PROS: Well thought out; practical.
CONS: None.
PRICE: Varies (most under $20)
Keeping a gigging guitar looking and playing new isn’t easy. Spilled drinks, sweat, and sometimes even blood (depending upon your audience) can really muck things up. Music Nomad has a few tricks up their sleeve to keep your guitar or bass looking and playing well.
First up is their Guitar One polish. It does the work of a cleaner, a polish and a wax all in one. With a carnauba wax base, it’s similar to car spray polish. No sticky or waxy residue is left behind, and it’s safe for lacquer and nitrocellulose finishes. It’s eco-friendly too, as it’s biodegradable.
Fingerboards can get a nice treatment from their F-One oil. Unlike a lot of fingerboard conditioners, this is done WITHOUT lemon or any synthetic oils. Using just natural seed oils, it can nourish a neck. Unfinished fingerboards can really shrink and expand with the weather, drying out, and a player’s sweat can really make things worse, especially over time. A little goes a long way and is worth the five minute investment of your time.
Their String Fuel lubricant and cleaner is pretty much a no brainer. A pad mounted in an applicator (that also houses a small polish cloth) that has a cleaner soaked into it. Rub it along your strings, and it cleans, and leaves a thin film that doesn’t feel greasy or sticky. Strings are made of metal, and salty, corrosive sweat can lead to a string breaking down, especially near the bridge, causing breakage. The cleaner also acts as a conditioner for fretboards.
Keeping all those nooks and crannies (under the bridge, and behind strings) clean can be tough, and their Nomad Tool pulls double duty like a champ. A fine brush can dust and clean out tough areas on a guitar (or even any other gear, like the space between knobs on a pedalboard or mixer), while the other end sports a pad to clean strings and pickups. A quick tip: just wiping down a set of strings after playing can really make a difference on string life, and can clear the muck that any well-used instrument develops.
Overall, they’re all great (and inexpensive!) products, and if you want to keep a guitar looking and playing as good as new, these are well worth a look. Another quick tip: before showing an instrument to a prospective buyer, a quick detailing could narrow any haggling room off of the price, and a showroom finish can actually yield higher bids on eBay.