Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
It seems as Gorgomyte has gone off the market, ot maybe sold by GHS but complaints that it isn't the same.
Seems it was the brainchild of Jimmy johnson, Alex Lifeson's personal roadie from 1968 on, later toured with Styx, had quite a bio. Passed away in 2019.
At any rate, I haven't been able to buy any, and it was damned expensive anyway.
Succumbing to a GAS attack, as usual I received some old thing, a higher priced orphan, with ancient DNA stuck, or is that actually bonded, to the Rosewood board, a guitar little played, most higher frets never used much, but still adorned with fossilized schmundo as described in the Ritchie Flieger guitar maintenance book from many years ago.
What to do without Gorgomyte?
I know from personal experience that this stuff can withstand most cleaners, even when applied with tons on elbow grease.
I noticed StewMac has Miracle Cloth instead, now with Coconut Oil, the older packages said with Lemon Oil.
So, necessity being a mother, I made my own Gorgomyte cloth by working some Coconut oil - a solid at room temp - into some old T shirt cotton material, maybe not quite aggressive enough.
And so I went to work on this 22 fret fingerboard, and as expected, it started removing the old skin/grime deposits, visibly, but slowly.
20 minutes and I was done, following it up with some F1 oil.
It wasn't as aggressive as a real Gorgomyte cloth, and the cloth didn't turn pure black, so it didn't polish the frets quite as well, but it got rid of the fingerboard grime completely, and that's quite an accomplishment for something you can make in your own kitchen in a couple minutes.
The board feels smooth now, completely different, like played in guitar.
Wondering what the exact formula of the Gorgomyte cloth was?
Coconut oil has Lauric Acid, which might be what makes it so good at cleaning - try it on jar label glues, you'll be amazed - and it is antimicrobial, which is a good idea when cleaning someone else's deposit from a fingerboard, no matter how old.
Seems it was the brainchild of Jimmy johnson, Alex Lifeson's personal roadie from 1968 on, later toured with Styx, had quite a bio. Passed away in 2019.
Jimmy Johnson Guitar Technician
Jimmy Johnson is a veteran guitar technician with over 30 years of touring experience.
www.gorgomyte.com
At any rate, I haven't been able to buy any, and it was damned expensive anyway.
Succumbing to a GAS attack, as usual I received some old thing, a higher priced orphan, with ancient DNA stuck, or is that actually bonded, to the Rosewood board, a guitar little played, most higher frets never used much, but still adorned with fossilized schmundo as described in the Ritchie Flieger guitar maintenance book from many years ago.
What to do without Gorgomyte?
I know from personal experience that this stuff can withstand most cleaners, even when applied with tons on elbow grease.
I noticed StewMac has Miracle Cloth instead, now with Coconut Oil, the older packages said with Lemon Oil.
So, necessity being a mother, I made my own Gorgomyte cloth by working some Coconut oil - a solid at room temp - into some old T shirt cotton material, maybe not quite aggressive enough.
And so I went to work on this 22 fret fingerboard, and as expected, it started removing the old skin/grime deposits, visibly, but slowly.
20 minutes and I was done, following it up with some F1 oil.
It wasn't as aggressive as a real Gorgomyte cloth, and the cloth didn't turn pure black, so it didn't polish the frets quite as well, but it got rid of the fingerboard grime completely, and that's quite an accomplishment for something you can make in your own kitchen in a couple minutes.
The board feels smooth now, completely different, like played in guitar.
Wondering what the exact formula of the Gorgomyte cloth was?
Coconut oil has Lauric Acid, which might be what makes it so good at cleaning - try it on jar label glues, you'll be amazed - and it is antimicrobial, which is a good idea when cleaning someone else's deposit from a fingerboard, no matter how old.