Cleaning up my '30s Gibson L-7

[garybaldy]

My newly acquired 30s L7 needs a good clean. I don't want to lose any of the natural aging. I think it's been stored for many years.
What's best for tarnished frets? I've tried to do some research and I'm wondering about Miracle Cloth or MicroMesh.
What's best for removing grime from the fretboard. The Nomad stuff or Gibson's etc etc? I get confused as to whether some of the oils are for polishing, cleaning or both.
What should I use to clean the body? There is a fair bit of checking. It seems a bit of a minefield and I'm a bit scared of screwing it up.
TIA

[deacon Mark]

My newly acquired 30s L7 needs a good clean. I don't want to lose any of the natural aging. I think it's been stored for many years.
What's best for tarnished frets? I've tried to do some research and I'm wondering about Miracle Cloth or MicroMesh.
What's best for removing grime from the fretboard. The Nomad stuff or Gibson's etc etc? I get confused as to whether some of the oils are for polishing, cleaning or both.
What should I use to clean the body? There is a fair bit of checking. It seems a bit of a minefield and I'm a bit scared of screwing it up.
TIA

The frets you can use a scotch-brite or even 1500 sandpaper. The body I would first use Naphtha which should be safe completely although you might want to test a small part first. It does not harm nitro finishes but anything can happen. I would then use Meguiars hand polish. However it might shine things up more than you like but I am not you. Meguiar's Show Car Glaze, M07 - 16 oz.

[skykomishone]

It's always nice getting that caked grime off of an old 'new' guitar. Fortunately, only a few that I've purchased over the years arrived making me feel like I needed surgical gloves to handle. The fretboard is where it accumulates, nested against the frets, and in the more porous and worn wood. Skin, oils, dirt, sweat, metal, etc. That's where it always takes the most effort.

Also, guitars that have had Pledge, or other nasty furniture polish or waxy stuff used on them, and that area above and around the bass side F-hole where previous owners in short sleeves, especially if they used antiperspirant or nasty underarm treatments that years of playing gets into the nitro finish, makes it nearly impossible to get that haze to clear. I've found myself returning countless times saying if I just clean it one more time it will shine like the rest of the guitar.

Until finally, it just doesn't matter because the guitar plays and sounds so great it becomes beautiful regardless, as long as that fretboard isn't grimy.

[garybaldy]

The frets you can use a scotch-brite or even 1500 sandpaper. The body I would first use Naphtha which should be safe completely although you might want to test a small part first. It does not harm nitro finishes but anything can happen. I would then use Meguiars hand polish. However it might shine things up more than you like but I am not you. Meguiar's Show Car Glaze, M07 - 16 oz.

Thanks Mark.
There are very few products in the UK labelled as Naphtha. Would this be ok? Naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated light - SBP3 - Lighter Fluid for lighters 1L | eBay UK or I can get Zippo or Ronsonol lighter fuel from Amazon UK (cheaper!). Are they the same and therefore OK to use?
Also, I edited my OP to include a question about fretboard grime removal.
Hope you can help further.
Thank you so much.

[garybaldy]

It's always nice getting that caked grime off of an old 'new' guitar. Fortunately, only a few that I've purchased over the years arrived making me feel like I needed surgical gloves to handle. The fretboard is where it accumulates, nested against the frets, and in the more porous and worn wood. Skin, oils, dirt, sweat, metal, etc. That's where it always takes the most effort.

Also, guitars that have had Pledge, or other nasty furniture polish or waxy stuff used on them, and that area above and around the bass side F-hole where previous owners in short sleeves, especially if they used antiperspirant or nasty underarm treatments that years of playing gets into the nitro finish, makes it nearly impossible to get that haze to clear. I've found myself returning countless times saying if I just clean it one more time it will shine like the rest of the guitar.

Until finally, it just doesn't matter because the guitar plays and sounds so great it becomes beautiful regardless, as long as that fretboard isn't grimy.

Thanks Sky.
Yes, I don't want it to gleam, just be less grubby.

[deacon Mark]

Thanks Mark.
There are very few products in the UK labelled as Naphtha. Would this be ok? Naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated light - SBP3 - Lighter Fluid for lighters 1L | eBay UK or I can get Zippo or Ronsonol lighter fuel from Amazon UK (cheaper!). Are they the same and therefore OK to use?
Also, I edited my OP to include a question about fretboard grime removal.
Hope you can help further.
Thank you so much.

Yes says it is Naphtha which is supposed to be lighter fluid. The fretboard grim should come off with the sandpaper. The board is ebony I assume but rosewood is ok to use sandpaper. You just would not want to use sandpaper on a maple fingerboard. To me the approach of getting fingerboard grim is no different than the final touch one uses on a fret dressing. You want to clean up the board and get it nice. There are of course a number of ways to do this. I am generally against any liquid type cleaning of ebony or rosewood. When all done one can use some lemon oil but I don't on my guitars don't care for it. Naphtha initially on FG is ok to start cleaning.

So you your best bet is to run the sandpaper pretty hard against the fingerboard and frets perpendicular, use the pad of you hand near the wrist to apply pressure. 1500 sandpaper will not remover any fret material and almost nothing of the wood except to clean it and give at least some course action to clean. You can also run some 0000 steel wool this actually is better on the frets but works for FG. That is about 600 grit sandpaper but it does not work exactly like sandpaper.

The other thing you can do is get Dremel tool and put a buffing wheel on it and go over the frets and FG. That will really make it shine up nice at the end.

[garybaldy]

Yes says it is Naphtha which is supposed to be lighter fluid. The fretboard grim should come off with the sandpaper. The board is ebony I assume but rosewood is ok to use sandpaper. You just would not want to use sandpaper on a maple fingerboard. To me the approach of getting fingerboard grim is no different than the final touch one uses on a fret dressing. You want to clean up the board and get it nice. There are of course a number of ways to do this. I am generally against any liquid type cleaning of ebony or rosewood. When all done one can use some lemon oil but I don't on my guitars don't care for it. Naphtha initially on FG is ok to start cleaning.

So you your best bet is to run the sandpaper pretty hard against the fingerboard and frets perpendicular, use the pad of you hand near the wrist to apply pressure. 1500 sandpaper will not remover any fret material and almost nothing of the wood except to clean it and give at least some course action to clean. You can also run some 0000 steel wool this actually is better on the frets but works for FG. That is about 600 grit sandpaper but it does not work exactly like sandpaper.

The other thing you can do is get Dremel tool and put a buffing wheel on it and go over the frets and FG. That will really make it shine up nice at the end.

I appreciate your help and advice. Thank you.
ps. I have just sourced and bought a right handed bridge for this left handed guitar.

[sgosnell]

My preference for cleaning is water. I wet a soft cloth, wring it out so that it's just barely moist, and use some elbow grease with it. Water is one of the most effective solvents extant.

[joe2758]

Why do I get swirl marks on nitro finish with multiple types of micro fiber cloths, let alone cotton? It has to be me because the same crap happens on my glasses. Surely I can't be applying THAT much pressure? I'm good at polishing leather!

[pawlowski6132]

My newly acquired 30s L7 needs a good clean. I don't want to lose any of the natural aging. I think it's been stored for many years.
What's best for tarnished frets? I've tried to do some research and I'm wondering about Miracle Cloth or MicroMesh.
What's best for removing grime from the fretboard. The Nomad stuff or Gibson's etc etc? I get confused as to whether some of the oils are for polishing, cleaning or both.
What should I use to clean the body? There is a fair bit of checking. It seems a bit of a minefield and I'm a bit scared of screwing it up.
TIA

what do you mean by aging and how would you remove it by cleaning?

why not just get a damp rag and wipe it down?

[garybaldy]

what do you mean by aging and how would you remove it by cleaning?

why not just get a damp rag and wipe it down?

Re: your 1st question. I suppose I've read about cleaning/polishing products that do both and buff out scratches (please bear in mind I'm pretty clueless with all this) and so my thought was I didn't want a highly polished result.
Re: Your 2nd question. With all the hocus pocus on line I didn't think it was a thing you did with guitars especially if there was checking - wouldn't the dirt find it's way through the finish? I don't know. Tell me it's safe and effective and I'll do it!
Is it not more helpful to give advice than to ask more questions?

[sgosnell]

I think water is safer than anything else, when considering getting crud into cracks. I'm not talking about dousing the thing with a gallon of water, just rubbing with a barely damp cloth. Wet the cloth, wring out as much water as you can, then rub the grime. Stuff can get into the cracks, but it can do it as easily, if not more so, with any other liquid. I certainly wouldn't use polish, because that will absolutely get into the cracks, and be near impossible to remove, showing white residue.

[pawlowski6132]

Re: your 1st question. I suppose I've read about cleaning/polishing products that do both and buff out scratches (please bear in mind I'm pretty clueless with all this) and so my thought was I didn't want a highly polished result.
Re: Your 2nd question. With all the hocus pocus on line I didn't think it was a thing you did with guitars especially if there was checking - wouldn't the dirt find it's way through the finish? I don't know. Tell me it's safe and effective and I'll do it!
Is it not more helpful to give advice than to ask more questions?

I personally wouldn't put any chemicals on my guitar. I have pre-war archtops and just use a damp rag. All good.

Sometimes I'll use oil on the exposed wood parts (fretboard, bridge/saddle).

Usually, just dusting. Guitars don't really need 'cleaning' i don't think.

[garybaldy]

I think water is safer than anything else, when considering getting crud into cracks. I'm not talking about dousing the thing with a gallon of water, just rubbing with a barely damp cloth. Wet the cloth, wring out as much water as you can, then rub the grime. Stuff can get into the cracks, but it can do it as easily, if not more so, with any other liquid. I certainly wouldn't use polish, because that will absolutely get into the cracks, and be near impossible to remove, showing white residue.

Thank you.

[garybaldy]

I personally wouldn't put any chemicals on my guitar. I have pre-war archtops and just use a damp rag. All good.

Sometimes I'll use oil on the exposed wood parts (fretboard, bridge/saddle).

Usually, just dusting. Guitars don't really need 'cleaning' i don't think.

Thank you for the advice.

[DMgolf66]

Where is Joe D for this?
He should have a side hustle of detailing guitars. He's a Master!!!

[Cunamara]

Yes, but Joe D wants his guitars to be bright, shiny, showroom new. And he does a masterful job of achieving that. I was always amazed at how beautiful he makes a guitar look. His cars probably also look like they rolled off the showroom floor at 100,000 miles.

I have never, in more than 45 years of playing guitar, used naphtha on an instrument. I clean guitars, as suggested above by sgnosell and others, with a barely damp flannel rag. If the fingerboard looks dry, I take one drop of linseed oil and rub it across the entire fingerboard, then buff it off. I don't use polishes or waxes. If the frets look tarnished or rusty, I use some fine steel wool very lightly (sometimes putting blue masking tape on either side of the fret to protect the fret board, if I think it might get scratched noticeably; also over the pickup, if there is one, to prevent little fibers of steel from getting in there). Less is more here.

[wintermoon]

I'll second the Deacon's naphtha suggestion, it's completely safe for nitro, even old delicate finishes and you'd never know the guitar was worked on. But it'd have to be very nasty gunk.
I don't typically clean my guitars much anymore but if I acquired a one w really stubborn unsightly crud I'd have no problem using naphtha over something abrasive like Virtuoso cleaner that might leave swirl marks, etc, though I'll use Virtuoso polish occasionally. Can't say I'm into shiny instruments, I'm a fan of patina.

[sgosnell]

Naphtha is safe and works for removing heavy gunk. Sometimes there is just more crud than a damp rag will remove. I just try to keep my guitars from getting in that condition. But if one is purchased already covered in crud, naphtha can make cleaning pretty easy, because it's a better solvent than water for some things. It just won't dissolve nitrocellulose lacquer.

[garybaldy]

Thanks WM and SG. I really don't do guitar cleaning and I have many. My new to me L7 is more cruddy than most particularly around and under all the bits I've removed for the minor refurb. A damp cloth may not be enough but that's what I'll start with (when I get round to it!).

[Unclegrumpy]

We’ll need pictures of course

[garybaldy]

We’ll need pictures of course

This is my previous thread with a couple of pics. [NGD] Early 30s Gibson L-4 or L-7

[Unclegrumpy]

Thanks.

[garybaldy]

So, I'm just waiting for the RH bridge to cross the Atlantic from Illinois to the UK. Apparently it's been bagged/containerized but, for now, the tracking has gone quiet!