If you're not finicky about your guitar's appearance and tactile feel, this is not the post you're looking for. Move along.
However, if you enjoy a pristine instrument, read on.
Do No Harm
So you want a shiny guitar. It's possible that in your zeal to have the world's shiniest guitar, you will make it worse. Don't overdo things.
All polishes contain abrasives. They contain a chemical sauce, along with solid abrasives suspended in the sauce. Their purpose is to create very fine scratches, and progressively get finer and finer scratches as the abrasives break down into microscopic particles that make the scratches become more microscopic until they appear to be invisible and the finish appears glossy. In the process, all polishes remove a little bit of the finish.
Therefore, two things are important in polishing: The formulation of the polish (or polishes), and the polishing pad or cloth (yes, the polishing cloth can also scratch a lacquer finish and create swirl marks and haze).
Soft cotton T shirts and diapers used to be the choice for polishing. However, believe it or not, cotton will abrade the clear coat. Don't believe it? Get out a clear CD case and rub the cotton cloth on it. It'll haze up.
There are soft microfiber cloths (not all of them are good for this by the way) that won't cause that haze because the fibers are much smaller, and the results are similar to using a finer grade of polish. A company called Griot's Garage makes some very thick microfiber towels that work really well for this, designed for use with show car lacquer.
I you don't need to remove scratches, and all you want to do is shine the thing up, wipe it down with a very soft, damp microfiber cloth, dry it, and then use a non-abrasive like the PRS cleaner with a clean microfiber cloth.
Deeper scratches (this includes pick scratches that can get pretty deep into the clear coat) need to be polished out in two steps. First use a polish with more grit to level the surface, and then follow up with a finer polish to shine it up again. Virtuoso makes such a two step set of polishes, and they're nitro-safe. I used to have decent results with Meguiar's car polishes, but I don't know if they're nitro safe, so caveat emptor.
Just remember that you can polish too much, and too often. Also, car wax yellows.
About That Nickel Plating
Nickel plating is actually pretty cool stuff. It has a warmer appearance than chrome (there's less of a blue cast), and it doesn't peel or pit as easily as chrome. Nickel is also a very hard metal. The drawback is that it can tarnish from the sweat or oils in your hands, or if (heaven forbid) you don't keep the guitar cased when not in use.
If you've ever polished out nickel plating, you know what you can create a haze on it just like paint, so you need the right polish to keep it shiny, and again, a microfiber cloth is the best choice for applying polish, and polishing out the tarnish. I use MAAS metal polishing cream. It's made in Illinois, comes in a tube, and my tube of the stuff is now at least 20 years old and I've hardly made a dent in it. A tiny bit goes a very long way.
PRS recommends mag wheel polish, which is probably also fine, and might be just as good, I simply haven't tried it.
Wrap That Rascal
As many here know, I'm an advocate of using a case or gig bag when not playing the instrument.
In your house, the humidity changes constantly. The temperature goes up and down from furnaces and AC (they cycle, they're not constantly on). The humidity also varies depending on where you measure it. For example, it's higher closer to a basement ceiling. Etc.
Wood is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture if it's humid, and loses moisture if it's dry. This is why changes of seasons often require new setups. However these can be minimized, if not eliminated when using a case (see below). It's also the expansion and contraction of the wood and paint that causes finish crackling with nitro.
Cooking puts a load of evaporated greases and oils into the air that later condense and settle on the surfaces of objects in the house. They'll settle on your guitar. The guitar's surface then becomes sticky, and attracts more stuff, like dust and dirt. The dust merges with the condensed oils and greases to gum up your guitar's controls.
So if you like the feeling of playing a clean guitar that doesn't have crackly controls, feel sticky, and look like it's as old as me, do this: put it in a f#cking case or bag when you're not using it.
A case or gig bag also acts as a buffer for temperature and humidity changes, and pretty much eliminates the goo/dust combination problem, and prevents accidental dings.
But Wait, There's More
A hard case can be used with humidification packets. Great stuff.
Boveda (and D'Addario) offer little packs designed for guitar case use. The beauty of the humidipak is that it contains a water-based concoction of salts that absorb excess moisture when the humidity's too high, and also release moisture when the humidity's too low. The material used for the packet is permeable to allow this process to take place.
Kept in your case, it will keep the guitar at the same controlled humidity as the PRS factory.
Most people use these packets in sets of three made for acoustic guitars, but sticking one (not more) pack in an electric guitar case keeps the guitar in a proper 45-50% relative humidity, and if you put it where the guitar won't squish it -, you've got humidity control covered (I use the area under the headstock in French fit cases, or in standard cases, there's an open pocket next to the neck). If you haven't got a place for the humidipak where it won't get squished, do not use one.
I've been using these packets in my cases for quite a few years. They work well. I'd take them out when traveling to prevent inadvertent leakage from being bumped around.
A few of my PRSes have been here for over 8 years. None has needed a setup or neck adjustment during that time. If you like your current setup, this is a good thing. There has also been no cracking or issue with my nitro finishes (all are nitro except the 594 Soapbar). One of my least favorite activities is changing guitar strings. My strings seem to last a little longer since I started using these packets.
Obviously, it's more problematic to use a packet containing liquid inside a gig bag, and a gig bag, being made of fabric, may or may not be too permeable. I know these packets work well with wooden and molded hard cases. I don't claim to know whether they'd work in a gig bag, but the packets would be impractical with a gig bag because the packets could get squished and leak.
Finally, the packets last about 3-6 months in my house, YMMV. They cost a few bucks. It's a pretty small cost, though.
Too Much Fretting...
Look, I get that you want your fretboard to be dark and glossy. And everyone's got their magic formula miracle stuff for doing that (and they have strong opinions!).
Here are a few things to think about:
If your fretboard is rosewood or ebony, it's unfinished. The natural oils in the wood serve the protective purpose that paint serves on other woods that need a finish, like maple and mahogany.
You want the fretboard surface to be hard enough to remain smooth, slick and easy to play. But you do not want it to become soft, disintegrate, or have the inlays come loose. This can be a problem if you're in the habit of overdoing things.
You don't want the natural oils in fretboard wood to evaporate. What will make the oils go to the surface and evaporate? Why, the very stuff many players use thinking they're oiling the wood: lemon oil. Yes, it looks glossy for a while, because it's leeching out the oils in the wood!
Lemon oil is simply scented naphtha. Naphtha is a petrochemical. It's lighter fluid, and dry-cleaning fluid. Why does it work for dry-cleaners? Because it brings oil and dirt to the surface so it can be removed. That's also what it does to your fretboard.
It's a cleaner, not a preservative. Use it to clean the fretboard when the board gets dirty and gunked-up. Then wipe it off. Otherwise it will soften the wood, and cause the natural oils to evaporate, making things worse. And it has the potential to make the inlays loosen. it will definitely attract more dirt if you let it lay on the surface.
Nonetheless, I use it to clean the fretboard, but minimally. As little stuff as will remove the gunk. Wipe it on, clean the fretboard, and wipe it off.
If you want to make the fretboard dark and glossy, there are products to do that; the PS department used to use boiled linseed oil, followed by a furniture polish, PRS used to recommend furniture polishes like Behold or Pledge, but now they make a tung oil product formulated for fretboard use. I haven't tried it yet. I might, but my fretboards stay pretty darn nice just by virtue of the guitar being humidified and cased.
I would not use a product that smells like or is intended for use with food (such as oil made from actual fruit, which will turn rancid), or mineral oil, etc. Or one that's abrasive enough to shine/clean frets (!). But whatever you do, be minimally invasive. Chances are the less you have to use, the better.
However, if you enjoy a pristine instrument, read on.
Do No Harm
So you want a shiny guitar. It's possible that in your zeal to have the world's shiniest guitar, you will make it worse. Don't overdo things.
All polishes contain abrasives. They contain a chemical sauce, along with solid abrasives suspended in the sauce. Their purpose is to create very fine scratches, and progressively get finer and finer scratches as the abrasives break down into microscopic particles that make the scratches become more microscopic until they appear to be invisible and the finish appears glossy. In the process, all polishes remove a little bit of the finish.
Therefore, two things are important in polishing: The formulation of the polish (or polishes), and the polishing pad or cloth (yes, the polishing cloth can also scratch a lacquer finish and create swirl marks and haze).
Soft cotton T shirts and diapers used to be the choice for polishing. However, believe it or not, cotton will abrade the clear coat. Don't believe it? Get out a clear CD case and rub the cotton cloth on it. It'll haze up.
There are soft microfiber cloths (not all of them are good for this by the way) that won't cause that haze because the fibers are much smaller, and the results are similar to using a finer grade of polish. A company called Griot's Garage makes some very thick microfiber towels that work really well for this, designed for use with show car lacquer.
I you don't need to remove scratches, and all you want to do is shine the thing up, wipe it down with a very soft, damp microfiber cloth, dry it, and then use a non-abrasive like the PRS cleaner with a clean microfiber cloth.
Deeper scratches (this includes pick scratches that can get pretty deep into the clear coat) need to be polished out in two steps. First use a polish with more grit to level the surface, and then follow up with a finer polish to shine it up again. Virtuoso makes such a two step set of polishes, and they're nitro-safe. I used to have decent results with Meguiar's car polishes, but I don't know if they're nitro safe, so caveat emptor.
Just remember that you can polish too much, and too often. Also, car wax yellows.
About That Nickel Plating
Nickel plating is actually pretty cool stuff. It has a warmer appearance than chrome (there's less of a blue cast), and it doesn't peel or pit as easily as chrome. Nickel is also a very hard metal. The drawback is that it can tarnish from the sweat or oils in your hands, or if (heaven forbid) you don't keep the guitar cased when not in use.
If you've ever polished out nickel plating, you know what you can create a haze on it just like paint, so you need the right polish to keep it shiny, and again, a microfiber cloth is the best choice for applying polish, and polishing out the tarnish. I use MAAS metal polishing cream. It's made in Illinois, comes in a tube, and my tube of the stuff is now at least 20 years old and I've hardly made a dent in it. A tiny bit goes a very long way.
PRS recommends mag wheel polish, which is probably also fine, and might be just as good, I simply haven't tried it.
Wrap That Rascal
As many here know, I'm an advocate of using a case or gig bag when not playing the instrument.
In your house, the humidity changes constantly. The temperature goes up and down from furnaces and AC (they cycle, they're not constantly on). The humidity also varies depending on where you measure it. For example, it's higher closer to a basement ceiling. Etc.
Wood is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture if it's humid, and loses moisture if it's dry. This is why changes of seasons often require new setups. However these can be minimized, if not eliminated when using a case (see below). It's also the expansion and contraction of the wood and paint that causes finish crackling with nitro.
Cooking puts a load of evaporated greases and oils into the air that later condense and settle on the surfaces of objects in the house. They'll settle on your guitar. The guitar's surface then becomes sticky, and attracts more stuff, like dust and dirt. The dust merges with the condensed oils and greases to gum up your guitar's controls.
So if you like the feeling of playing a clean guitar that doesn't have crackly controls, feel sticky, and look like it's as old as me, do this: put it in a f#cking case or bag when you're not using it.
A case or gig bag also acts as a buffer for temperature and humidity changes, and pretty much eliminates the goo/dust combination problem, and prevents accidental dings.
But Wait, There's More
A hard case can be used with humidification packets. Great stuff.
Boveda (and D'Addario) offer little packs designed for guitar case use. The beauty of the humidipak is that it contains a water-based concoction of salts that absorb excess moisture when the humidity's too high, and also release moisture when the humidity's too low. The material used for the packet is permeable to allow this process to take place.
Kept in your case, it will keep the guitar at the same controlled humidity as the PRS factory.
Most people use these packets in sets of three made for acoustic guitars, but sticking one (not more) pack in an electric guitar case keeps the guitar in a proper 45-50% relative humidity, and if you put it where the guitar won't squish it -, you've got humidity control covered (I use the area under the headstock in French fit cases, or in standard cases, there's an open pocket next to the neck). If you haven't got a place for the humidipak where it won't get squished, do not use one.
I've been using these packets in my cases for quite a few years. They work well. I'd take them out when traveling to prevent inadvertent leakage from being bumped around.
A few of my PRSes have been here for over 8 years. None has needed a setup or neck adjustment during that time. If you like your current setup, this is a good thing. There has also been no cracking or issue with my nitro finishes (all are nitro except the 594 Soapbar). One of my least favorite activities is changing guitar strings. My strings seem to last a little longer since I started using these packets.
Obviously, it's more problematic to use a packet containing liquid inside a gig bag, and a gig bag, being made of fabric, may or may not be too permeable. I know these packets work well with wooden and molded hard cases. I don't claim to know whether they'd work in a gig bag, but the packets would be impractical with a gig bag because the packets could get squished and leak.
Finally, the packets last about 3-6 months in my house, YMMV. They cost a few bucks. It's a pretty small cost, though.
Too Much Fretting...
Look, I get that you want your fretboard to be dark and glossy. And everyone's got their magic formula miracle stuff for doing that (and they have strong opinions!).
Here are a few things to think about:
If your fretboard is rosewood or ebony, it's unfinished. The natural oils in the wood serve the protective purpose that paint serves on other woods that need a finish, like maple and mahogany.
You want the fretboard surface to be hard enough to remain smooth, slick and easy to play. But you do not want it to become soft, disintegrate, or have the inlays come loose. This can be a problem if you're in the habit of overdoing things.
You don't want the natural oils in fretboard wood to evaporate. What will make the oils go to the surface and evaporate? Why, the very stuff many players use thinking they're oiling the wood: lemon oil. Yes, it looks glossy for a while, because it's leeching out the oils in the wood!
Lemon oil is simply scented naphtha. Naphtha is a petrochemical. It's lighter fluid, and dry-cleaning fluid. Why does it work for dry-cleaners? Because it brings oil and dirt to the surface so it can be removed. That's also what it does to your fretboard.
It's a cleaner, not a preservative. Use it to clean the fretboard when the board gets dirty and gunked-up. Then wipe it off. Otherwise it will soften the wood, and cause the natural oils to evaporate, making things worse. And it has the potential to make the inlays loosen. it will definitely attract more dirt if you let it lay on the surface.
Nonetheless, I use it to clean the fretboard, but minimally. As little stuff as will remove the gunk. Wipe it on, clean the fretboard, and wipe it off.
If you want to make the fretboard dark and glossy, there are products to do that; the PS department used to use boiled linseed oil, followed by a furniture polish, PRS used to recommend furniture polishes like Behold or Pledge, but now they make a tung oil product formulated for fretboard use. I haven't tried it yet. I might, but my fretboards stay pretty darn nice just by virtue of the guitar being humidified and cased.
I would not use a product that smells like or is intended for use with food (such as oil made from actual fruit, which will turn rancid), or mineral oil, etc. Or one that's abrasive enough to shine/clean frets (!). But whatever you do, be minimally invasive. Chances are the less you have to use, the better.
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