Take Care of Your Instrument

[dustyamps]

Take care of your instrument instructions from the Gibson System for Guitar circa 1939.

[George R. Lane]

Things haven't changed much, have they.

[FLATROCK HILL]

A little fuzzy for my old eyes but it looks like 1939. Didn't the earlier instructions recommended cleaning with gasoline?

[MikeEdgerton]

Here is Darryl Wolfe describing an old Gibson publication from the 20's if I recall.

[Louise NM]

Love the 1920s instructions, and the recipe for the polish, too. Sitting around the wood stove or fireplace on a cold winter's night, shining up the old mandolin—KABOOM!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Polish recipe :- GIBSON POLISH FORMULA :-
1 tablespoon of lemon compound or lemon oil.
1 tablespoon of parafine oil.
1 quart of gasoline.

One QUART of gas. ???. That's 2 pints !. The lemon & paraffin would be lost in the mix. I'm wondering if it should have been a quarter of a tablespoonful of gas. to thin it down a bit. Using 2 pints of gas,you might as well forget anything the lemon & paraffin might do. They'd be so dilute as to do nothing !.

The lemon compound / oil was to give the mixture a nice aroma,mixed with 2 pints of gas,do you reckon you'd smell it ?,

Ivan

[Bertram Henze]

The lemon compound / oil was to give the mixture a nice aroma,mixed with 2 pints of gas,do you reckon you'd smell it ?,

They call it "Jim Beam"

[tiltman]

Love the 1920s instructions, and the recipe for the polish, too. Sitting around the wood stove or fireplace on a cold winter's night, shining up the old mandolin—KABOOM!

I think that may be where all of the "missing" Loars went...

Kirk

[Ivan Kelsall]

I re-strung my Lebeda mandolin yesterday. New strings / polish the frets with a Silver polishing cloth to shine 'em up / a wipe over the f/board with Teak oil -wipe on,wipe off / polish the body with Beeswax furniture cream - it looks like new & sound terrific !,
Ivan