I’ve got the Warwick working again. A friend resoldered the electronics and replaced the old Jack (which was a nightmare, Warwick had put the washer in so that instead of pulling into the wood, it was pulling into Metal! Nasty!
Anyway, the Fretboard is gunky as all hell. I don’t think I’ve ever properly cleaned it. Anyone like to share anything about how they clean their Fretboards and Frets?
I am tempted to try and actually do a setup on this one as I think I’ve got rather big strings on it!
I saw my punky funky luthier clean the dirtiest fretboard ever (it was full with all kinds of bodily and unbodily fluids from 30 years of road abuse) with acetone.
I always thought that’s too aggressive, but he said it’s an excellent last resort, if everythig else fails.
I stayed some time to see how the fretboard would melt … but it really looked almost like new (except for the scratches that appeared after he removed the sticky stuff).
I didn’t stay, but I’m pretty sure he used some kind of oil after, to keep the wood alive…
I just use a microfiber cloth and soapy water for cleaning and apply some mineral oil afterwards.
If it is really dirty, you could use some fine abrasive pad to get rid of the gunk before cleaning it.
I bought and sold many used guitars and basses some are just un believable. I use anything from pledge to all purpose spray they’re all good but what I like the most is the Mr Clean magic eraser. Just dip it in warm water and go to town. I usually cut it in to 4 pieces.
Afterwards just rehydrate the fingerboard and polish the frets.
First i wipe everything down with a damp microfiber cloth. Hydrate does a pretty good job of cleaning so i’ve never needed to use anything stronger but if i did, I’d use lighter fluid or naptha. If it’s really bad, you can use a metal scraper or utility knife blade on it’s side to scrape the fretboard and then polish with 3M synthetic steel wool or similar type pad.
For my frets, i use chrome polish on a microfiber cloth. You can get fret erasers or micro mesh sanding pads that work really well but i don’t care to spend that much time on my frets
Yes, for rosewood sanding is also an option. And BTW my list there above was for rosewood and should not be used on lacquered maple, except for the mild detergent and water. Some people just use Windex on those
Yes definitely, you don’t want to be sanding/scraping a fretboard that has a clear/painted finish on it then the soap/water on a microfiber cloth is good. A cleared/painted fretboard is basically the same as the rest of a painted instrument which is generally the same as an automotive finish.
I use Windex on my matte finish… matte finishes kind of suck if you want to keep them nice and matte
For future reference
I’d stay well clear off of that stuffs. It sheds off and get stuck on your pickups, in most case they are not coming off.
You can get sand paper and micro mesh all the way up to 22000 grit.
Handy hint: if you get schaller strap locks, keep the plastic container, lip of the lid’s great for looping a bit of scotchbrite pad over to scrub the fretboard along the grain & get right up to the edges of the frets lol
I think I went mad. Cleaned the Warwick, cleaned a Strat I’ve got which has now never played nicer and also cleaned an Epiphone SQ180 which I don’t think has been restrung in fifteen years!
I don’t think I can do it on my Telecaster, the neck doesn’t look like it will take Steel Wool
then the soap/water on a microfiber cloth is good. A cleared/painted fretboard is basically the same as the rest of a painted instrument which is generally the same as an automotive finish.
