How To Clean the Seagull S6?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Simpson on April 2, 2012 at 6:12pm

I would be hard pressed to use plain water on any guitar unless it was sprayed on in a fine mist with an atomizer. I mean, I wouldn't run a cloth under water and ring it out unless the instrument were truly filthy and had stuff caked on it. I think Dunlop #65 guitar polish (which for all I know is 98.4% water) would be the stuff to use. Directions say to spritz the cloth a time or two and wipe. It works fine on my Artist Mahogany Folk which has a satin finish.

YMMV and all that...

Permalink Reply by Wayne Simpson on April 2, 2012 at 6:46pm

Oh, you wanted to know about fretboard, too. Once a year I use Lemon Oil. Dunlop makes that as well with a nice applicator on the bottle. If you play a lot or your hands are unusually oily, the finger grease might get caked on a bit. If the lemon oil doesn't dissolve the gook, use 0000 steel wool (you read that right, four "0", very fine) to get it off and polish the frets, then treat with lemon oil, let soak in for a few minutes and rub off the excess. Do this during a string change and no, it won't hurt the guitar to have all the strings off for a short while.

Washing your hands before you play will help keep the fretboard clean and preserve your strings, too.

Permalink Reply by Joe Brancato on April 2, 2012 at 6:43pm

I'd use the same polish you use on your Martins...+ lemon oil/fretboard oil for the fingerboard & bridge.

Permalink Reply by Blackback Gull on April 2, 2012 at 6:44pm

A very lightly dampened soft rag, with a few drops of pure lemon oil (NOT polish) rubbed well into the cloth, cleans my S6 and helps hide the pick marks, scratches and dings it's picked up along the way.  Works on the fretboard, too - I let it soak in well, then wipe down and polish.

Permalink Reply by CaliGull on April 2, 2012 at 8:56pm

I wrote Godin and asked about this.  I am told that a wax-free guitar polish is recommended, and that I can use my Martin guitar polish that I already have.  

Permalink Reply by Ray on April 2, 2012 at 9:29pm

I know I'm going to get some disagreement on this, but I have had good success using Pledge furniture spray on my guitar.  I don't use it on the soundboard - I use lemon oil on that.  And I don't use it on the fretboard - I use lemon oil for that too.

Now, before everyone tells me that using Pledge is a bad thing to do, let me state my case:

#1 Pledge spray has been used for many years to treat materials for historic preservation.

#2 My Seagull S6 is 21 years old and it looks great.  The wood has held up very well.

I don't use it frequently, maybe once a year.

Permalink Reply by Jud Hair on April 6, 2012 at 7:00am

It certainly works on fine furniture!  What are the active ingredients in "Pledge" ... aside from elbow grease, of course?

Permalink Reply by Jason J. on April 5, 2012 at 2:26pm

I use Martin Professional Guitar Polish sprayed on a microfiber cloth, not directly on the guitar. I also use Dunlop Fretboard 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil.