Cleaning finished (laquered?) maple fretboard

[notCardio]

Title pretty much says it. The neck and fretboard appear to have been at one time finished with what appears to be a factory laquer. This is unusual as it is a Korean Squier, looks like '97 or so. Anyway, it's not a satin finish, and it's not that thick poly. A lot of the finish has worn off, but it's down to a nice semi-satin patina, but still gloss in spots.

I just want to clean the gunk off of it, without doing anything to the remaining finished spots, and without removing the patina. I was told by someone who should know, that 0000 would do it, but it's taking both the gloss and patina off. Most of the fretboard cleaners seem to be for unfinished boards. I can scrape most of the gunk off with a pick, but it's really time-consuming.

What's a guy to do?

 

[Victory Pete]

Title pretty much says it. The neck and fretboard appear to have been at one time finished with what appears to be a factory laquer. This is unusual as it is a Korean Squier, looks like '97 or so. Anyway, it's not a satin finish, and it's not that thick poly. A lot of the finish has worn off, but it's down to a nice semi-satin patina, but still gloss in spots.

I just want to clean the gunk off of it, without doing anything to the remaining finished spots, and without removing the patina. I was told by someone who should know, that 0000 would do it, but it's taking both the gloss and patina off. Most of the fretboard cleaners seem to be for unfinished boards. I can scrape most of the gunk off with a pick, but it's really time-consuming.

What's a guy to do?

There are many options. Whenever I want to play it safe I use a 50/50 mix of distilled water and ammonia. I warm it in the microwave first. Use a clean soft cotton cloth and have at it. Always do a test in a hidden spot first. Better safe than sorry. Good luck,


VP

 

[Lt. Bob]

Title pretty much says it. The neck and fretboard appear to have been at one time finished with what appears to be a factory laquer. This is unusual as it is a Korean Squier, looks like '97 or so. Anyway, it's not a satin finish, and it's not that thick poly. A lot of the finish has worn off, but it's down to a nice semi-satin patina, but still gloss in spots.

I just want to clean the gunk off of it, without doing anything to the remaining finished spots, and without removing the patina. I was told by someone who should know, that 0000 would do it, but it's taking both the gloss and patina off. Most of the fretboard cleaners seem to be for unfinished boards. I can scrape most of the gunk off with a pick, but it's really time-consuming.

What's a guy to do?

well of course it's taking off the gloss .... what the hell did you think it would do?
It's finished ........ didn't you mention that?
Would you take steel wool to your guitar's body finish?
Of course you wouldn't ........ why not? Because it would screw up the finish. So what part of your brain shut down and thought that somehow a finish on a neck won't lose it's shine if you sand it with steel wool?
You use the same stuff you would use on your guitar's body. Some Dunlop 65 or some other finish cleaner and then possibly some wax of some kind.

 

[notCardio]

OK, so I'm an idiot. Yeah, I told him it was finished. He made it sound like it's what you would use to buff it out. He knew exactly what the situation was, and he's owned a guitar store for probably 25+ years, pretty much dealing in used and vintage. I assumed he knew what he was talking about. I heard somewhere that the Dunlop 65 would leave stuff on the board that would make it get grimy real fast again. I'm going to pick up some Dunlop 01 fretboard cleaner, but again, I wasn't sure it was OK for finished boards.

If you can't use 4-0 on a finished fretboard, how do you clean the frets? Will the board cleaner take care of that too? This is my first time trying to really clean a maple board.

 

[Lt. Bob]

OK, so I'm an idiot. Yeah, I told him it was finished. He made it sound like it's what you would use to buff it out. He knew exactly what the situation was, and he's owned a guitar store for probably 25+ years, pretty much dealing in used and vintage. I assumed he knew what he was talking about. I heard somewhere that the Dunlop 65 would leave stuff on the board that would make it get grimy real fast again. I'm going to pick up some Dunlop 01 fretboard cleaner, but again, I wasn't sure it was OK for finished boards.

If you can't use 4-0 on a finished fretboard, how do you clean the frets? Will the board cleaner take care of that too? This is my first time trying to really clean a maple board.

well ......... you're not the idiot .... HE is and you should ream him for it too.

Ummmm ...... I would use a decent cleaner/polish ..... most guitar companies make 'em. And I'd use a good cloth and my fingers ..... let the stuff soak for a while to lossen the crud and then your fingernails and the cloth to clean it.
might take a while and be a pain in the butt.
Also .... depending on the finish, you could use alcohol or naptha. Find out what the finish is but I believe I've read they use naptha to clean nitro although a squire isn't likely to be nitro.

 

[notCardio]

Yeah, I didn't think it would even be laquer, but there it is staring at me. I don't know what they did back then on Korean Squires.

And I'll tell him about it and show him the results, but I can't ream him too much as he's a good guy who's done right by me on deals over the years. He's also got a lot of cool stuff that comes through his shop, so I like to keep in his good graces. And, he's a fellow die-hard Allman brother, so he's sorta like family.

 

[Bubba po]

I don't understand "time-consuming"! Ok, I'm a lazy get and I don't clean my guitars enough, but when I notice that my fretboard's getting all gunked-up I think it's worth the time it takes to gently remove the gunk. All my fretboards are rosewood, so I usually spray my fretboards with some kind of furniture cleaner (lemon pledge? lol) and let it penetrate the gunk for a little while, then clean it off with a cloth and elbow-grease. When it's all clean, I feed the fretboard with baby oil.

 

[Bubba po]

You can get the gloss back with t-cut or similar (be GENTLE!), then wax. 4-zero wool is very fine, so providing you haven't removed too much finish it'll be ok.

 

[mjbphotos]

Gunk on your fretboards? I suggest not eating with your hands at the same time as you are playing! And wash your hands when you're done eating, too - didn't your momma teach you anything? I've used lemon pledge stuff on the rosewood neck of my 39 year old Epi forever , no gunk. Same thing on the finished maple neck on my 40 year old Tele, no gunk.

 

[Victory Pete]

I have been using "Shower to Shower" powder on my hands for 2 decades. Prevents any type of gunk buildup. It constantly absorbs any oils, salts, grime, funk, beer, and leaves the neck smooth and fresh. My boards are always "Morning Shower Fresh".

VP

 

[Telegram Sam]

I don't understand "time-consuming"! Ok, I'm a lazy get and I don't clean my guitars enough, but when I notice that my fretboard's getting all gunked-up I think it's worth the time it takes to gently remove the gunk. All my fretboards are rosewood, so I usually spray my fretboards with some kind of furniture cleaner (lemon pledge? lol) and let it penetrate the gunk for a little while, then clean it off with a cloth and elbow-grease. When it's all clean, I feed the fretboard with baby oil.

I, too, use lemon oil on my rosewood fretboard.
I think the manual said to use an oil that doesn't have any silicone.
The bottle I bought might also contain a little linseed oil as well, which should be fine.
Finished surfaces, when intact, are finished, and only need to be cleaned.

 

[Telegram Sam]

I have been using "Shower to Shower" powder on my hands for 2 decades. Prevents any type of gunk buildup. It constantly absorbs any oils, salts, grime, funk, beer, and leaves the neck smooth and fresh. My boards are always "Morning Shower Fresh".

VP

Anything that you put on your hands is going to end up on your guitar.
I would recommend against using unknown agents on any wood finish that you care about.
Treat it like fine furniture; you don't powder your oak end table, do you?

 

[JCH]

I have been using "Shower to Shower" powder on my hands for 2 decades. Prevents any type of gunk buildup. It constantly absorbs any oils, salts, grime, funk, beer, and leaves the neck smooth and fresh. My boards are always "Morning Shower Fresh".

VP

lol @ deja vu

 

[JCH]

What's a guy to do?

when I re-string, if needed I'll dry scrub a maple fret board with a little brush like you would use for your fingernails. The bristles are soft enough that they won't harm anything. That usually will do. If it's lacquered, it wouldn't do you any good to oil it, and that would probably just cause more buildup.

 

[Victory Pete]

Anything that you put on your hands is going to end up on your guitar.
I would recommend against using unknown agents on any wood finish that you care about.
Treat it like fine furniture; you don't powder your oak end table, do you?

I care very much about my 12 guitars, "Shower to Shower" powder Is not only safe on people but also guitars. My guitars have the cleanest smoothest necks I have ever seen.

VP

I am not the only one who does this, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Ray Flacke and Ray Davies are among the list.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-18925.html

 

[notCardio]

Just to be clear, this is an old guitar I just bought. The gunk isn't from me. Not that mine are pristine, but I wouldn't have let it get in this condition in the first place. That's one of the reasons it would be so time consuming to scrape it off with a tiny pick. There's a lot of it, and it's pretty thick in spots. I tried a hard toothbrush and it didn't even touch it. I've been using a toothpick to clean up against the frets. It works, but again it's slow going. Oh well, I knew it was a project guitar when I bought it. I'm going to get some Dunlop 01 fretboard cleaner today, so we'll see how that goes. I will report back on what works.

Thanks for all of the replies.

 

[Victory Pete]

Just to be clear, this is an old guitar I just bought. The gunk isn't from me. Not that mine are pristine, but I wouldn't have let it get in this condition in the first place. That's one of the reasons it would be so time consuming to scrape it off with a tiny pick. There's a lot of it, and it's pretty thick in spots. I tried a hard toothbrush and it didn't even touch it. I've been using a toothpick to clean up against the frets. It works, but again it's slow going. Oh well, I knew it was a project guitar when I bought it. I'm going to get some Dunlop 01 fretboard cleaner today, so we'll see how that goes. I will report back on what works.

Thanks for all of the replies.

Can you post pictures?

VP

 

[Dogbreath]

Can you post pictures?

VP

no problem .

 

[JCH]

no problem .

View attachment 71352

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Dogbreath again."

 

[Bubba po]

Just to be clear, this is an old guitar I just bought. The gunk isn't from me. Not that mine are pristine, but I wouldn't have let it get in this condition in the first place. That's one of the reasons it would be so time consuming to scrape it off with a tiny pick. There's a lot of it, and it's pretty thick in spots. I tried a hard toothbrush and it didn't even touch it. I've been using a toothpick to clean up against the frets. It works, but again it's slow going. Oh well, I knew it was a project guitar when I bought it. I'm going to get some Dunlop 01 fretboard cleaner today, so we'll see how that goes. I will report back on what works.

Thanks for all of the replies.

I would definitely use something that will soak into the gunk to soften it. It's likely a polyeurethane finish on your fretboard which is pretty impervious to most things except aggressive solvents, so spray furniture polish or similar will work well without affecting the neck at all.