Fret Polishing - Naptha??

[Obfuscolios]

Lately, I've noticed that the frets on my trusty RG3120TW, she's a 2001 BTW, are lookin kinda 'rusty'. In addition to oxidation there appears to be tiny spots of discoloration on some of the frets, mostly on 20-24. Has anybody here seen this before? Is it just small spots of localized oxidation? Will the 0000 steel wool take care of this?

Also, a few places on the web advise that you should use naptha to clean the board after using masking tape on it. Is this really necessary? It seems that if you removed some of the tack from the tape first, as per the instructions on Rich's fantastic site, this would not be necessary. Advice anyone? I'd like to get to cleaning the frets soon, cuz those little 'rust' spots are worrisome to me, but I'm hesitant to use harsh chemicals on the board if I don't need to.

Thanks,

-MikE

[JEM77BRMR]

0000 steel wool will clean those frets nice & fast. As far as the Naptha, I use a purple painters tape that doesn't leave a skicky film so it's not really a problem. I have used Naptha / lighter fluid to clean maple fretboards without a problem too. But like I said the painters tape is not very sticky so I use that.

[ryanb]

The steel wool will work on the frets, but so will really fine sandpaper. Starting grit depends on how bad they are ... then you can polish them up as much as you want.

If the tape doesn't leave obvious residue in your case then don't worry about trying to clean it off. Naptha is lighter fluid. Using it on the board won't hurt anything, and it is good for cleaning the wood. Just add some bore oil or fretboard conditioner (of your choice) afterward.

[David McCarroll]

If you want to go down the 0000 steel wool route, it is best to remove the neck, or at least very thoroughly mask the body off or you will be extracting iron filings from your neck pickup for weeks! The results are definitely worth it mind you!

[moebius]

Or Tape over your pickups too to keep from gathering steel wool on them.

[Lefty Robb]

just use steel wool, it follows the contours of the fret and gets em shined up really good and fast. You could also use a dremel with a fine wire wheel.

and if your worried about the steel fibers, just wrap your guitar body up with a trash bag, or something similar..

[Obfuscolios]

Everyone, thanks for the advice. After I get some painters masking tape, I'm going to go the steel wool route this weekend. Can't wait to see the frets shining again.

-MikE

[frankfalbo]

Originally Posted by David McCarroll

...thoroughly mask the body off or you will be extracting iron filings...

If you mask over the neck pickup alone (the whole thing, including mounting ring, etc) you should be fine. Then a nice trick is to apply another layer of tape over the first layer when you're done, to trap all the shavings that are stuck to the tape. Otherwise removing the tape would simply allow the shavings to find their way back to the pickup anyway!

[Dee]

I did my frets with 0000 grade steel wool just a few days ago. It's also an RG3120 (in deep red). The results are great, though the frets were in great condition already, it's well worth doing. The neck feels much better too, bends are way smoother. Steel wool is the best method. As Robb said, it follows the contours of the fret and is easier to work with than sandpaper.

[CrossingStar]

what I do is after steel wooling them, I have this polishing compound that came with my Dremel tool and put some of that on a felt Dremel tip - holy cow they get shiny!