Gunk build Up

[Toast]

My friend recently got an old Gibson acoustic which we are thinking its from the 50s or earlier and im trying to help him clean it up a bit. Theres some green build-up on the fret rollers(I think thats what they are called) and I was wondering how to remove this? I was also wondering if there was anything i should look for on the old tuning machines to clean up and what should i do about it

[zeegler]

Brasso and a toothbrush will clean that up nicely.

[straycat]

Do not try to clean the tuners you want them to look old.You will ruin the value of the guitar.Cleaning the saddles(rollers) so that they work correctly is fine.Cleaning gunk out of the nut slots is ok.I know this sounds stupid but if you need to sell the guitar for whatever reason you will lose money at the time of sale if you start cleaning everything on the guitar to make it look like new.
An old guitar is an old guitar and when it comes to a old Gibson its best to leave it looking like an old Gibson.
Gibson collectors WILL buy it if it hasn't been tinkered with.

[Toast]

Is fret rollers the correct term for the things that divided up the frets? Anyway will the brasso hurt the fretboard at all?

[fett]

Those are frets. Yes, brasso will stain the wood. Use something like lemon oil on an old sock. Go across the frets. That should clean the gunk. You might need a toothpick . Wipe it down to clear all the gunk away. Once the gunk is gone, put a drop of lemon oil between each fret and rub it in with your finger. Then take a clean sock and rub that sucker up and down like you mean it. That should clean then up just right. Not bright like brand new, but clean and aged like they should be. Works for me.

[VitaminG]

DON'T use brasso on the fretboard. It's good for cleaning up hardware, but don't use it on wood.

I have no idea what you mean by "fret rollers" - do you have any pics?

straycat, I'm no vintage guitar collector, but what's the issue with cleaning the instrument? I get that changing out hardware or refinishing it will devalue it. But if all the numbers match and all the hardware is original, how does looking after it hurt its resale? Wouldn't people pay more for a well looked after example, compared to a cruddy version of exactly the same guitar?

And if you want to play it, do you really want to be sliding your fingers around in 50 years of other peoples' accumulated finger grease, dead skin cells, left overs from dinner, smoke, beer, whatever other scunge might land on the average half-century-old fretboard?

[Toast]

Well I wasnt gonna use the brasso on the fretboard i ment when like someone said to use the toothbrush with brasso on the fret rollers (tiny metal pieces that divide up the frets on the fretboard?) wouldnt that hurt the frets on it?

[Toast]

Also the book im reading says to use lighter fluid to remove the gunk on the fretboard like you are talking about.

[straycat]

Naptha works well so does warm water and a Q-tip.
VitaminG its OK to clean the guitar just don't polish things like tuners and bridges to where they look newer than the guitar.Gibson collectors are VERY anal.
Polish the frets with a good metal polish just don't get it on the fretboard.

[VitaminG]

Well I wasnt gonna use the brasso on the fretboard i ment when like someone said to use the toothbrush with brasso on the fret rollers (tiny metal pieces that divide up the frets on the fretboard?) wouldnt that hurt the frets on it?

I think I understand what you're talking about now. The bits you are referring to as "frets" are the sections of fretboard between the frets (which you are calling "fret rollers"). As per wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fret) frets are the metal strips inserted into the fretboard

You can use the lemon oil to clean the fretboard and the frets.

[zeegler]

LOL, i didn't know what the hell he meant by fret rollers. I assumed he meant bridge saddles, but I guess an acoustic wouldn't have metal saddles would it?

Sorry for the potential bad advice dude!

Yeah, lemon oil will work fine.

[fett]

Be gentle with your old guitars. Aged wood and metal patina just look better. And bright and shiney on an old guitar just don't look right and will detract from it's value. Because those anal collectors want that baby as close to original as possible without some bozo messing with it. No offense to any of us bozos out there.

[Toast]

Not really worried about collectors because my friend is like 15 and knows nothing of its value. Ill also end up trading him a peavey raptor or something for it and hell still like the deal alot better than I do.

[straycat]

Oh "screw you buddy syndrome" I understand now.