Cleaning/Polishing Tips

I'm not sure what Paul Bunyan has to do with cleaning and polishing guitars, but...

You will all recall, no doubt, that Paul Bunyan was the tale of a mythical logger in Northern Michigan back in the 19th Century, when the most profitable industry in Michigan was logging (for real, the early mansions in Detroit were built by lumber barons).

You see, we had logs in Michigan. Holy sh!t, we had logs up the wazoo. Yes, I said that. We had logs up the wazoo (jokes encouraged).

Lots and lots of logs, but not a lot of wazoos. Though for every logger, there was certainly a wazoo, the population of michigan was pretty low at the time. So there were many more logs than wazoos. Cars came like 90 years later.

Oh, we had copper mines, too, up in the U.P. But as cool as the copper mines were, the real money was in logging.

Historical note:

The 'U.P.' is what we call the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Let's face it, the U.P. should be part of Wisconsin, because it's obviously connected to Wisconsin, but isn't part of Wisconsin because Michigan nearly went to war with Ohio over Toledo, and to stop the fight, Congress awarded Michigan the U.P. and let Ohio take Toledo. Congress could get away with that then.

You can only imagine the ruckus there would be now.

Vchizzle would be as unhappy as he is when Michigan beats Wisconsin in football, which it has done 52 times in 69 games, so about 3 in 4. It's kind of a given. Then again, Michigan has beaten Indiana 61 times out of 70 games, about 87% of the time, so while Michigan-Wisconsin is at least a sporting event, Michigan-Indiana is a pity game. Hang in there, Indiana, you'll get to Illinois level at some point. But I digress.

Because Michigan was in the process of applying for Statehood, and Wisconsin was just a vast, who-the-hell-knows-what's-even-there Territory where there weren't even many Scandinavian immigrants yet, Michigan got the better of that deal.

Ohio is stuck with Toledo, I mean, c'mon, Toledo!

And we got copper mines, ski resorts, Mackinac where they don't allow cars, and who-the-hell-knows-what's-even-there other stuff, like Sault Sainte Marie (pronounced 'Soo' which seems kind of counterintuitive except, France had Michigan until the late 18th C. And who even knows what France was up to there, besides trapping beavers for hat fur).

Heheh. He said 'trapping beavers'. I've never trapped a beaver. It's all been purely voluntary.

I had a buddy in college from the Soo. He never told me what was there, and I didn't want to know. I do know that in 2023 the big event in 'The Soo' will be the Paranormal Convention.

I know. Paranormal Convention! You can't make this stuff up!

One can only imagine what happens at a Paranormal Convention, because it certainly won't be normal. I'm hoping we read about wild sex orgies, but...a paranormal convention will be more like That Guy On The History Channel Who Thinks Ancient Egyptians Had Light Bulbs Provided By Ancient Aliens.

Plus, he sure ain't gettin' any with THAT hairdo. Or...maybe at a paranormal convention....well I dunno.

Back to Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe (I know, one wonders), I don't see the connection with PRSes EXCEPT -- McCarty, MICHIGAN Maple! Yessir! The original maple tone wood was called Michigan maple! Did it come from Michigan? Only Paul Smith and the Great Gods of Tone know.

Did Paul Bunyan chop the Original McCarty maple down, and have Babe drag it to Lake Superior for transshipment to Detroit, and thence to Maryland?

I don't know. I'll bet no one knows. It's one of life's great mysteries, and I can't answer the question.

I can only tell you how to polish guitars made with it.

I suppose I should also mention that Gibsons were made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, like forever until some dude literally sneaked them out to Nashville and I mean, what was he thinking, because is there lumber in Nashville like there is in Michigan?

I don't know. But the Kalamazoo Gibsons are the ones that go for 500 Grand, and the Nashville ones are what they are. Tells you what you need to know, right (and apologies to Nashville Gibson fans and you know who you are and you got what you got, but let's face it, it is what it is) ?
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure what Paul Bunyan has to do with cleaning and polishing guitars, but...

You will all recall, no doubt, that Paul Bunyan was the tale of a mythical logger in Northern Michigan back in the 19th Century, when the most profitable industry in Michigan was logging (for real, the early mansions in Detroit were built by lumber barons).

You see, we had logs in Michigan. Holy sh!t, we had logs up the wazoo. Yes, I said that. We had logs up the wazoo (jokes encouraged).

Lots and lots of logs, but not a lot of wazoos. Though for every logger, there was certainly a wazoo, the population of michigan was pretty low at the time. So there were many more logs than wazoos. Cars came like 90 years later.

Oh, we had copper mines, too, up in the U.P. But as cool as the copper mines were, the real money was in logging.

Historical note:

The 'U.P.' is what we call the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Let's face it, the U.P. should be part of Wisconsin, because it's obviously connected to Wisconsin, but isn't part of Wisconsin because Michigan nearly went to war with Ohio over Toledo, and to stop the fight, Congress awarded Michigan the U.P. and let Ohio take Toledo. Congress could get away with that then.

You can only imagine the ruckus there would be now.

Vchizzle would be as unhappy as he is when Michigan beats Wisconsin in football, which it has done 52 times in 69 games, so about 3 in 4. It's kind of a given. Then again, Michigan has beaten Indiana 61 times out of 70 games, about 87% of the time, so while Michigan-Wisconsin is at least a sporting event, Michigan-Indiana is a pity game. Hang in there, Indiana, you'll get to Illinois level at some point. But I digress.

Because Michigan was in the process of applying for Statehood, and Wisconsin was just a vast, who-the-hell-knows-what's-even-there Territory where there weren't even many Scandinavian immigrants yet, Michigan got the better of that deal.

Ohio is stuck with Toledo, I mean, c'mon, Toledo!

And we got copper mines, ski resorts, Mackinac where they don't allow cars, and who-the-hell-knows-what's-even-there other stuff, like Sault Sainte Marie (pronounced 'Soo' which seems kind of counterintuitive except, France had Michigan until the late 18th C. And who even knows what France was up to there, besides trapping beavers for hat fur).

Heheh. He said 'trapping beavers'. I've never trapped a beaver. It's all been purely voluntary.

I had a buddy in college from the Soo. He never told me what was there, and I didn't want to know. I do know that in 2023 the big event in 'The Soo' will be the Paranormal Convention.

I know. Paranormal Convention! You can't make this stuff up!

One can only imagine what happens at a Paranormal Convention, because it certainly won't be normal. I'm hoping we read about wild sex orgies, but...a paranormal convention will be more like That Guy On The History Channel Who Thinks Ancient Egyptians Had Light Bulbs Provided By Ancient Aliens.

Plus, he sure ain't gettin' any with THAT hairdo. Or...maybe at a paranormal convention....well I dunno.

Back to Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe (I know, one wonders), I don't see the connection with PRSes EXCEPT -- McCarty, MICHIGAN Maple! Yessir! The original maple tone wood was called Michigan maple! Did it come from Michigan? Only Paul Smith and the Great Gods of Tone know.

Did Paul Bunyan chop the Original McCarty maple down, and have Babe drag it to Lake Superior for transshipment to Detroit, and thence to Maryland?

I don't know. I'll bet no one knows. It's one of life's great mysteries, and I can't answer the question.

I can only tell you how to polish guitars made with it.

I suppose I should also mention that Gibsons were made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, like forever until some dude literally sneaked them out to Nashville and I mean, what was he thinking, because is there lumber in Nashville like there is in Michigan?

I don't know. But the Kalamazoo Gibsons are the ones that go for 500 Grand, and the Nashville ones are what they are. Tells you what you need to know, right (and apologies to Nashville Gibson fans and you know who you are and you got what you got, but let's face it, it is what it is) ?

Forum post of Dec ‘22. Pure class.
 
Back
Top