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600 sandpaper then 1000. A bit of paste wax to wipe it........clean.
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05-28-2017 08:51 PM
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I think I found a fun and satisfying activity and that is cleaning a guitar. It is so satisfying. I used two out of the three things that came with the kit - I skipped the polish because it looks pretty sparkly as is (as sparkly as a 47 year old heavily used guitar can get). The body cleaner said it was safe for metal so I tried it on the pickups and tailpiece. I am impressed and surprised because I didn't know the tailpiece could be so shiny
Also the back of the neck is SO much better. There was some real buildup back there and it plays a lot faster now so it is practical as well as cosmetic.
Here are the results - hard to capture the shine so I tried to get lights reflecting.
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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I've always used naphtha.
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Hello all. I'm am in the process of fixing up my guitar and want to know what is the best method of cleaning the fret board. It is a rosewood board.
Some say to use Ronsonal lighter fluid for cleaning the fret board. Some have used Simple Green. Lemon oil was recommended as both a cleaner and protectant.
After cleaning a slight amount of linseed oil or lemon oil has been suggested. Some say that lemon oil dries out both rosewood and ebony boards and repeated use can cause frets to "pop up".
What is the best method of caring for a rosewood or ebony fret board.
Thanks for any advice.
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MusicNomad F-One Oil Fretboard Cleaner & Conditioner - 2 fl oz. | Sweetwater
Also, cleaning with lighter fluid is better than something like Simple Green IMHO. Lighter fluid evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue.
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First question is how good are the frets. Do you need a fret dressing? If so
that will also clean the board. It is rosewood nothing like oiling and even lemon oil needed. I would use 600, 1200 sandpaper even steel wool 0000. Go from lower to higher count sandpaper till you get it how you like. This avoids making a sticky mess rosewood like ebony do not need too much gunk. It does depend pic let's look?
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The fret board has block inlays. This guitar is the manufacturer's "entry level" guitar. I am guessing that the inlays are made of plastic that looks like "pearl". Will sanding dull up the plastic inlays? The frets look good as there are no "dents" or wear marks. A fret leveling may be a good idea but I don't want to get that involved yet. It plays o.k. up and down the neck. I don't think the guitar was used much. I bought it at a flea market. The nut got banged up due to rough handling in its life. I figured that while I was changing the nut, neck pickup, and installing new strings that I might as well clean the fret board.
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Mineral oil will get most deposits. Sometimes I use naphtha and follow it with a mineral-oil wipedown -- I don't let it sit and "soak" (I doubt it would anyways), but after cleaning with the naphtha (Ronsonol), I put a little mineral oil (which is the base of lemon oil, baby oil, butcher's-block oil, and many other commercially available oils) on a soft cloth and give it a quick wipe-down.
I did once have to (very carefully!) use a razor blade on an old restoration I did. The gunk build-up on that was a sight to behold.
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I clean my strings with rubbing alcohol..and remove fret gunk buildup at the same time..i have a rosewood board (LP)..I use either lemon oil or something similar to condition the board every several months ..weather depending - I keep it in the case away from heaters and out of direct sunlight to avoid their effects on softer wood..
Last edited by wolflen; 07-24-2017 at 11:54 PM.
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a high percentage (90%+) iso alcohol or natural grain alcohol like everclear..will remove all schmutz from fingerboard..without need for razor scraping..(which may scratch fingerboard)
just use high percentage alcohol (which has only trace amount of water)...on a rag/paper towel..don't pour on fingerboard!
it'll clean right up
after, apply a very light coating of oil...again very light on a rag/pt, not poured on fingerboard....too much oil will accumulate gunk..you just want to replenish wood, not soak it
mineral oil is ok oil...lemon oil is just mineral oil with synthetic lemon scent!!... synthetic not needed
walnut oil and good quality/art supply linseed also good..but again..very very moderately..never just pour on!!
allow to dry and wipe excess off vigorously
cheers
ps- whenever using linseed oil, soak paper towel or rag in water before disposing of..it's combustibleLast edited by neatomic; 07-25-2017 at 05:57 PM.
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Yeah, I was still learning a bit when I did that resto, and since then, haven't used a razor. The most I'll do nowadays is naphtha and then the side of a credit card. Fortunately, it was even new a beater (anyone heard of Austin-brand guitars?), so its best value was only ever going to be playability, and it was a good experience for me.
Regarding lemon/mineral oil, there are many oils which have mineral oil as a base. Butcher's-block is virtually pure (due to its intended usage of conditioning cutting-boards), and were it not so expensive, I'd use it instead. Failing that, I've got a bottle of Olde English that I got seven years ago and is missing perhaps two capfuls ... that's how light I go with any oiling.
I've never used linseed oil on a guitar. As an Air Force firefighter, we conditioned the hafts of our axes and pike poles with boiled linseed oil, which I would never recommend for fretboard conditioning as it leaves a significant buildup. Perhaps you're talking about raw linseed? I've never worked with the raw or art-supply linseed oil and it may well work as well as you've mentioned for all I (don't) know.Last edited by Thumpalumpacus; 07-25-2017 at 06:42 PM.
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Thump, you did a great job cleaning up that fret board. I like the credit card idea rather than a razor blade. Wolflen, the rubbing alcohol for cleaning the strings and fret board sounds good. I've been using Hoppes #9 gun solvent on the strings alone. I got this idea from reading an old Guitar Player article on my all time guitar hero John Cipollina. He said that it prevents rust from forming without building up a coat.
I am new to guitar repair/maintenance. I come from an automotive background and worked as a SAAB tech. I used to fabricate Nascar Modified bodies and was a crew chief for awhile. I am used to welding and working with metal. Wood makes me a little nervous. It's a lot more delicate than metal.
My fret board doesn't have a buildup of gunk. I just want to clean it and put something on it to keep it from drying out and cracking.
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hey t..not to say razor scraping doesn't work...just needs to be done with real precision, that many might not have!...easier methods available (& i still say a liquid cleanse is preferable)
yes mineral oil is super popular base oil...it's even sold as a food grade oil in pharmacies (for stomach lining and laxative reasons)...it's when they start adding scents or flavors that things start to go wrong..get a bottle of food grade mineral oil and you're good to go...a bottle will last you years!!
boiled linseed oil has many synthetic driers added which cause different effects
pure polymerizing oils like raw linseed and walnut were used by stradivarius type violin makers...they form a protective thin film on top of the wood rather than soaking in and gunking things up...they can also be removed with alcohol if need be
and again the key is extreme moderation..a dab will do you...never soak!!!
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-25-2017 at 08:01 PM. Reason: sp-
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NA, when I did that cleanup I could feel the razor trying to dig, and that certainly made me look around for better alternatives. I got the credit-card thing from someone on MLP, tried it out on another job, and found that with a little solvent (naphtha in my cases), it worked fine, enough so that I won't bother risking a fretboard again, I don't think. There's a little razor-chatter between the 11th and 12th frets, D and G strings. But thankfully it wasn't a valuable guitar.
And fo sho agreed, don't soak your wood with oil ... so to speak, of course.Last edited by Thumpalumpacus; 07-25-2017 at 09:40 PM.
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I use ChapStick and a nylon shag carpet sample.
Every string change I apply ChapStick to the fret board and then wipe it off with the carpet sample. After the strings are on it, I just wipe the strings and fret board with the carpet sample (about 30 strokes) after each playing. Strings stay shiny and the finger board looks and feels great.
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Wow. I don't do nuthin' to my rosewood or ebony fingerboards. Maybe I have dry hands because nothing much ever builds up on them. I don't even wipe 'em down after playing them. 11 years with my archtop (ebony board) an hour or two a day, sometimes more, and there is no basically schmutz on it. My Tele, 5 years on that and ditto. I think if I played a maple Tele for 30 years the fingerboard might never get that cool discoloration that betrays your favorite keys and positions.
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Ebony and rosewood vary in natural oiliness as there are many different types being used for fingerboards. The oiliness of these woods is the reason these woods are used for fingerboards. With this in mind, I try to avoid using any harsh cleaners that might penetrate and dry or dissolve any of the woods natural oils. I like lemon oil to dissolve the grunge without drying the woods natural oils. Some of the rosewoods seem to repel dirt better than others. I have seen some " rosewood " fingerboards that more than likely were not actually true rosewood. As an interesting side note, rosewood was named as it is for the rose like perfume that is released when it is worked.
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OK, I guess I'm gonna be the one who has to admit it, but you probably all do it ...
I use a little saliva on a cotton t-shirt to clean the board every few months (IIRC, either Dan Erlwine or Richie Fliegler actually recommends this in one of their repair books). I have a small bottle of Gibson brand fretboard oil (mineral oil without the lemon scent so far as I can tell). Post cleaning, I put a random number of drops on the board a random number of times a year. I then rub it all "in" (more likely off) the fretboard while chanting a mystical incantation. Nothing bad has happened so far.
I do this often enough not to have much gunk, but before I started this routine I had one guitar that had gunk caked on pretty thick in the vertex of the fret/board angle. I used a metal ruler to scrape it out. Mistake -- it left scratches that took a long time to fade. Nowadays, if I get gunk I use the scrunched up collar of said t-shirt.
John
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matt c (& others)..the trouble with using most commercial lemon oil, is that even tho you think you are avoiding harsh chemicals and just adding some oil to the board, in fact you are adding mostly solvent!...lemon oils can be almost 75% solvent!!!...the synthetic lemon scent is added to cover the solvent odor
here's the msds on a very popular & well regarded brand of lemon oil
https://www.menards.com/msds/103203_001.pdf
a bottle of food grade mineral oil has no solvents or scents...and the cost is cheaper as well!!
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-27-2017 at 03:32 PM.
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Originally Posted by neatomic
Last edited by Matt Cushman; 07-27-2017 at 04:34 PM.
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Originally Posted by Matt Cushman
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 07-27-2017 at 04:56 PM.
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I should mention that the hempseed oil is edible and good for you too. Hempseed oil smells a little like linseed oil. I also use pure hempseed oil to treat the truss rod before installation. It leaves a nearly permanent coating on mild steel that is very effective at preventing rust.
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I have always gotten these grime-fingerprints. I know it’s from not cleaning, and I could clean most of it off. By the time I notice it, cleaning would be a real chore. I do lemon oil every few years, but don’t scrub anything.
Anyway, now that I have an instrument that was a serious investment...is there a real reason I need to get it clean? Have any of you repair guys seen an actual effect from it? Here’s a picture from google that shows what my guitars look like. Must be these old corpse fingers. I wear through frets fast too, but that’s when I sell it—never had a refret done. Now I have a guitar I intend to keep.
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Hey, that's one way to keep anyone from asking to try or borrow it... leave it alone :-)
I've seen some serious wood collapse (in the cowboy chord locations) on one on my gits (a very early "Lucille) that the PO simply could not have pressed that hard to wear the ebony away, maybe he had a schmutz buildup like that which caused it? Dunno it was clean when I got it and it's a keeper.
Anyone else use Genius Jamtracks?
Today, 08:44 AM in Recording & Music Software