Well, here's something that's been working very well for me that past few months. I've been using mineral oil to clean my strings. Just a few drops on a paper towel and then I individually wipe each string. Cleans them nicely and leaves a little bit of a protective layer against oxidation. Also makes them nice and silky next time I pick up the guitar. And no, it doesn't turn the guitar in to an oily mess. And mineral oil has no smell.

I still change my strings about every week, so it's not necessarily about making my strings last longer...the tone seems to leak out of them no matter what....but it makes them play like new or better for the whole time they're on the guitar.

I got the idea after being told to use baby oil (which is just mineral oil with a little fragrance) on my stainless steel fridge. Waaaay better than the special cleaners.

I wondered what the heck mineral oil is...do they squeeze if from rocks? Turns out it's a byproduct of petroleum distillation. When they make gasoline from crude, it's one of the leftovers. Strange stuff. It's actually approved by the FDA for human consumption. Folks that are havin' trouble poopin' can have some bran and a spoonful of mineral oil to grease the skids. Passes right through.

It's also recommended for use on wooden cutting boards. If you buy "lemon oil" at the local store, it's pretty much always just mineral oil with a little bit of lemon fragrance in it. Just fine on unfinished wood.

I use just a little to clean the strings, but if a little gets on my rosewood, I just wipe it off.

MORE: Petroleum jelly is a very similar product. I use a toothpick to put very small amounts on the points where my trem meets the posts, on the underside of the string retainer, and on the nut. I also use just a smidge where the springs attach to the claw and the sustain block. That's probably overkill but it doesn't hurt, doesn't get messy, and MY GUITAR STAYS IN TUNE LIKE YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE. Assuming your intonation is on the money, your strings run freely through the nut, and your trem springs aren't binding on the body, etc., this works. A 10 year supply of petroleum jelly is two bucks.

I just got an awesome 2010 Carvin CT4 with a Hipshot trem off of Ebay. Nicely set up but drifted out of tune. Just did the petroleum jelly bit, and now I can play song after song full of trem use (full floating on both guitars) and lots of string bending and remain in tune.

All I can say is this has consistently worked for me. My guitars stay in tune considerably better than a non-trem guitar that has been greased.

You know I refuse to use the tremolo bar on my strat simply becuase it wabbled out of tune after heavy use. Are you saying there is a place I can put vasoline to help remedy this?

yup

I heard that Dropping pencil lead shavings in the nut with help the strings glide also.

babar,

I beat you to it and even have a refinement. Last year I bought a product called Fast-Fret by ghs which comes in a small brown plastic sealed cylinder. The applicator is great. After a while it dried out and I just put some quality mineral oil on a jar lid and put the applicator in the lid for a short while to absorb new oil. The applicator is great and it stores in the case. Works like a charm and will last forever. Check it out.
Now my strings last a lot longer. I try not to put it on the rosewood but don't imagine it would hurt as it is for wood as well. (I use it on my cutting boards)

Check it out!

I should try that. I usually do the pencil shavings remedy...

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(former user jimbo612)

Wow really god to know.
I've been using Dunlop 65 on the body neck and headstock but wintered what to do for everything else.

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He who dies with the most Strats wins.

Sure, I used the graphite/pencil trick too. Can't say that it worked consistently well for me. And for a while I was using little bits of teflon tape in the nut slots. Didn't always work as well as I'd like.

I just now got done with a 45 minute session of playing along with some Steely Dan...didn't play any chords, just soloing with LOTS of bends and a fair amount of trem. I started in tune, never touched a tuner, and ended in tune. Wiped 'em down again with some baby oil...still perfectly in tune. What can I say?

I tried teflon tape in the nut slots too but it seemed to deaden the strings a little so gave it up.

Graphite...it's been the choice of nut lube for po' boys like me for 45 years.

sure has rebel.
screw the pencil scraping bit, go to HD and in the key section the have a tube of the graph dust for use in key cylinders.

mineral oil sounds like a money saver. treat your cutting board, protect you furnature,
lube your strings and tremolo, clear your intestines all with the same stuff.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

A long time ago on these pages Forum user Orvilleowner pointed out that instrument shops sell mineral oil for woodwind players to use on their clarinets and oboes. And they offer it much more cheaply than guitarists' lemon oil. Which as has been observed is just the same thing, but with the scent of lemon added.

(Mind you, I like the smell of lemons.)

So anyone who hasn't already got a little bottle of lemon oil for their rosewood fingerboards might want to look at getting some cheaper clarinetist's oil instead.

Those of us who do already have bottles of Dunlop lemon oil kicking around - well, unless we're using way too much of the stuff I guess those bottles will last our lifetimes, won't they?

Cheers - C

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Also Rene Martinez sells tubes of a guitar lube for nuts and bridges called Graphitall,I think it's called,it's a mixture of graphite and something to hold it in place,I haven't tried it but might someday.

vaseoline and graphite prombably.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Make a Lava Lamp

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