Taking care of teh guitars

[GuitarIv]

Cheers guys,

so finally I'm reaching the point where I'm about to order my next set of BKPs and I'm super stoked.
At the same time I want to take the opportunity to get rid of some flaws I'm currently having with my babies. Of course I could just go see my luthier, but I have worked long enough with guitars to be able to save the money and do things exactly the way I want them to be. However I need a little help/advice.
The guitars need a set up: intonation, string height, truss rod and so on which I can do on my own, but at the same time I want to completely redo the wiring and take care of or replace rusted parts.

First question would be: both have all maple necks, how do you clean those properly? I know every wood needs a special cleaning lotion, so some advice about taking care of the necks would be cool. Also thinking about removing the disgusting, greenish stuff that surrounds the frets, any suggestions? I've been using cotton swabs so far.

Next thing are the rusted parts: I know I could just replace them, but there is stuff like the screws on the Edge Bridge of the Ibanez (which is blocked btw) I wanna try to get currently and future rust free. You can see it in the pics (sorry for the bad quality)
I've been thinking about disassembling the guitars and putting the rusted parts into an ultrasonic bath (my bassist has one) to remove the dirt and probably some of the rust, then take some sandpaper to get the rest of the rust off, (or I could just use rust converter instead of the bath and use the sandpaper afterwards), then coat them with zinc spray and use black color spray (for the Ibby obviously as the Strat has silver hardware) to get the color back. Thoughts?

Last thing: the wiring. I will order 550k Pots and already have 2 Jensen 0.022 Caps. However I experienced some problems with the wiring and noise and before I try to find the weakest link I just wanna redo it completely. What kind of wires will I need? Are there any special ones or should I just go see my local electronic parts shop and buy some ordinary wires?

Cheers guys, hope you can help! :)

[GuitarIv]

More pics:

[Philly Q]

Personally (being a bit obsessive about these things  :oops: ) I like to replace screws with stainless steel ones.  You could do that with your Strat, but of course you couldn't get stainless parts for your Edge trem.

I haven't got any tips for cleaning the necks, I'm afraid.

[GuitarIv]

Yeah, that is mainly my problem, the Edge Trem. I wanna take care of the rust before it get's a serious issue and beyond repairable. :/

[FELINEGUITARS]

These necks will be sealed or Laquered - so really a good wipe down with a cloth will be best .
You could rub with 0000 gauge wire wool , but that will satin-ise the finish , although many like to remove the gloss.

The wire wool is also great for polishing the frets.

Danish oil or Tru oil seem to be my faourite neck treatments if they are bare wood.

The rusted parts that cannot be replced I would remove and clean as much rust off with a wire brush , wet n dry or emery paper , then soak in something like Plus-Gas

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=plus+gas&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15538855232146593665&sa=X&ei=0meAUIGRAoTLhAfI0ICAAg&ved=0CEoQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

This stuff is brilliant - I currently have the parts of a Jackson JT6 tremolo soaking in a jam jar with about 2" deep of this solution. Will drain it off and reassemble soon - works a treat!

Give me a call on the pickups - we can do a good deal and throw in the wires that you may need too - easy one stop shopping!

[richardjmorgan]

These necks will be sealed or Laquered - so really a good wipe down with a cloth will be best .
You could rub with 0000 gauge wire wool , but that will satin-ise the finish , although many like to remove the gloss.

The wire wool is also great for polishing the frets.

Danish oil or Tru oil seem to be my faourite neck treatments if they are bare wood.

The rusted parts that cannot be replced I would remove and clean as much rust off with a wire brush , wet n dry or emery paper , then soak in something like Plus-Gas

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=plus+gas&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15538855232146593665&sa=X&ei=0meAUIGRAoTLhAfI0ICAAg&ved=0CEoQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

This stuff is brilliant - I currently have the parts of a Jackson JT6 tremolo soaking in a jam jar with about 2" deep of this solution. Will drain it off and reassemble soon - works a treat!

Give me a call on the pickups - we can do a good deal and throw in the wires that you may need too - easy one stop shopping!

Good to know rusty bits can be salvaged. I'm going to be coming to see you next week with a mate's guitar which is an absolute disgrace – rusty hardware being one of the litany of problems with it!

[BigB]

First question would be: both have all maple necks, how do you clean those properly?

Hot water, a drop of soap, a clean soft cloth and some elbow grease - as usual.

I know every wood needs a special cleaning lotion,

The above "special cleaning lotion"(tm) has worked for each and every guitar I've had to clean up so far, and that makes quite a few.

Also thinking about removing the disgusting, greenish stuff that surrounds the frets, any suggestions?

Same as above, but use an old toothbrush instead of the soft cloth. And don't wait until you have some " disgusting, greenish stuff " surrounding your frets :mrgreen:

Last thing: the wiring. I will order 550k Pots and already have 2 Jensen 0.022 Caps. However I experienced some problems with the wiring and noise and before I try to find the weakest link I just wanna redo it completely. What kind of wires will I need? Are there any special ones or should I just go see my local electronic parts shop and buy some ordinary wires?

Any decent quality copper stranded wire around 20AWG should do - that's what I'm using and I don't have any particular noise problem. Just take care of twisting the hot and neutral together when you have a long path. FWIW, most noise problems I've had came from faulty pots / caps / switches, bad soldering job or rusty wires.

[Woderwick]

Re the toothbrush cleaning.  If you have an electric toothbrush, next time you change the head, keep the old one, handy for all sorts of nooks and crannies.

One important thing tho, don't forget to change it after use, a mouthful of Colgate and lemon oil is grim.   :lol:

Ptuuiiiiiii.

[GuitarIv]

Thank you a ton for the soap and water cleaning tipp, helped a great deal! My Strat plays slippery and amazing just like the first day I got it :)