Oil neck maintenance

[mungiisi]

I have a Jackson Rhoads with oil neck and it's gotten quite dirty. I haven't cleaned it not even once during the time I've had it, so my question is how should I do it and what liquid's should I use for the cleaning? I got an advice to sand the neck with very fine sandpaper, and then add a bit of tru oil. I actually asked this one from the Jackson Support, and they told that the tru oil should be fine. They were a bit concerned about sanding the neck since it would make neck thinner.

Do you have any recommendations?

[AAEA]

denatured alcohol, apply to a wipe sparingly and do so in a well ventilated area. then oil it after the cleaner dries

[lefty]

http://www.music-man.com/faq#category3

Birchwood Casey Tru Oil and Gunstock Wax will handle all your needs.

[toejam]

Just clean it with some kind of lemon oil and you'll be fine. You really don't need to add any extra oil for quite awhile, but tung oil or gunstock oil will be fine when you do.

[Axewielder]

After 10 - 20 years or so it's OK to strip it all the way down and redo the Tru Oil. In between, just wipe down with the basic guitar polishes and cleaners.

['84RR]

sanding the finish off is quite a bit different than re-profiling the neck...one thing about sanding is that many times you just end up pushing the gunk in as opposed to actually removing it...as others have noted, clean it first, and if that doesn't do it then proceed with sandpaper...at the least you'll have removed most of the gunk.

[xenophobe]

After 10 - 20 years or so it's OK to strip it all the way down and redo the Tru Oil. In between, just wipe down with the basic guitar polishes and cleaners.

^ this. Tru Oil and Linseed Oil are fine when you want to actually refinish a neck, but I wouldn't suggest using them for general cleaning or maintenance. That's a bit extreme, IMO.

Otherwise standard guitar or wood cleaners and polish.

Caranuba/beeswax or lemon oil are my preferred choice for weekly or monthly maintenance of oil or natural wood finishes.