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Post subject: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:17 pm
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Hello - this question seems to have no definitive answer when I search it (i.e. Naptha, Zippo fluid, high water content products, or just wiping it with a cloth). I was talked into purchasing Fender Custom Shop Fingerboard Remedy at GC. This product says it has citrus oil/beeswax blend and is safe for unfinished fingerboards. Is this safe on maple?

I have a maple neck/maple fingerboard on my tele with some fingerboard wear and light staining. So, the finish has worn away a little on the fingerboard. I can live with the stains, but I am just curious if I should use ANYTHING? Thanks for any help.


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Post subject: Re: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:50 pm
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If you feel better about a product when you spend a lot of money on it then go ahead and buy the fancy bottle of oil.

If you just want a clean guitar, use Zippo lighter fluid and a piece of old t-shirt.

Scott Grove did a video of himself cleaning his 1959 Les Paul by spitting on it and rubbing the grime off. I'd post it here but he swears like a naval stoker and it's not exactly the family-friendly image Fender would approve of.

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Post subject: Re: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:58 pm
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There really is no good reason to clean a maple fret board with anything other than a good cleaning cloth. As for a little wear and staining on the fretboard...getting rid of it will lower the value of your guitar as companies spend lots of time "Relicing" some models of guitars to get that "Played in look"!

I have a maple neck on my 57 Vintage Reissue Strat and all I have ever done over its 30+ year life span is wipe it down with guitar cloth.

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Post subject: Re: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:27 am
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There are collector items and there are guitars for playing...

On the latter, if you e.g. refret a maple fretboard, it's almost SOP to lacquer the fretboard in the process - of course the owner can choose not to.

I wouldn't use any oil based products on maple fretboards, they are meant for ebony/rosewood and such unfinished fretboards.
When the lacquer has worn through on maple, and if you want to clean the sweat/dirt/other $h|t your fingers left on the bare wood, the old school way is Zippo fluid and cotton rag.

A remark on that "lowering the value"; some time ago someone mentioned never playing a used guitar before cleaning it, for disinfecting reasons. :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 3:59 am
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jmattis wrote:
... someone mentioned never playing a used guitar before cleaning it, for disinfecting reasons.


I was so shocked at the buildup of grime on my Strat I had to give it a good clean before I put it in for a fret dress. Didn't want the repair guy seeing the accumulation of years of crud and sweat on the rosewood.

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Post subject: Re: Maple Fingerboard or Fretboard Care / Cleaning
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:51 am
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Do not use fingerboard oil meant for rosewood/ebony on a worn maple fretboard. Rosewood and ebony are oily woods, while maple is a dry wood. What soaks in will make it look worse.

If you want it to look good again, take it to a luthier and have it refinished. If it's badly stained, it may need a bit of bleaching and light sanding before re-lacquering. Which isn't that big a job.

For now, the best thing I can recommend for lacquered fretboards is carnuba wax. Not because of the shine, but because it forms a really thin shell on top of the lacquer, unlike most finishes. Make it a habit whenever you change strings.

(And whatever you do, don't listen to "advice" from Scott Grove. Not because he might appear to be a bigger and runnier version of what you sit on, but because he is doesn't understand physics well and sometimes says completely wrong things, jumping to conclusions and sticking to them with religious-like zeal. It's a good example of "a little knowledge is dangerous". If he teaches mostly good stuff, it's more than ruined by his unwillingness to correct it when he makes mistakes.)


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