PRS wax

[ruger9]

I bought Virtuoso when I got my PRS because I didn't want to "hurt" (or whatever) their stupid hybrid finish (God I wish my DGT was just good ol' poly), but my preferred "polish" for 30 years on all my guitars is lemon Pledge. It's great. For 30 years. No problems. For 30 years. John Suhr even uses it and recommends it.

But I think Virtuoso is more car wax-like (thick) too. I use it because I HAVE to, not because I WANT to.

 

[deathworlder]

Polishes are just solid crushed abrasives suspended in a surfactant liquid. The rubbing breaks down the abrasive material into finer and finer particles - at least that's what it's supposed to do.

Unfortunately, I've found that most guitar polishes contain abrasive that doesn't break down into finer particles easily, or maybe has too much solid abrasive, so you get a buildup of gunk, and a somewhat hazy surface.

I haven't tried the PRS polish because it wasn't nitro-safe, though they've recently changed the formula and now it is.

Just for grins a while back I tried a product called Lizard Spit that was a two-step thing, very highly touted by Sweetwater. It left visible haze on the surface no matter what I did. I'm pretty good with polishes going back to my show car days. I won't use that stuff again.

Fortunately, a few seconds of hand polishing the same spot with Virtuoso completely restored the finish to factory-gloss. Live and learn

I found with poly finishes, the Meguiar's #7 polish (I think that's the number but I'm not sure, so don't buy it on my say-so) did a nice job and polished out without haze. But with both nitro and poly finishes, Virtuoso has been my go-to for guitars for years.

Honestly, I've tried just about everything. Virtuoso is the stuff I recommend now.

Meguiars final cut #7 is their show car glaze. It's more of what I would expect out of a guitar 'polish'; no real cutting action.

 

[László]

I bought Virtuoso when I got my PRS because I didn't want to "hurt" (or whatever) their stupid hybrid finish (God I wish my DGT was just good ol' poly), but my preferred "polish" for 30 years on all my guitars is lemon Pledge. It's great. For 30 years. No problems. For 30 years. John Suhr even uses it and recommends it.

But I think Virtuoso is more car wax-like (thick) too. I use it because I HAVE to, not because I WANT to.

Virtuoso is a polish, not a wax, meaning it has abrasives that take the finish down each time you use it. A wax only shines things up. Virtuoso isn't meant to be a wax.

 

[László]

Meguiars final cut #7 is their show car glaze. It's more of what I would expect out of a guitar 'polish'; no real cutting action.

Actually, their #7 has some cutting action, it's just very fine. #7 uses clay as the very fine cutting ingredient. It's a polish, and works well. I've used it to take out fine pick scratches and swirl marks. I find that Virtuoso is also very mild and gives me an even better result because it seems to be a little finer.

But for anything deeper than the mildest little abrasion, they have a polish with more cut, and then afterward you use their fine polish. I've never needed that polish, but it's what I would use if I scratched the guitar.

I used #7 on show cars (and guitars) for many years. It will cut, just a little.

 

[László]

I bought Virtuoso when I got my PRS because I didn't want to "hurt" (or whatever) their stupid hybrid finish (God I wish my DGT was just good ol' poly), but my preferred "polish" for 30 years on all my guitars is lemon Pledge. It's great. For 30 years. No problems. For 30 years. John Suhr even uses it and recommends it.

PRS used to recommend Pledge or Behold for unfinished rosewood necks, FWIW. That's what I used with mine when I had a few guitars with that neck.

I think nitro finished guitars sound a little different, more 'vintage', if you will. I was really surprised because I had always figured the difference was imaginary. However, there clearly was a difference.

I noticed it back when I picked up my first DGT to try out back in 2008, I immediately heard it acoustically before I even plugged in (as compared to my poly finished McCarty Trem, so the electronics weren't the source of the difference). There was a sound that immediately reminded me of my '65 Gibson.

With that in mind, I've been buying nitro finished PRS' for about ten years, mostly PS models. I also replaced all my poly finished PRS' with nitro finished models when they introduced the finish on their Core line. It's just a personal preference; we're all different.