We will now look at cleaning a nitro finished guitar. The fact that it is a more subtle and light finish, means that you have to take more care in your cleaning of it.
With modern nitro finishes, like the one we have on this Gibson 339, you only have to be slightly more careful than with the poly finishes. As the guitars get older, the nitro finishes can start to wear thinner and that is when you need to be very careful, as we will come onto in the next lesson. For now, the same process applies as with the poly finish. You can use a pump polish, and James highly recommends Virtuoso pump polish, as shown below.
Just as before, you simply need to apply a small amount (2 sprays or so) to the blue towel and start cleaning the body. You can use the pump polish to clean the entire body, back, back of neck and headstock. Be sure to wipe off all of the pump polish you use. To help you see where the polish has not been wiped off, be sure to have a good light on what you are doing!
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We will now move onto to look at how to clean vintage instruments. Extra care should be taken as the finish is often much more delicate as a result of years of use and they are often quite valuable. James masterfully walks you through the process.