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Post subject: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:06 pm
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On my Strat there is a lot of gunk and dirt on the fretboard. I bought the Fender Custom Shop Fingerboard Remedy to try. I looked into getting Dunlop's Lemon Oil stuff but the bottle says "Not For Use On Maple Fretboards", so I decided on this stuff. It says it is formulated for unfinished fretboards, however it does not say it cannot be used on maple fretboards. I used some of it and buffed it out, it seemed to clean a little bit but the gunk is still very much there. The fret wires still have gunk on both sides of them. Is there a better cleaner to use? The guitar is a maple body as well, should I just buy Fender guitar cleaner instead and use it on the whole guitar? Here are a couple pictures of the fretboard, not very easy to see but you can tell the middle of the fretboard is much lighter/ cleaner than the edges. Thanks.
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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:59 pm
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A toothbrush and some Zippo fluid will help.


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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:20 am
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Brasso (if available in the states) is good for both a maple fingerboard and the frets too (as is Duraglit)
Both of them are similar to using a polishing compound on a car and will both take the gunk off and polish up frets and board making everything look like new (both work well on removing scuffs from pickguards too) and Duraglit is brilliant for buffing up nickel plated tuners

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:23 pm
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I probably brought it up before but I use Trick Guitar Polish. It cleans everything off my Vhr, safe for nitro too, shines like glass. Of course it helps to wash your hands or at least rinse them before you play.

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:36 pm
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Naphtha works the best, and is safe for any part of the guitar. Lighter fluid is the same, but a pint of naphtha is about $6 at your hardware store.


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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:26 pm
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Murphy's Oil Soap dilluted w/ warm water (just follow the directions on the bottle)... will clean everything on the guitar including all types of finishes and fretboard woods... It's safe, non-caustic, non-flamable, leaves no buildup of any kind and it can easily be found at your local grocery store.
Rock On 8)

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:51 pm
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Breath and cotton cloth, slightly water dampened cotton cloth, or naphtha and cotton cloth.

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:59 pm
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Despite the cultural aversion, saliva is an excellent mild cleaner - it's designed to keep your mouth clean, and is thick enough to not seep into pores as quickly as water or other thinner detergents do. Don't be surprised if it's what your luthier uses when nobody is looking.


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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:59 pm
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Cool first post Codyyy, welcome to the Forum. Great pic's, we do love pic's. That is a thousand dollar relic finish on your guitar. Wipe it down with a cotton cloth, (if you have a few bucks laying around buy a Fender polish cloth), every time after you play that guitar then you should be all good and clean as well. :D

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:14 am
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Beautiful like it is!

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 8:47 pm
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I've used baby wipes (you know, like for cleaning babies' butts) on my unfinished maple fretboards and it doesn't seem to harm them (so far as I can tell).
They also serve as a string cleaner too, I guess, if you leave the strings on and drag it back and forth under the strings.

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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:08 pm
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I went to the local Home Depot and they said that they are not allowed to sell Naphtha in this state, or anything equivalent to it. I decided to try Brasso as I had some laying around. I tried a little at first and it seemed to have worked without damaging the clear coat on the fretboard itself. I used a microfiber and got most of it off without working on it too hard. The frets polished up however the gunk is still on the edges of the frets. I decided to leave that alone for the most part. I used the Fender Fingerboard Remedy stuff twice after that. I'll need to get a guitar polish for this as I can tell why that stuff is meant for unfinished fretboards, however it worked well. The guitar definitely sounds brighter.


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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 9:36 pm
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Codyyy wrote:
I went to the local Home Depot and they said that they are not allowed to sell Naphtha in this state, or anything equivalent to it.

Go to a tobacconist and buy a can of Zippo or Ronson (now owned by Zippo) lighter fluid. That's naphtha.
Just don't buy any other brands, cause who knows what they put in it.


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Post subject: Re: Cleaning maple fretboard
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 11:08 pm
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arth1 wrote:
Codyyy wrote:
I went to the local Home Depot and they said that they are not allowed to sell Naphtha in this state, or anything equivalent to it.

Go to a tobacconist and buy a can of Zippo or Ronson (now owned by Zippo) lighter fluid. That's naphtha.
Just don't buy any other brands, cause who knows what they put in it.


Darn, I knew I should have waited. Oh well, next time I'll know what to use. Thanks for the information.


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