Fret cleaning

[horsehead]

Just taken possession of a new strat (more to follow) but I have noticed that at the high end, the frets seem to have never been cleaned & seem to have a tang to them. I've cleaned the neck (maple) with some lemon oil which has taken the worst off, but it seems, well...not ingrained, but needs a bloody good clean, only problem is I haven't got a clue what to use for the best of the frets & neck. Can anyone put me in the right direction please?

[Dmoney]

i saw something once were a dude masked off the wood either side of the fret wire with some kind of tape (insulation tape, masking tape... not sure which) then rubbed each fret with a fine wire wool.

looked pretty good.

maybe some of the guitar guru's will have a better idea

[MrBump]

Yep, wire wool and a relatively light touch.

Might be weird, but I LOVE cleaning fretboards and frets...

[Transcend]

im pretty certain that ive read somewhere that lemon oil is bad for maple necks/fretboards.

However yeah wire wool is your best bet

[horsehead]

Never heard that about lemn oil before...who'd have thunk it?! Right wire wool it is, thanks guys

[dave_mc]

yeah i don't think you're meant to use lemon oil on maple...

[38thBeatle]

And make sure that your pickups are protected against any little pieces of wire wool that might break off.

[ToneMonkey]

Isn't that because maple boards usually have a finish on them?

I use wire wool and sometimes a little used Auto Glym Metal Polish depending on the level of finger poo.

[Ratrod]

Use painter's tape to mask off the fretboard. Then go over the frets with wire wool. After that you can polish them with a metal polish like Wenol (FKA Pol).

[AndyR]

And make sure that your pickups are protected against any little pieces of wire wool that might break off.

+100 :lol:

And, yes, I do have experience of not doing this first...

Nowadays I just use the same artist's masking tape as I use to protect the board.

But, if you've already used wire wool anywhere near a guitar without covering the pickups first... ...Blu Tac is your friend :)

Might be weird, but I LOVE cleaning fretboards and frets...

Might? :lol:

[Philly Q]

Bear in mind that metal polish will produce a black residue.  It won't penetrate the finish on the board but you might want to clean it up before taking the masking tape off.

[fr33man1]

My guitar tech covers pickup with paper (little wire coppers slide down the fretboard and since pickups are magnets, they can get stucked in there) then he takes some wood wax (im using cooking oil) and waxes the fretboard. Then some very very fine wire wool and you brush the board down, always going like the wood stripes. Finally you clean your fretboard and put strings.

Im doing it this way since he showed me how to. Its a bit fat a the first minutes of playing but then the board is really silky and comfy to play. Just beware on rosewood ones, they tend to absorb alot of oil so don't put too much or plays like butter will really make sense to your fingers.  :P

[horsehead]

what grade wire wool BTW?

[Greatoliver]

You can use T-Cut (a car polish).

Works wonders.

[shobet]

I've got a pile of the metal guards that go around the frets from stewmac - http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Polishing_and_abrasives/Fingerboard_Guards.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=12732

I use these with both 0000 grade wire wool and 3M polishing papers of various grades.

Just noticed they do these now as well - http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Fretting/Fret_Dressing_Masks.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=12732 a bit overkill for my needs though.

Just out of interest I've ordered one of the those Chrome Frets silky sting polishing kits as well. http://www.chromefrets.co.uk/