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I have quite a few people that will bring their guitars to me when they want them setup. I do some general cleaning and maintnance as part of the setup and I always get the same questions. How do I get them to look so good, especially the frets...
This kind of goes along with cleaning the fretboard, but more on polishing the frets.
What you will need:
A rubber sanding block
thin foam or cork
material, such as an old bed sheet
naptha
brasso
The rubber sanding block can be purchased at any hardware store as well as the naptha. The foam or cork is used a cushion for the sanding block. I use this thin adhesive backed foam I found in the arts and crafts section at Wal-Mart. It works great and by the way, this is the same stuff used in tremelo recess cavities on some guitars.
Simply cut the foam to fit the bottom of the sanding block and stick it to it then cut pieces of the bed sheet, or whatever you decide to use, to the proper length and width of the sanding block. Then completely saturate the piece of material in the brasso and let it completely dry. This will take a day or so. When it is completely dry attach it to the sanding block as you normally would a piece of sand paper pulling it tight.
This next part is how I clean all of my frets and fretboards. I use cotton balls and q-tips (the q-tips are for hard to reach places), but that's just my preference. I dab a little naptha on a cotton ball and begin rubbing it into the fretboard paying attention to the frets as well. I repeat this until no more gunk comes off on the cotton ball. Naptha, like rubbing alcohol dries very quickly and will remove oil and dirt from the wood very well. So conditioning the board after using it is pretty much a must.
Once the board dries take the polishing block you made and run it up and down the frets long ways. It doesn't take a lot of pressure and you don't need or want to do it real fast. Let the brasso do all the work. You may want to cover the body with a towel as the dried brasso will create dust.
Once the frets are good and polished I brush the dust from the board and apply a good lemon oil, again lemon oil is just my preference. I apply it generously, let it set for a minute or two then wipe the excess off with soft cloth.
Once finished the frets look great and shine like new. The board looks great too.
Tip: Once you've used the block a few times there will be a heavy built up on it. Since you completely soaked the cloth in brasso you can flip it over and use the other side. I usually soak and dry several strips of cloth at the same time then store them in a ziplock until I need them.
For general guitar polishing I use Trick Ultimate Instrument Care Kit. It comes with 25 premoistened towels that you pull out like handy wipes. This stuff will make any finish shine and resists smudges. Simply wipe one and wipe off. This is easily the best polish I've used.
[img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
This kind of goes along with cleaning the fretboard, but more on polishing the frets.
What you will need:
A rubber sanding block
thin foam or cork
material, such as an old bed sheet
naptha
brasso
The rubber sanding block can be purchased at any hardware store as well as the naptha. The foam or cork is used a cushion for the sanding block. I use this thin adhesive backed foam I found in the arts and crafts section at Wal-Mart. It works great and by the way, this is the same stuff used in tremelo recess cavities on some guitars.
Simply cut the foam to fit the bottom of the sanding block and stick it to it then cut pieces of the bed sheet, or whatever you decide to use, to the proper length and width of the sanding block. Then completely saturate the piece of material in the brasso and let it completely dry. This will take a day or so. When it is completely dry attach it to the sanding block as you normally would a piece of sand paper pulling it tight.
This next part is how I clean all of my frets and fretboards. I use cotton balls and q-tips (the q-tips are for hard to reach places), but that's just my preference. I dab a little naptha on a cotton ball and begin rubbing it into the fretboard paying attention to the frets as well. I repeat this until no more gunk comes off on the cotton ball. Naptha, like rubbing alcohol dries very quickly and will remove oil and dirt from the wood very well. So conditioning the board after using it is pretty much a must.
Once the board dries take the polishing block you made and run it up and down the frets long ways. It doesn't take a lot of pressure and you don't need or want to do it real fast. Let the brasso do all the work. You may want to cover the body with a towel as the dried brasso will create dust.
Once the frets are good and polished I brush the dust from the board and apply a good lemon oil, again lemon oil is just my preference. I apply it generously, let it set for a minute or two then wipe the excess off with soft cloth.
Once finished the frets look great and shine like new. The board looks great too.
Tip: Once you've used the block a few times there will be a heavy built up on it. Since you completely soaked the cloth in brasso you can flip it over and use the other side. I usually soak and dry several strips of cloth at the same time then store them in a ziplock until I need them.
For general guitar polishing I use Trick Ultimate Instrument Care Kit. It comes with 25 premoistened towels that you pull out like handy wipes. This stuff will make any finish shine and resists smudges. Simply wipe one and wipe off. This is easily the best polish I've used.
[img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
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