how to maintain (clean) Maple Neck?? tips please...

[Joely]

Hello

I have my first maple neck on a 52 AV. I have few rosewood necks and use the old lemon oil for those.

I have been told NOT to use lemon oil on maple boards to use ernie ball wipes???

what should a man do!!

 

[beep.click]

I want to know, myself!

And: are there different rules for poly vs. nitro? For instance, I wouldn't hesitate to use naphtha (lighter fluid) on poly, but on nitro...?

 

[brookdalebill]

I use a damp (with warm water), clean white cotton rag to clean the neck/board first.
Then I dry the area with clean white cotton rag.
Next I use Lizard Spit for more basic cleaning.
Finally I use Virtuoso/Legend cleaner (not the polish).
I don't polish afterwards, I figure clean is clean.
Works beautifully.

 

[davenumber2]

Naptha on nitro is fine.

 

[Joely]

Hey guys,

what is Naptha....im in the UK....we may call it something different....lost in translation me thinks!!lol

 

[brookdalebill]

I'm pretty sure naptha is the main (only?) ingredient in lighter (zippo) fluid.
If it can go "boom", I wouldn't use it on wood.

 

[3 Chord]

Naptha is a distillate from crude oil. It will go boom. It is safe for guitar finishes (unless you light your guitar on fire with it like Jimi did!!!) but unless your guitar is really dirty I would stick to a little water on a rag.

I think people get a little carried away with cleaning the fretboard in general. Just play with clean hands and wipe the guitar down after playing with a dry cloth and no cleaning is really ever needed (at least with my body chemistry).

Makes your strings last longer too!

 

[KevinB]

Napththa - there are two H's in it guys - is also known as white gas, lantern fuel and lighter fluid (although not all lighter fluid is naphtha). It's a mild solvent that is safe on nitro, and excellent as a degreaser. It does leave a slight haze, which can be removed with some guitar polish. It's a safe product but I still only use it for cleaning very dirty guitars.

 

[3 Chord]

'...Napththa - there are two H's in it guys..."

When I saw the reference to the two capital H's I thought you were referring to Methylene. The Tele forum is turing into Organic Chem 101!

Actually, I think both spellings are acceptable.

 

[boneyguy]

Yes there are two 'h's' but its spelled like this; naphtha.

It's sometimes also called camping fuel because it's used in lanterns and Coleman type stoves.

Anyway, it's perfectly safe for nitro finishes and is used by luthiers all the time for cleaning up nitro or poly finishes on bodies and fretboards as well as hardware. I love the stuff because unlike many other solvents it evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue behind. Good stuff.

 

[tdowns]

............... it's perfectly safe for nitro finishes and is used by luthiers all the time for cleaning up nitro or poly finishes on bodies and fretboards as well as hardware. I love the stuff because unlike many other solvents it evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue behind. Good stuff.

+1

 

[PJ55]

The educational value of the tdpri never ceases to amaze me.

 

[davenumber2]

Naphtha is great for removing sticker residue on guitars.

 

[KevinB]

Yes there are two 'h's' but its spelled like this; naphtha.

It's sometimes also called camping fuel because it's used in lanterns and Coleman type stoves.

Anyway, it's perfectly safe for nitro finishes and is used by luthiers all the time for cleaning up nitro or poly finishes on bodies and fretboards as well as hardware. I love the stuff because unlike many other solvents it evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue behind. Good stuff.

Yes, of course you're right it's "naphtha". My spelling was a typo , probably 'cos I'm typing with a broken (middle, right) finger!

I got it right the second time I used the word though

 

[Wayne Alexander]

If the nitro is sticky, or if you just want a lube element with the cleaning, Dr. Duck's Ax Wax is superb, cheap. A single bottle lasts a long long time. Not a joke, it's really good.

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/ddaxwax.html

 

[Piotr]

I use Johnson's Baby Oil on all my fretboards (the red one). I apply a very small amount on a cosmetic cotton pad and then wipe the fretboard. I leave for a couple of minutes and then wipe it dry with some more cotton pads.
The Johnson's Baby red stuff is pure mineral oil, cleans great, never had a problem with it. I clean my fretboards maybe once a year.

 

[redstringuitar]

unlike many other solvents it evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue behind. Good stuff.

SOLD!

 

[fjblair]

Fretboards really don't need to be lubed with anything, just keep it clean. But if it makes you feel better then go for it.

 

[13ontheB]

I use Johnson's Baby Oil on all my fretboards (the red one). I apply a very small amount on a cosmetic cotton pad and then wipe the fretboard. I leave for a couple of minutes and then wipe it dry with some more cotton pads.
The Johnson's Baby red stuff is pure mineral oil, cleans great, never had a problem with it. I clean my fretboards maybe once a year.

I bet your fretboards are as smooth as a baby's bottom.

 

[Joely]

what about Fretfast??

is this the devils cleaner??

would a basic guitar polish do the job. just to get the grime off when i changed strings as standard practice.

keep them coming.