My first time trying out the Montypresso wax!
I was really keen to get my hands on the new 'Montypresso' tint/relic wax from Monty's Guitars. It's great to stock it, but as with any item I stock I am very conscious that it is always best to get some hands on experience to help answer any questions you may have, along with a chance to get a feel for how to use it safely etc.
I have had a 'SX' brand Strat copy nestled in the corner of my office for a long time. These are superb budget/entry level guitars, I have been really impressed by it's solid feel and some details like a bound fretboard so you don't get sharp fret tangs. But upon closer inspection found that the frets on this example were very well finished, nicely crowned and didn't need any leveling work. I basically have it here because some good friends kindly gifted it to me as their lad preferred his acoustic and didn't play it. Upon their house move they found it in their way and kindly offered it to me. I did accept it as I had wanted to give a guitar to my nephew eventually and figured this would be a nice opportunity to thanks to their kindness. Granted, when he's a little older and can perhaps comfortably hold the full sized Strat anyway. But it's sat in the corner here for quite some time now, and I'm really struggling with the idea of waste lately so decided to put it to some use whilst it waits my nephew to get a little bigger!
So on with a little project and a chance to try out the new tinting wax on a very light colored fretboard indeed! The ultimate test lol. The main image from this article is the fretboard before I got started. Pretty dry anyway to be honest as I can't imagine it has had much lemon oil over the years, if any.
With the Montypresso I would highly, highly recommend a good read through of Monty's instructions firstly, you can find that HERE. Some very useful tips in that document and I had a good read before getting started to familiarize myself with getting the best results safely. I gave the fretboard a wipe down and got started with the first coat. A new cloth, and most importantly a pair of gloves (a must as this stuff is essentially a stain, and will stain you fingers too!) and I worked this stuff in pretty heavily for about an hour I reckon. Decent amounts and really worked it into the grain and simply left any residue etc on there overnight. I would imagine total time I left the first coat soaking in was around 20 hours ish? This was the result after buffing off the excess from the first coat -
Pretty big difference from the first photo I would say. Overall much darker, but most notably for me was the little gaps in the grain were super dark giving it lovely character. But I was interested to see where I could take it from there and opted for another coat. For this though I didn't leave it soaking in as long, seeing as it already had a hefty first coat and I imagine the bulk of the surface was sealed really. 2nd coat went on much like the first, heavy coat and really working into the grain but I left it around 2/3 hours before buffing the excess away.
Final step for me was a polish of the frets and a final coat of Monty's Instrument Food, a clear natural beeswax to help with a good finish and sealed surface and here we are!
HUGE difference with the final result from the first photo. The photos are of course given some slight editing, but rest assure all photos have had the exact same edit so I could ensure good consistency with the images for you. Darker, full of grain life and character! Really impressive stuff and with following the clear instructions felt I achieved the results I was hoping to see, and more I suppose!
So to confirm, this was a heavy 1st coat of Montypresso, with a 20 hour ish soak in time. Clean off, then application of a heavy 2nd coat and a 2/3 hour soak in time. Clean off, then a coat of Monty's Instrument food to finish. Nice!
Interested in giving some a try? You can find Monty's Montypresso and Instrument Food in stock here at James' Home of Tone! HERE
PS. I figured I'd make this guitar into a little SRV inspired project, with parts I already have in the spares box. So I've installed a Fender vibrato I had spare, a black anodised pickguard and Fender amp style cupcake control knobs for the fun of it, I'll change the plastic nut to a pre-cut one to save on making from scratch time, and will fit some Gotoh style vintage tuners that I had from another project a while back that didn't end up happening. The guitar already has a harness in it from an install guide I wrote for my harnesses, but I may use this opportunity to demo the different styles of strat wiring harnesses I now offer, the sounds and the specs etc, should be fun! Pickups wise, If I happen upon a very cheap pickup set I may change them, but I'm tempted to just leave as is a play it really, keeping it a super budget project and have it all nice ready for when my nephew can have it for himself!
I have had a 'SX' brand Strat copy nestled in the corner of my office for a long time. These are superb budget/entry level guitars, I have been really impressed by it's solid feel and some details like a bound fretboard so you don't get sharp fret tangs. But upon closer inspection found that the frets on this example were very well finished, nicely crowned and didn't need any leveling work. I basically have it here because some good friends kindly gifted it to me as their lad preferred his acoustic and didn't play it. Upon their house move they found it in their way and kindly offered it to me. I did accept it as I had wanted to give a guitar to my nephew eventually and figured this would be a nice opportunity to thanks to their kindness. Granted, when he's a little older and can perhaps comfortably hold the full sized Strat anyway. But it's sat in the corner here for quite some time now, and I'm really struggling with the idea of waste lately so decided to put it to some use whilst it waits my nephew to get a little bigger!
So on with a little project and a chance to try out the new tinting wax on a very light colored fretboard indeed! The ultimate test lol. The main image from this article is the fretboard before I got started. Pretty dry anyway to be honest as I can't imagine it has had much lemon oil over the years, if any.
With the Montypresso I would highly, highly recommend a good read through of Monty's instructions firstly, you can find that HERE. Some very useful tips in that document and I had a good read before getting started to familiarize myself with getting the best results safely. I gave the fretboard a wipe down and got started with the first coat. A new cloth, and most importantly a pair of gloves (a must as this stuff is essentially a stain, and will stain you fingers too!) and I worked this stuff in pretty heavily for about an hour I reckon. Decent amounts and really worked it into the grain and simply left any residue etc on there overnight. I would imagine total time I left the first coat soaking in was around 20 hours ish? This was the result after buffing off the excess from the first coat -
Pretty big difference from the first photo I would say. Overall much darker, but most notably for me was the little gaps in the grain were super dark giving it lovely character. But I was interested to see where I could take it from there and opted for another coat. For this though I didn't leave it soaking in as long, seeing as it already had a hefty first coat and I imagine the bulk of the surface was sealed really. 2nd coat went on much like the first, heavy coat and really working into the grain but I left it around 2/3 hours before buffing the excess away.
Final step for me was a polish of the frets and a final coat of Monty's Instrument Food, a clear natural beeswax to help with a good finish and sealed surface and here we are!
HUGE difference with the final result from the first photo. The photos are of course given some slight editing, but rest assure all photos have had the exact same edit so I could ensure good consistency with the images for you. Darker, full of grain life and character! Really impressive stuff and with following the clear instructions felt I achieved the results I was hoping to see, and more I suppose!
So to confirm, this was a heavy 1st coat of Montypresso, with a 20 hour ish soak in time. Clean off, then application of a heavy 2nd coat and a 2/3 hour soak in time. Clean off, then a coat of Monty's Instrument food to finish. Nice!
Interested in giving some a try? You can find Monty's Montypresso and Instrument Food in stock here at James' Home of Tone! HERE
PS. I figured I'd make this guitar into a little SRV inspired project, with parts I already have in the spares box. So I've installed a Fender vibrato I had spare, a black anodised pickguard and Fender amp style cupcake control knobs for the fun of it, I'll change the plastic nut to a pre-cut one to save on making from scratch time, and will fit some Gotoh style vintage tuners that I had from another project a while back that didn't end up happening. The guitar already has a harness in it from an install guide I wrote for my harnesses, but I may use this opportunity to demo the different styles of strat wiring harnesses I now offer, the sounds and the specs etc, should be fun! Pickups wise, If I happen upon a very cheap pickup set I may change them, but I'm tempted to just leave as is a play it really, keeping it a super budget project and have it all nice ready for when my nephew can have it for himself!
