Pictorial: Fretboard cleaning, conditioning & polishing.

[jamison162]

Here's some pics as promised.  This is the first cleaning/conditioning since I bought my H-150 last November.  Board wasn't all that bad really, but it's way better than it ever was new.  I do this to all my guitars once every year or so.

 

Have you ever seen a cleaner, better looking board?  Plays like hot butter!!!

 

Products used:

- Goof Off (basically naptha) for the heavily soiled areas (just a touch on a paper towel).

- Warm soapy water and an old tooth brush.

- Blue painters tape.

- Flitz metal polish and old flannel material purchsed at Wal-Mart years ago.

- Fret Dr. Bore Oil applied with q-tip (very liberally and allowed to soak in overnight, wiped off exess after 24 hrs. +/-)

 

Before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brentrocks]

good job man!!!

 

looks great ;D

[tulk1]

Looks like you really did a thorough job. But honestly, I can't tell anything from the pictures. I'm sure it's much better, tho'. what was the point of taping off the fretboard? Enlighten, please.

[Spectrum13]

I would assume the blue tape prevents the Flitz from polluting the board when polishing the frets. I use steel wool with the StewMac fingerboard guards now. Dealing with the toxic waste from the semichrome /x-treem polish required extreme measures. 

[GuitArtMan]

I believe Goof Off is closer to acetone than Naptha, but I could be wrong.  I sure doesn't smell like Naptha to me, but then it really doesn't smell like acetone either.  ;D

 

Everyone has their opinions on this, and the guy at Fet Doctor makes some good arguments, but personaly I would nver let my fingerboad soak up as much oil as it could and I've spoken with several builders/techs who feel the same.  They cringe to think what they will find in the bottom of the fret slots.  Let me propose this to you:  if it's good for your fingerboard to soak up as much oil as posibile then why not oil the insides of the back and sides of an accoustic?  Afterall there's way more surface area there for the wood to dry out and crack.  I think we all feel that would be an absurd thing to do.  Well I feel (and who am I to spout off?) that letting your fingerboard soak up as much oil as it can is equally absurd.  It just isn't necessary.  I've hear far to many stories of guys who say I've never done a thing to my fingerboard in 30 years and they are just fine.  Personally I've always had a problem with fret doctor sweating.  I wiipe it all off with a clean, dry cloth, come back later and more has swetaed out, wipe and repeat.  It just seems to keep coming back.  Also, I never let my board soak up as much oil as they can.  That makes me cringe. 

 

Sorry if I sound like I'm ragging on you, that's not my intent.  This is one of the most hotly debated topics in all of guitardom and I've yet to see anybody do a scientifc study on this.  I would love to see someone test the various products (there are litterly dozens - raw linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, fret doctor, lizzard spit, mineral oil, carnauba wax, tung oil, walnut oil, buthers block oil, guitar honey, etc.) and see how they stack up.  How do the effect tone?  Do they sweat?  How well do they protect the wood?  Does it soften the wood?  Does it provide a protective finish/surface? How well do they beautify the wood?  How do they effect future repiars (re-frets for example)?  What happens with misuse (over oiling, waxing, etc.)?  What happens with misuse over time?

[jamison162]

All good points Gman, but I think you are over-thinking (worrying) this one.  I've never owned a guitar long enought to repeat this process, so I'm not sure how it plays out in the long run.  But tech and players have been "treating" rosewood boards as part of general maintenance forever, probably as long as the guitar has been in existinence.  THE most common product is lemon oil.  Fret Dr. is all natural and organic, unlike Petros fingerboard oil which is a petroleum byproduct and smells like it, a big no, no IMO.

 

The main reason I do this is for aesthetcis and feel/playability.  Theres no way a clean, "dry" rw board would feel or play this good.  I guess I'm spoiled.  This treatment should last a long time.

 

The tape is a pretty common practice, just ask guys who's been in the business a while.  It takes a few extra minutes, but I feel it is worth the effort to protect the board and binding, etc. when polishing with a compound.  I should have showed you the soiled black clothes used, it was alot.

[shook494]

Am I being lazy.  I only clean and oil my board when I feel like it needs it.  I also remember reading several interviews with different guitar players like EVH, George Lynch and so on.  They just let their fret boards stay dirty with all of the dirt and grime.  They said it all adds to the tone.  This was in the 80's of course.  If you look at old pictures you can see the dirt.  They seem to play just as well.

Another thing.  My hands are very oily.  It's like the guitar gets oiled every day ;D  Doe's anyone else have this problem?

[jamison162]

Everyone is different, do what you want.  There are no rules or laws.  You don't ever have to change strings if you don't want to.

Like I said, I do this because, having a great guitar and pickups is one thing, having a great playing guitar is another.  Why would I want an old dirty dry feeling fretboard, when I can have this?  It really is like night and day.

[jacques]

too much oil around your frets produces a risk of the soggy wood not holding 'em the way it should so they may come out

 

we've discussed this before and concluded that the best treatment is genuine snake oil (the American variety)

 

(seriously: saliva is the best to get rid of dirt & grime due to its enzymes - use an old credit card to scrape / I never put anything on my fretboards in the past 38 playing years...

 

all the 'special stuff' in shiny & expensive plastic wonder bottles is very good for the companies that produce 'em, not necessarily for your guitar)

[jamison162]

To each his own, didn't post this to start a debate.  There are guys who regularly maintain their guitars and there those who have done nothing in XX years of owning some guitar. Do want you feel you need or don't need to do. Everyone is different.

[paul144]

I've used Goof-off, (never on guitars though) and its really powerful, it will remove dried paint in seconds, and can melt plastic if left on long enough. It will mar a guitar finish also. Stay away from that stuff, plus you can get brain damage from the fumes, whew....

Use actual Naptha (lighter fluid) to clean metal parts (put a little in a clean old Chinese Soup container & whisk around), and to remove tough sweated on gunk that soap & water won't take off. Also good to remove residue on pickguards from the original film.

 

my .02¢...Gerlitz Guitar Honey is great. Just take some 0000 steel wool, and rub it with the grain, even over your frets (it will polish them nicely) wipe off dust, and spray on, wipe off after a few seconds. No oily residue and makes the wood look great. I'd do it once a year, maybe more if you play a lot or you live in a dry climate. No need to mask off the board. Those fret polishing guides are great too for protecting the wood if you're filing down grooves or high spots on frets. Emery boards work great for low grooves, the ones that the nail salons use.

 

thanks for the pictorial though, and sweet Goldtop!

[davesultra]

Fret Dr. = Good! 

[Kuz]

I've got some Fret Dr. on order and it should arrive any day.

 

For over 20 years I have applied a very generous amount of whatever fret conditioner I'm using at the time, let it sit till it absorbs in (maybe 2-3 hrs) then just quickly buff the board with a polishing rag. Before using the fret conditioner I use soapy water & tooth brush.

 

I do thiis maybe 3x per year.

 

Bottom line: I have never had a fret issue or one come loose. Do I reapply the fret conditioner for 3-5 straight days? No. Only once per cleaning, With regular maintenance you don't have too.