Use Guitar Fretboard Cleaning? What Do You Use

[Biddlin]

"Whatever you do, don’t use furniture polish on your guitar. These oils can permanently alter the resonance of your guitar, as the wood experiences a change in density when it soaks up these polishing agents."
Rag-Time: How to Clean Your Guitar for Better Tone
Ellen Barnes
|
04.04.2016

USA: 1-800-4GIBSON
Europe: 00+8004GIBSON1
So make sure you use tone polish!

 

[Philip Lyon]

I use lemon oil on rosewood boards. It cleans the grime off, feeds the wood and stops it shrinking reducing the chance of fret ends protruding on unbound fingerboards.
On varnished maple boards I use a damp (not wet) microfiber cloth to clean the grime off.
On unvarnished maple boards I use Tung-Oil - if it keeps Chinese Junks watertight it is good enough for me !
Sometimes I use lighter fluid on a microfiber cloth to clean the metal hardware.
General body, pickguard and back of neck cleaning I use a damp microfiber cloth.

 

[Ufoscorpion]

I use Ernie Ball wonder wipes , they clean all types of fretboards up a treat . They are particularly good on unfinished maple .

 

[Gianni]

"Whatever you do, don’t use furniture polish on your guitar. These oils can permanently alter the resonance of your guitar, as the wood experiences a change in density when it soaks up these polishing agents."
Rag-Time: How to Clean Your Guitar for Better Tone
Ellen Barnes
|
04.04.2016

USA: 1-800-4GIBSON
Europe: 00+8004GIBSON1
So make sure you use tone polish!

I think it’s worth giving some more information about Ellen Barnes, Gibson’s tone and guitar-cleaning specialist.

Here is the actual article:
www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Gear-Tech/en-us/How-to-Clean-Your-Guitar-for-Better-Tone.aspx

Her bio on the Gibson website:
http://archive.gibson.com/en-us/lifestyle/bios/14

And on her blog:
www.blackandwhiteandlovedallover.com/p/about.html

 

[ricksconnected]

I wonder why she wrote this?
where she got her info at?

 

[Gianni]

A damp cotton cloth, with warm water, and a dry one afterwards, is all I’ve ever used or needed, for all fretboard woods, finished or unfinished, but have seen my luthier use Zippo lighter-fluid (naphtha), a toothbrush, and a credit card for scraping on really dirty rosewood. As for oil, extra-virgin olive is the only one I use, in my diet that is, but never on my fretboards.

In case you have just rolled your eyes in disapproval, please have a look at this Ibanez ukulele:

(www.musiciansfriend.com/folk-traditional-instruments/ibanez-uewt14e-exotic-wood-tenor-acoustic-electric-ukulele)

Like all acoustic instruments, its body wood is completely unfinished on the inside, while this one happens to also have an “open pore natural finish” on the outside too, which “allows the body to resonate more freely for improved tone and projection.” (Yeah, right!)

Now, would you actually mess with the natural resonance and tone of this fine instrument by oiling its body? Have you ever heard anyone, manufacturer or luthier, suggest that you should? Me neither! So, why would you oil its fretboard, which, in fact, happens to be the only part of it that already gets naturally oiled from your fingers by playing the damn thing!

By the way, as I like looking at my guitars, I have them all hanging on the wall all year round, and use both a humidifier and a dehumidifier to keep the relative humidity between 40 and 60% (ideally 45-55%), and have never had any problems with their tone, tuning stability, or playability.

 

[ricksconnected]

I keep mine oiled. try to anyways. 10W-30 every time

 

[Gianni]

I keep mine oiled. try to anyways. 10W-30 every time

A happy medium, I guess.

 

[charveldan]

http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

Naptha to clean & bore oil after.
Fret Doctor bore oil is the best ive found and ive used it all.
Lemon oil types anything with mineral oil has water in it that dries out the fretboard.
Water is bad.

 

[Antmax]

Different woods require different treatments. Rosewood is naturally oily and dries out so needs oil to keep it in good shape. Only a little and no water. Maple is usually sealed. Naphta is best for deep cleaning and shouldn't effect nitro or poly finishes. Evaporates fast without residue. I use Dunlop lemon oil on rosewood. Not sure what to use for supposed tung oil neck because many guitar manufacturers use a fast drying synthetic blend like miniwax tung oil. Mine doesn't say and feels great. I'm guessing miniwax. Should probably phone their tech support since they have no info on their site.

 

[ricksconnected]

these last two posts guys.

 

[Gianni]

“Martin Guitar does not recommend using lemon oil on the fingerboard. The acids in lemon oil break down the finish of your guitar. It may also speed the corrosion of the frets and decrease the life of your strings.”

Well, they might of course change their mind if they ever start producing their own fretboard ‘conditioner’ like almost every other guitar manufacturer.

“To clean your guitar, wipe it down with a clean, damp cotton cloth with water then a dry cotton cloth to dry. For polishing, we recommend using ‘Martin Polish and Cleaner’ which is available for purchase online and in our 1833 Shop. We recommend this polish for gloss finish guitars but not satin finish. It will not harm satin finish guitars, though after time the finish may begin to shine unevenly. It is best to use just plain water on satin finish guitars.”

(www.martinguitar.com/about/faq/care-parts)

 

[Biddlin]

unfinished maple .

As in baked maple?

 

[Ufoscorpion]

As in baked maple?

Not baked maple , the maple fretboards on my EVH guitars . The fretboards get very dirty in no time , a quick wipe and the dirt comes off immediately . I wipe straight away with a dry cloth to remove any residue , works a treat .

 

[Biddlin]

the maple fretboards on my EVH guitars .

Those are unvarnished? I did not know that. I knew that the neck was oil finished but assumed that they sealed the fretboard with some kind of varnish.

 

[HOT TUBES 70]

I use an angle grinder with a 80 grit pad ...

 

[Kiko]

Use fine brass brush to gently clean the fretboard, be carefull not to be over zealous, use light presure, let brush do the work. Then wipe with clean rag and light application of lemon oil.

I use this method to care for my old japanese lespauls.

 

[Ufoscorpion]

Those are unvarnished? I did not know that. I knew that the neck was oil finished but assumed that they sealed the fretboard with some kind of varnish.

Yep , that's the way Eddie likes it aparantly . He thinks that the ' natural oils ' from your fingers make the guitar sound better , who am I to argue ? Sill like to clean mine anyway .

 

[Ufoscorpion]

I use an angle grinder with a 80 grit pad ...

That should do it nicely .

 

[HOT TUBES 70]

If i told you guys what i use to clean my fret boards ... you'd all be shakin your heads at me .
But i've been doing for years and never really seemed to have a problem with it etc .