Need Advice Regarding Possible Treatment To Use On Cordoba 15CM

I'm still waiting to hear from Cordoba but in the meantime I thought I would ask the forum's readers if they could help answer this question... Is there any treatment/conditioner that I could apply to the body of my Cordoba 15CM that would enhance the appearance of the wood and give it a richer look? It currently has a very "dry" appearance. I know that fretboards really respond well to conditioner and thought the same might be true of the body/neck of my instrument as long as the proper treatment was used. Of course, I would prefer not to do anything that would negatively effect the acoustics of the instrument.
Thanks for reading.

I had a Cordoba 20-TM that had a satin closed pore finish that responded to a light polishing with a lovely low gloss. There have been several posts here on polishing a uke's finish using things like plastic polish similar to the ones used on plastic headlight lenses, car scratch remover, etc. which has worked for me. The only problem would be if your 15-CM has an open pore finish. The polish could build up in the openings, but I have removed it from one uke I polished with a soft, damp toothbrush. Oil like treatments could end up facilitating a buildup of dirt and you'd end up with an even duller looking uke. I ended up buying some Stewmac swirl remover and find polish.

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...-a-nitro-satin-finish&highlight=polish+finish

I took the advice from another thread to go into a guitar store and buy a finish for guitars. The thread also said not to use anything made for automobiles, which has chemicals in it that are bad for wood.

If you want a repsonse from Cordoba you will need to call them directly. Any email correspondence goes unanswered for me as I emailed them long ago regarding a classical guitar I owned by them while back. They still owe me a cleaning cloth

kohanmike said:

I took the advice from another thread to go into a guitar store and buy a finish for guitars. The thread also said not to use anything made for automobiles, which has chemicals in it that are bad for wood.

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May depend on the product. Many, many posts indicate great success as the scratch and haze remover does not have the same chemicals that polish does.

It is probably a typical satin polyurethane. You can use any guitar polish on the finish, I use Martin Guitar Polish. It may marginally help to bring out a little better look, but that won't bring out any more wood grain or shine to it. That is the safe answer.

But, it is possible to polish it to a gloss finish. For example, all satin finish necks I have ever had end up with a really nice gloss finish on the back on the neck after playing the instrument for a while. I imagine there are oils in the skin, but most of it is probably just hand rubbing the finish with use over time.

I have polished a number of instruments, but only on the the top, not the rest of the body. I have used a low abrasive polish, not a car wax finish, but an actual polish such as Blue Coral or Brilliant Metal Polish. You want something that can be used on fiberglass. It does take a bit of intestinal fortitude, and Cordoba will most likely advise that it will void the warranty, but you can get more of a shine, which I think enhances the look. It won't be a deep thick gloss look; more of a hand rubbed, which is essentially what you are doing. And corners/edges next the the bridge and neck don't come out as polished. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, don't.

Keep in mind that I use 3-In-One oil on my fretboards.

John

70sSanO said:

...Keep in mind that I use 3-In-One oil on my fretboards...

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LOL. Better it be 3-In-One oil than WD-40 - amiright?

(IIRC, WD-40 is name as such due to the molecular properties of the silicone lubricant having [W]ater [D]isplacement properties (as per wikipedia) and prevents rust and oxidation when used on metal objects by not letting water or moisture gain a foot-hold on the surface, while ALSO providing lubrication.)

There is a product called RestoreAFinish. I do a lot of touch up or complete restorations on the furniture I recover asan upholsterer. Last week I was sent two ukes from one of my suppliers at a greatly reduced price because they wee just plain ugly finished. The matching colour in RAF cleaned them up and made them so nice and shiny tthat I called up to ask if they wanted them back.

Booli said:

LOL. Better it be 3-In-One oil than WD-40 - amiright?

(IIRC, WD-40 is name as such due to the molecular properties of the silicone lubricant having [W]ater [D]isplacement properties (as per wikipedia) and prevents rust and oxidation when used on metal objects by not letting water or moisture gain a foot-hold on the surface, while ALSO providing lubrication.)

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Right... 3-In-One. Actually it is not that outlandish as I read that is what Martin recommended years ago for their fretboards.

No WD-40 and no lemon oil.

John

My daughter's uke is a Cordoba 15cm. I don't have advice for the wood conditioning question, but thought I'd add that the body is all laminate. Maybe that affects the answer? The 15cm is a nice entry level uke!

I never use anything except Johnson and Johnson wax on my ukulele neck. They only thing I use on my fretboard is LoPrinizi's fretboard butter. Never lemon oil. Never WD-40.
I dunno what to tell you to use on the body. Looks like ya got some good answers tho.

I've used Meguiars Scratch X20 fine cut polish for cars on several guitars that had matte finishes and it worked great. Nice warm gloss. The finish on most instruments now days is polyurethane and you won't affect the wood unless you went right through the existing finish.