Gibson says cleaning your guitar improves your tone.

[chromium]

"In the studio I was having the problem of getting that perfect tone that separates a million dollar single from a ten million dollar single. The famous producer whom I can't name here suggested I clean my guitar with some crap in a bottle. It made all the difference and bought me a Bentley. Thanks crap!"

"Live I was having the problem of getting that perfect tone that separates an $800 gig from an $825 gig.  The bartender whom I can't name here suggested I forget the polish and asked if we do any Nickelback..."

[Rob]

"Live I was having the problem of getting that perfect tone that separates an $800 gig from an $825 gig.  The bartender whom I can't name here suggested I forget the polish and asked if we do any Nickelback..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Dave W]

Perhaps Gibson, or at least the "author" can see how many Fender custom shop guitars are out there and the price they command for the relic'd finishes..   

It's just a marketing thing for polish kits, can't read into it anymore than that.

Nothing wrong with marketing their polish kits. Nothing wrong with their polishes either.

Plenty wrong with having an idiot write a dishonest article like this. I'm happy that it's being ridiculed, though I doubt anyone in Gibson's marketing department is listening. They're too busy being awesome and trying to become more awesome. 

[Alanko]

I took exception to the advice "Play it safe by removing only two or three strings at a time so that you don’t cause the neck tension to go out of whack". It doesn't say which tree to remove!

[Granny Gremlin]

Nothing wrong with marketing their polish kits. Nothing wrong with their polishes either.

Plenty wrong with having an idiot write a dishonest article like this. I'm happy that it's being ridiculed, though I doubt anyone in Gibson's marketing department is listening. They're too busy being awesome and trying to become more awesomer. 

Fixored

[nofi]

concerning the word awesome and its present popularity.i think it entered the lexicon for good when the datsun 240 z's were introduced way back when. awesome was the main identifier in the company's  sales slogan which i can't really recall. the word was always around of course but these car ads seemed to give it new life. now you can't escape its popularity. i know this is semi far afield but i've been wanting to explain this theory for a while. yeah, i know...

[uwe]

That was awesome, Nofi! Gorgeous explanation!!!

I had a Datsun Cherry once. There was nothing remotely awesome or gorgeous about it IIRC.

[Pilgrim]

I had a 1970 240Z, white with blue interior.  It was indeed awesome. For its day, it had a wonderful balance of performance, handling, styling, and reasonable comfort.

So much so that since then, I've had a 1976 280Z, a 1982 280ZX, and my current 1983 280ZX Turbo.  Bought it in 1990 and been enjoying it for 25 years.

[Dave W]

Fixored

I was just repeating what Henry said to that woman who flew over from the UK for a job interview. Of course she could have misquoted him, she was probably distracted by his Marty Feldman eyes.

[Alanko]

Next weird bit:

"If your pickups look rusty, you’ll want to unscrew their faceplates with an Allen wrench and, being careful not to disturb the wiring, clean the rust with a rust-dissolving agent."

The only time that would remotely apply would be for Dimarzio or Schaller pickups, and even then you would be removing the pole pieces. Pickups also tend not to have 'faceplates', so I really don't know what they are getting at. Clearly this was written by a non-player, which perhaps nicely summarises the root of a fair few problems with Gibson at the moment.

[Dave W]

Next weird bit:

"If your pickups look rusty, you’ll want to unscrew their faceplates with an Allen wrench and, being careful not to disturb the wiring, clean the rust with a rust-dissolving agent."

The only time that would remotely apply would be for Dimarzio or Schaller pickups, and even then you would be removing the pole pieces. Pickups also tend not to have 'faceplates', so I really don't know what they are getting at. Clearly this was written by a non-player, which perhaps nicely summarises the root of a fair few problems with Gibson at the moment.

Here's the way I handle a rusty pickup: First I dunk the whole pickup in a vat of specially formulated Gibson naval jelly -- it cleans the gunk off the electrons, allowing them to flow freely again instead of colliding with each other. But there's always some rust left on the cover, so I put a special Gibson ToneGrit disc on my angle grinder and grind it away. Then I refinish the cover using Gibson Tone Shaping Spray Chrome. Finally I reinstall it using only Gibson Vintage Solder.

Total cost is only about $500 per pickup!