'Butterfly' on 14th Street used to be called "Blitz"..

Bronco Billy
Zumsteeel U-12

<SMALL>I used to shine my military brass up with Blitz cloths and it seemed like a good idea for cleaning strings but they do leave a slight coat of oil on the strings which will kill the twang of brand new strings.I don't know if that's good or bad but I HAVE observed that effect.</SMALL>

MJ: You are correct, but I use stainless strings and won't use strings unless they have several hours of playing time on them because they're too bright and abrasive -- both tonewise and physically. I find the Blitz helps remove that initial brittle sound and lubricates the strings such that the break-in period is shorter and the result is better. I have only experienced SUBSTANTIALLY longer string life. I do always follow the Blitz with a clean cloth, but it always leaves some residue, which I feel is a GOOD THING.

Works fer me!

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<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

I used to use Blitz cloths on my strings, but found after wiping them down a few times, my harmonics were affected. YMMV

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ree-00-dee-doo