How often do you clean / polish?

[Milspec]

I ran into my luthier today out shopping and he was ranting about how so many players never clean / polish their guitars. Admittedly, I am one of those people as I probably do it once per year....more often with black body guitars due to the swirl marks and finger prints, but not the others.

I normally just use Meguirs #2 or #7 products to restore the new look on the poly bodies, but not the nitro bodies, although it would probably be safe to do so.

It made me curious, so how often do you guys polish the guitars? Anyone use the Meguirs on nitro? I really don't want to screw up some of older nitro body guitars by using the wrong stuff. Until now, I just wipe those down with a damp rag and call it good.

 

[drf64]

Most of my guitars are old. I don't really care about the bodies. I polish frets and oil the boards (RW and ebony) when needed. I hate scummy frets.

 

[Mike SS]

Always when I change strings. Polish body, and lemon oil all rosewood and ebony components. I do an "appearance" polish before performing, which I have not had to do much of lately.

 

[stratoman1]

When I change strings

 

[bftfender]

all 27 set up and polished and ready to go

 

[AndyPanda]

When stuff starts sticking to it

 

[trapdoor2]

Is "never" too often?

I treat the fretboard when I change strings. Never touched any of them with polish...

 

[brookdalebill]

When I change strings

This, and before gigs.
I change strings on my working guitars every 3-4 gigs.
I don’t like my stuff to look nasty.

 

[dented]

Uh-oh!

 

[LOSTVENTURE]

I clean the strings at the end of each day, and polish as necessary. I find the leaving the nitros alone, polish wise, is the best way to keep them looking good.

 

[gregulator450]

I give it a dry wipe down every time I change strings with a microfiber cloth. If stubborn crud exists I use a minuscule amount of Dr. Duck Ax Wax (because that's what I have) on a soft cloth and buff out with a microfiber. Fretboards get oiled once or twice a year. I often give the guitar a quick wipe down after playing if I can see fingerprints.

 

[dreamingtele]

i put food safe australian orange oil/furniture conditioner on my rosewood boards once or twice a year. And I clean out dirt on the frets and the sides of the frets every string change as my luthier said it can rot out the wood over time.

I dont have any polish cream/spray at the moment, but I always clean my guitars after use. Maybe I should buy the M9 mirror glaze or the swirlX remover but unsure if it can be used on my Nitro AVRI62.

 

[LightningPhil]

When I change strings. And thinking about it, that's not happened recently. They're probably all due for a fresh set. Thanks for the reminder, now there's something else on the to do list

 

[Milspec]

Geez, now I feel like an outcast. I am a fanatic about washing my hands prior to playing (don't need cheetos in my strings) and wipe them down after, but rarely polish anything until it really shows. I might have to change my policy.

 

[57fenderstrat]

I only really care about maintenance of the neck and string friction points. I like to lube the nut and saddles and string tree every couple weeks or so. I try to wipe the back of the neck down after playing each time. But I hardly ever polish my fenders. I used to polish guitars all the time but there is something about teles and strats where I don’t want them to shine. I would polish a black les Paul or something but a sunburst strat or a blonde tele need some soul left of them.

 

[EsquireOK]

Almost never. A dry wipe down here and there, but no more than 15 seconds invested in it, maybe a dozen times a year on a regularly gigged instrument.

I do air my cases out after every gig, though. I never just pack up an instrument right off the stage, and leave the case sealed until the next time I play that instrument.

Your luthier sounds a bit uptight.

 

[dkmw]

I keep a chip brush handy and dust out the accumulations in the bridge and up behind the nut. That’s about it. Your luthier would not like me

I spend plenty of time cleaning and polishing, but it’s on cars.

 

[skunqesh]

Sorry if this seems a little OT, but - what is this "changestrings" thing people keep mentioning??

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Changing strings and polishing guitars… Lord… Sounds like people that buy “new” instruments.

here in the real world we do what we can and make it count and turn it on up !

 

[Allan Allan]

Sorry if this seems a little OT, but - what is this "changestrings" thing people keep mentioning??

Some people think stings go bad. But they are confusing guitar strings with string cheese.