Oh No! Frets Tarnishing on my 10th (sobs)

[Jamie]

I just took my Jem10th out of the display case on the wall (don't worry guys, it gets played).

For all those of you worrying i didn't play it, you'll be less pleased to know it came down to be cannibalised - I took a spring out of the 4 for a UV777BK that I was bringing back to good setup for the buyer, plus point is I prefer 3 springs and got to steal the spring lock from the UV!

Aaaanyway, I put it back, and took a moment to gaze over it; and the frets are tarnished!

How has this happened? it came pearly from Mr Harris, and I don't want to be polishing frets on inlaywork of this calibre regularly.

Its in my living room, I live in Scotland, we're having an amazing (but Scottish) summer; i.e. temperatures of 20-23 C but the occasional heavy rainfall. I leave the windows open all the time as generally its too hot.

I'm probably being an idiot here; I don't want to ruin one of the best guitars of all time through lack of knowledge.

Should i close the windows? What should i do.

Help as always appreciated......

[darren wilson]

What's the humidity like? Damp?

If you're trying to have parts of the guitar not oxidize, you should just seal it in an airtight flight case and fill it with inert gas.

If you're playing it and exposing it to air and moisture, things are going to deteriorate. The wood needs moisture to stay healthy. The metal doesn't. That's part of the difficulty of caring for guitars.

To get the shine back in your frets, just mask off the fretboard and rub each fret lightly with some ultra-fine steel wool. They'll be gleaming in no time!

[Rich]

By the time they get to the US from Japan they've already got a heavy coat of oxidation. Put them in a case with alot of glue residue evaporating and they just oxidize faster. The frets have alot of nickel in them and you can't stop nickel from tarnishing [no way I know of anyway]

[Jamie]

According to my Dampit humidifier which i have never ever used to re-humidify any of my classicals, its 50!

Safe, in their words.

I don't mind polishing them, in fact, I like caring for my instruments just as much as playing them - or almost.

It just pains me to wave steel wool at this one, even masked

[Rich]

You can use a chemical clear like Never Dull [which is already soaked into fabric, you tear off a piece and just wipe] I'd still mask it off though

[Jamie]

That sounds like Murphy's Oil Soap, a produce which has no readily identifiable equivalent in the uk!

I take it a light coating of lemon oil or bore oil would just evaporate?

And might Fast Fret help prevent oxidation? I don't think it evaporates in the same way, but its pretty hard to get the stuff to cover frets unless you destring, and then you might as well mask....

[Jamie]

And come to that Darren the polepieces on the single-coil are very slightly rusty.

What if the pickguard starts going the same way?

Should I spray it in vegetable oil and put it in suspended animation?

Perhaps I need to move countries, or perhaps I am a buffoon...

[motogod927]

I have a few guitars stored that i dont play and i just spray some WD-40 on a rag and rub it on the frets.

[burt777]

Don't worry about the pick guard. It's aluminium. Most people don't even know what alumin looks like without rust. It rusts within a matter of seconds, and the rust kinda 'seals' the metal.

The poles of my Jem10th were also rusted. I took out the single coil, took the cover off and simply filed it. You can also use cotton buds with a drop of cola to remove rust. Use alcohol or something to remove the cola. (-:

As for the frets... i'm not quite happy yet with the way my fretboard looks, perhaps i'll polish them some further, i'm following this tread from now on. (-:

And damnit, i can't find my bottle of Fast Fret anymore. I'm wondering if it was in the case of the Jem10th that was stolen... )-:

[kent k]

The thing about humidity measurements is that it depends a whole lot on the air temperature. 50% at 60 degrees (Farenheit) is a lot different than 50% at 90 degrees. The warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold. If you are looking at maintaining a good temp/humidity level for your guitar, it would be something like 70 degrees / 45% humidity. That's what most guitar makers use in their shops while instruments are being built. Keeping the levels consistant probably won't keep the frets from tarnishing, but it'll happen slower and you won't need to adjust the neck as often.

[ibanez otaku]

Jamie!

Don't go for it with the steel wool just yet, no point in wearing your frets down if you don't have to!

Here's my tip. I used to live in Britain. One time I bought a 7VWH from a pair of music teachers who didn't know what they had and, as such, had stuck the thing in a soft case somewhere for three years before I got it. The frets were tarnished. I went and bought a jewelry/silverware cloth from the supermarket and it brought them up beautifully! I'm talking a soft blue cloth laced with some cleaning chemical, not anything hardcore like Duraglit. I'd highly recommend this method over the steel wool, since you're just cleaning the gunk off, not shaving metal off.

Think I got it from Tesco, couldn't swear it.

[Rich]

0000 steel wool isn't removing any metal

[darren wilson]

I'm sure the salt air in bonny Scotland isn't doing your frets or pole pieces any favours.

[JEM10th]

Some guitars have a transport wax coating on the frets when trey´re shipped from factories...

Perhaps you should wax the frets to seal them from oxidation, but that´s an overdue, when you use to play it in betweens too

[Artist]

move from scotland