Cleaning frets on my Strat

ido1957

ido1957

9K Gold Member
My EC has a bit of tarnish on them - any suggestions for cleaning that won't screw up my frets or fretboard.
I tried fingernail, cloth, spit lol, but it's not coming off.
Do I need to masking tape my frets?

Side note - my saddles are a little blackened/tarnished too - anything for that?

This is a 96 so it's just age not neglect lol...
 
I could be wrong, but I tend to mask off the board and use "real" metal polish on frets if they're that bad. You can even make a little masking template if you're keen... quicker.
 
Though fretwire is frequently called “nickel silver,” it doesn't actually contain silver. Rather, it's typically composed of 18 percent nickel, 80 percent copper, and small amounts of such other materials as zinc, lead, and cadmium. Really good fret wire has more zinc and less copper.

I was too lazy to Google it lol...
 
I've always used ultra fine grade-0000 steel wool. If you have a maple fretboard you should mask it off but if you have rosewood you can clean that as well with the steel wool.
 
ocnor said:
I've always used ultra fine grade-0000 steel wool. If you have a maple fretboard you should mask it off but if you have rosewood you can clean that as well with the steel wool.
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+1

And I'm not sure about how it works on the just frets themselves (I've always just used the above method and done it all at once), but a pretty good cleaner for the gunk on the fretboard and around the frets is vodka on a soft cloth, like an old sock. Around the frets you can use the vodka and a small brush like a toothbrush. The vodka will dry out the fretboard, though, so you'll want to use lemon oil on it afterwards.
 
notCardio said:
+1

And I'm not sure about how it works on the just frets themselves (I've always just used the above method and done it all at once), but a pretty good cleaner for the gunk on the fretboard and around the frets is vodka on a soft cloth, like an old sock. Around the frets you can use the vodka and a small brush like a toothbrush. The vodka will dry out the fretboard, though, so you'll want to use lemon oil on it afterwards.
Click to expand...

Don't use alcohol. Long term use can remove colour from wood and may also soften some finishes. Use naphtha. Also wire wool is mildly abrasive and should be buffed out with a polishing compound or with a silver cloth such as listed above. If you use wirw wool cover your pickus with cling filmfirst to make it easier to get the stuff off after.
 
Seriously guys, get some Goddards silver cloth. 0000 wire wool is used to remove marks left by 000 wire wool which is used to remove marks from 1200 grit paper which is used to remove marks from 800 grit paper which is used to remove marks fro 400 grit paper which is used to remove file marks from fret leveling.

Save yourself some time and effort from some one who does this daily on tons of guitars....;)
 
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