I use 0000 steel wool myself. He wouldn't even have to mask the board, a thin cardboard or plastic template which would expose the fret and cover the immediate surrounding board area would be infinitely more expeditious.

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You dig?

martian is right on the money. use fretboard conditioner before you do any more playing. But I suspect that your neck will be fine after that.

On the topic of locking tuners. I have em on one of my guitars. they are a convenience when changing strings, but that is all they are. if you have problems keeping your guitar in tune they won't help it. A properly set up and maintained Strat with the normal tuners won't have any tuning issues.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

hey mbtomi, my bad. i posted after you posted pics. i didnt realize the strats prior to 2006 had s1 switching.
fyi, my white am strat was dry like that too, i use lemonoil, and it worked wonders. your strat looks great.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008