In Search of SCGC Guitar Wax

[Barber Derek]

When I visited SCGC back in February 2020 Richard was kind enough to give me some of the SCGC Guitar Wax.  My SCGC 00 arrived in October 2020 and I’ve been quite consistent with using the SCGC wax about every 2 months.  Sadly, my supply is dwindling.  I reached out to Carolyn but she informed me that the maker of the wax is no longer and business and she didn’t have any SCGC wax on hand.

Does anyone know where I can get a hold of more of the SCGC wax?  I’ve looked around on the internet, but so far have come up empty.  Thanks for any and all leads and information.

[dwarfrat]

Try Tom Walzem at Mystic Music in Fresno.

 

[Barber Derek]

Thank you, will do.

[Sadie]

Hmm, here are some ideas. I’ve got a fair amount experience with carnauba wax, it’s favored as a protective surface because of its extremely high film strength – it’s used as a lubricant for coining operations at extremely high pressures, say when forming a nickel-titanium alloy part to protect the tooling.

I’ve used it for glass blowing; it’s common to use beeswax to lubricate tools used in contact with hot glass, carnauba on its own had too high a melting temperature, however mixed with beeswax it worked a treat.

The way I’ve seen to create a non-toxic paste wax for wood is to use tung oil in place of the petroleum solvents normally used to make e.g. car waxes.

So I’d think to combine tung oil with perhaps pure carnauba, or a blend of carnauba & beeswax.

The question is, would the tung oil component be ok over a nitrocellulose finish?

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SCGC 1934 OM Adi > BRW
Solist 🌈 burst on quilt maple
Martin OM-28
Strat rosewood > mahogany 2021

[pto]

shoot, i threw 2 cans out finally, cause i never used ’em.  i’ve used gruhn glaze since the 90s.  fabulous, as are so many other products.  scgc used plain ole Turtle Wax before marketing their own, in the dan roberts days.

[Barber Derek]

Thanks for the info and suggestions.

[tadol]

Sounds like you take very good care of your SC!  Personally, I’d say you may be waxing it too much, but that may be because I don’t sell wax.  Wax can be used as a finish, but usually its used as a “sacrificial” layer to protect the finish underneath. It’s why they would wax floors, bowling alleys, things that get a lot of wear – which isn’t usually a guitar.  But it really should ‘t hurt it I guess –

as far as SC wax – no idea where you might find it – put an alert on eBay. I’ve had a tin of Goddards Fine Furniture wax for a couple decades now, and on those rare occasions I wanna wax a guitar, it works great, and a little goes a long way. If you can’t find SC wax, any high-quality wax should be fine, just avoid anything that promotes its cleaning qualities (may mean it has hotter solvents or abrasives in it)  or is self-polishing ( thats just BS ) – also, make sure that it doesn’t have silicones in it (can make possible future finish repairs more difficult). And there are a bunch of brands that claim all this.

But this’d be a good thing to ask Richard about – let’s see what we can do about that –

[Barber Derek]

Thanks.  Yes, you may be right, I may in fact be waxing it too often.  I do treat my SCGC 00 with a great deal of loving care as it is an amazing instrument and likely to be the only SCGC I’ll ever be able to have made… barbering is good trade but not good enough to be a collector of fine instruments. 🙂

I don’t play with too much aggression but I do split my time 50/50 between strumming and fingerpicking.  Carolyn  mentioned another recommended product, but I like the “leather” scent of the SCGC wax.  It was funny, when I went to tour and design my guitar I just brought some beard wax to Richard as a gift because I thought he might like the woodsy scent.  He, of course, being so generous couldn’t let me leave empty handed. : )

[Hank]

Derek,

I don’t have any sugestions re: SCGC wax…other than i apply a very light amount ONCE a year to the Ramuda and a can has lasted me 6 years.

BUT……I do have a grey beard and mustache and please tell me more about the Beard wax you gave Richard.

[Chrisakadigdog]

Hank I think barber is referring to Frank Beard resophonic guitar builder and his instrument wax

Now as far as your need for your gray beard needs   some good old bacon fat or white lard might help bring your growth to a nice shinny smooth glistening. Ha ha

[indexless]

Stay tuned for a Podcast with Richard Hoover on this happening today. No need to go to the basement with the chemistry set and blow up the neighborhood…stay tuned

[indexless]

And the podcast with Richard is done, check it out the the podcast section

[Sadie]

I quite appreciated Richard’s talk through guitar cleaning practice and Virtuoso polish as a temporary replacement for the SCGC wax. However, I’m left with a question of what their polish consists of (their lit is quite clear that it’s not carnauba, and that they frown on wax generally). I’ve contacted them for clarification.

Conversely, since the SCGC guitar wax is presumably a *wax*, Does Richard / SCGC advise using wax? I’m fine with the concept of wax generally, and also wary that paste waxes rely on melting wax in petroleum solvents .. I’m wary of what VOCs I bring in the house, and at the same time, I don’t know another way to make a wax aside from my post above, and I wouldn’t use tung oil as a solvent over a nitro finish without assurance it was a safe thing to do.

Wax on; wax off 😉

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SCGC 1934 OM Adi > BRW
Solist 🌈 burst on quilt maple
Martin OM-28
Strat rosewood > mahogany 2021

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