A lot of people ask me how I clean my maple necks and I am going to tell you.
First I don't mind a dirty neck at all but what I mind is someone else's dirt. So after buying a used JEM777DY with a dirty neck I looked around the house to see what I could find to clean it with.
I tried regular bleach, soap, alcohol, peroxide; window cleaner, mineral spirits etc. and most had no effect. I kept in mind that I didn't want to kill the wood or fret wire so I looked for something I had that would be a natural cleaner that removes grease, grease and oil is what's soaked in the wood fibers. I'm sure a few of you have worked in fast food, I did in my teen years and remember using a product called Simple Green. This stuff is what I clean my boards with.
Not only does it clean the board but I also can clean your fret wire and doesn't corrode them.
I use Simple Green with an Oral-B electric tooth brush and blue shop paper towels to wipe. Blue shop towels are also good for applying Tong Oil too as they don't leave lint.
Just to show you with a quick clean on this old RG550 neck.
This neck isn't as bad as some others I have done but the dirtier it is the more you have to repeat passes.
this is thread is great i was reading all the post and i had never heard lemon oil was bad for maple which im happy to know because im going to need to clean my maple neck soon
so just to be clear (no pun). Can you use tung oil on the board AND back of the neck? how do you properly apply it?? I am thinking about lightly using 0000 steel wool on the front and back, it seems to be a popular method, but popular is not always "proper". a little help *coughrichcough*
I cant really talk but It'd be good if someone listed all of the oils, what they'll do and if they remove the coat and how to apply them.
Sorta like:
"xxxx" Oil
Application: Use 'x' amount by dabbing it onto cloth and rubbing it onto a dry surface
Effect : Cleans board and may remove some coat
Other: For coated boards only, buy from such and such stores, costs *** amount
hello,i hav a ibanez s470dx and its fretboard is pretty much dirty
i dont kno how to clean it as i heard that lemon oil is not good for maple fretboards.
how can i clean it??
i ordered some 3m flexible polishing papers a few days ago from stewmacDOTcom(sry cant post links yet) and got them last night. they worked so well for cleaning my fretboard, made it look like new and with the finest grit i even polished it to a smooth finish. the finer grits can also make your frets shine like new. i found these to be better than steel wool cuz i thought steel wool would be too abbrasive. these are for non finished fretboards tho!!! unless you wanna intentionally strip your finish hah
yea the 3m polishing papers are good for minor dirt grime build up on your fretboard or any other non clearcoated wood and clean frets and and other metals on your guitar. theyre really great for getting the wood really smooth. if you have a suuuuuper dirty fretboard, then another method should be used like super fine steel wool or bore oil cleaning. the micro mesh ones ive never tried, but i think theyre more for getting metals and finishes to shine, rather than remove dirt build up from woods.
I use Howard Feed and Wax wood preserver and a bit of Windex glass cleaner (Spray on a cloth and wipe the strings) to keep my maple neck looking good. It has bees wax and Orange oil. Should be ok, Right?
As long as we have maple fretboard, how come nobody make maple fretboard cleaning? Even dunlop knows about "not to use dunlop lemon oil on maple fret board" but no one make commercially cleaning for it. Business opportunity here people!
I'm going to add to this thread soon. I just cleaned up and refinished the fretboard on an LNG I just bought. Didn't take progress pics, but I do have some before after ones. I ended up refinishing the board with Minwax Polycrylic and it looks really great and better yet is protected. I'll do a writeup explaining my work as well as my refinish on the back of the neck.
Just scored an RG550 from a pawn shop in total disrepair... was looking for a way to get through the inch of black tar that's on the board... I know this guitar's been mechanic owned. Great Thread...
At my pawn shop we use goof-off to cut thru the thick stuff, then "Pledge" citrus wood cleaner and a tooth brush. It can take several passes but it adds a nice polish afterward and any over spray goes toward cleaning the rest of the guitar
i dunno. I used lemon oil to clean one of my unfinished maple necks and it worked awesome. The guitar belong to a guy that smoked and the lemon oil even got the smoke smell out of the wood.
As a side note. I had used bore oil to condition unfinished fret boards and so i went to the music store to pick some up and they didn't sell any. I asked about it and one of their woodwind repairmen said that because bore oil is a petroleum distillate it didn't do as good of a job as a natural oil would. He suggested trying olive oil, vegetable or a combination of the two to get a deep conditioning.
I tried just straight olive oil on a rosewood fretboard and it worked like a freaking champ. I had an old GHS fast fret stick that i let sit in a small cup of olive oil then dabbed it off a bit and applied it right the the fret board. Waited a few minuets and wiped off the excess.
I wouldn't do this ever time i changed strings but it has done wonders for the neck i put it on.
After reading this wonderful thread I feel more confused than ever. I use lemon oil on my rosewood boards and thanks to j.arledge I tried olive oil recently (Popeye is still pissed) and the results are better than lemon oil. However, I'm totally confused about maple, I wash my hands and wipe the fretboard and my guitars live in their cases when not being played, however the maple on my Jem will soon need a clean. The neck has a coat which I love the feel of.
So, what can I use?
I know guys who use lemon oil on maple and reckon it would take decades to do any damage, but I don't want to cause any damage at all.
Unless you've worn the finish off, maple boards are always cleared, so it could be as simple as wiping it down.
I'd say that you'd want to start with something extremely mild, like a tiny dot of dish soap in warm water and a rag or soft toothbrush. Get a sense if the finish is intact or has been worn away.
Thank you! Takin' after reading many of the opposing views I was unsure of which way to jump, but the soft toothbrush sounds perfect. The finish is intact on this one.
A good friend's guitar here. Seems that the previous owner once used a wrong product on some of the frets. Really is a shame. I've been setting her up for him, but I promised myself to make it a personal quest to get the fretboard back to as it should be. He already used steel whool 0000 to get some of, it was quite worse when he got it. But is seems that the dirt or whatever it is is deeper ingrained in the wood, what is being refered to as ghosting here I think. Any opinions ? can it be bleached out without ruining the wood ? Thx !
btw... I really was surprised by these PAF pickups... dang, so crunchy!
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