fret maintenance

[rprieto1971]

relatively new to the forum I love my vintage white 06 telecaster too!

Just wanted to see what your opinions are on cleaning frets and fretboards. I also own a MIM 70's stratocaster that is looking a little muddy on the frets due to my negligence!

Thank you!

[mellecaster]

Good ole Naptha (at most Home centers in Qt cans) is as good as any...Maple or Rosewood.

[Madmaestro]

I clean with rubbing alcohol, then afterwards give it a rub with lemon oil or linseed oil to keep the fingerboard from cracking or drying out.

[winny pooh]

Naptha is my fav guitar cleaner, just take note that Lemon oil is for rosewood and similar unfinished boards and is to be used very sparingly, at most twice a year (if you don't play in the desert that is).

[TheBear]

I found Naptha at Lowes and it said it was a paint thinner. Won't this destroy the lacquer finish?

[jhundt]

Naptha - also known as lighter fluid - is a pretty mild solvent. It is sometimes used as a paint thinner for alkyd-base paints. It is not used as a thinner for lacquers. It could do something to a lacquer finish, but I would not expect any damage to a sound finish. If you have a true nitro-cellulose lacquer finish, try some little test areas first.

If you have a recent model it is probably finished with polyurethane - naptha will not affect this finish.


winnie pooh said this:

take note that Lemon oil is for rosewood and similar unfinished boards and is to be used very sparingly, at most twice a year

I'm not sure why he thinks it should be used "very sparingly"... I have used it quite liberally on my '68 Tele for the 28 years I have owned it. I have also use it quite freely on my '68 Strat for 36 years, and on my '78 Gibson LP Special for 30 years, and none of these guitars show any damage due to lemon oil.

Lemon oil is not really an oil made from lemons; it is a mineral solvent with some lemon-oil additives. It works great as a cleaner for fine finished wood (not just the rosewood fretboard) and leaves your rosewood fretboard smooth, sweet, and shiny. Most of that dries out in a day or two, but if you want to pamper your guitar, and make it play extra-sweet for an important gig or session, then I recommend a nice lemon-oil treatment.

I wipe all my guitars down with lemon oil while I am changing strings - body, neck and everything; after 5 or 10 minutes I buff -dry with a clean soft polishing cloth.

I clean my rosewood fretboards with automobile rubbing compound, rubbed in with a toothbrush. Then I wipe the compound off with a soft cloth and warm soapy water. Wipe dry with an old towel, then apply a liberal coat of lemon oil... let it sit for 10 minutes or so, then wipe off the excess. String it up with nice new strings, and you're ready to go!

Your guitar will love this, and you will love the way your guitar looks and feels!

[jefrs]

+1 jhundt

naptha = lighter fluid

white spirit (paint thinners) = OM1 = oil, mineral, no.1 (~SAE 0)

er. 'lemon oil' is a degreasant, which may eventually remove the natural oils and dry out a rosewood fretboard. NB not for use on maple. You can feed a rosewood fretboard with a wood treatment oil. Rosewood being an oily wood might be best treated (~/2y) with an oil for an oily wood like teak oil (also an oily wood). Depends on how you like your fretboard, its quality and whether it shows any sign of splitting. Some like them very dry, me, I prefer them a little slick.

My bottle of lemon oil says do not use on maple, I presume they think it might do something to the finish - but is it possible do dissolve a Fender poly-wassname finish (?)

Other stuff for cleaning:- powdered pumice (bare wood only); iso-propyl alcohol (lens cleaner etc); furniture finish reviver (very effective - fine and mild version of cutting compound); various proprietry guitar cleaner/polishes; soap and water(!); sewing machine or light mineral oil (for metalwork); toothbrush and rags; elbow grease, not the Dremel (unless you like burn marks).