Fret Polishing and Maintenance

[Startingline]

For everyone that does their own fret work, what do you use to keep your frets polished. I have various micro grit papers all the way to 8,000 and they work really well. I was thinking about trying the fret erasers, has anyone tried them?

[metalhobo]

I keep them clean and dry with a microfiber cloth, and honestly, for functional purposes, that's good enough. I have some Gorgomyte, too, which is supposed to work really well, but I haven't tried it out yet.

If you're really concerned with keeping them shiny looking, I'd recommend Flitz metal polish paste. As with any polishing method, you'll want to mask the fretboard, but it is non-abrasive so you don't have to be as careful as with other methods. Best shine I've ever gotten from frets, and much less mess than steel wool or any other abrasives. Only time I ever felt the need to bring sandpaper or anything else to my frets was when I got a second hand instrument that had some major corrosion.

[Axewielder]

On guitars in rough shape I go with steel wool for rosewood and ebony boards. I usually pop the neck off first which cuts down on the mess. Maple boards I drop off with my luthier.

[metalhobo]

Maple boards I drop off with my luthier.

finished maple for sure. I wouldn't even put blue tape on there out of fear. oiled maple you can treat like anything else.

[Axewielder]

finished maple for sure. I wouldn't even put blue tape on there out of fear. oiled maple you can treat like anything else.

I disagree, if you run steeled wool back and forth over a gunstock oil finish it can darken the finish quite dramatically.

[xenophobe]

0000 steel wool and fret protectors.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Necks_and_Fingerboards/StewMac_Fingerboard_Guards.html

[ed]

If you have Nevr Dull near you you can use that. It makes the frets shine like nothing else. However it leaves a white residue on the fretboard so be carefull with that. The white stuff comes off offcourse but if you are worried use tape while applying the Nevr Dull. http://www.nevrdull.com/index.html

I have also used the fret erasers but the finest one of those is 1000 grit if i recall. They do a decent job at polishing too but maybe not as good as sand paper. Also the fret erasers wear out in use.

[metalhobo]

I disagree, if you run steeled wool back and forth over a gunstock oil finish it can darken the finish quite dramatically.

you're damn right. In my earlier post I said you should protect all boards when doing any kind of polishing of the frets

[ed]

And cover the pickups aswell. I heard pickups and steel wool doesnt mix well.

[Axewielder]

you're damn right. In my earlier post I said you should protect all boards when doing any kind of polishing of the frets

I disagree with that as well. Counterproductive in my opinion on ebony or rosewood as they are unfinished and 0000 steel wool gently cleans the finger cheese off better than anything.

[metalhobo]

I disagree with that as well. Counterproductive in my opinion on ebony or rosewood as they are unfinished and 0000 steel wool gently cleans the finger cheese off better than anything.

#0000 will visibly scuff ebony in my experience. you can buff it out pretty easily but I'd rather not deal with it.

[xenophobe]

I disagree with that as well. Counterproductive in my opinion on ebony or rosewood as they are unfinished and 0000 steel wool gently cleans the finger cheese off better than anything.

I disagree with that. Each ebony board has it's own texture... some is like graphite, some are hard polished... taking 0000 steel wool to them directly will change that. Graphite-like ebony will show scratches. Hard polished will lose the luster.

If you need to scrub fretboards, mineral oil and a toothbrush are the best, imo. I'm currently using Ikea brand food grade cutting board mineral oil, but any conditioner or cleaner will work. Lemon oil, Howards Wax'n Feed, F-One, FretEze or whatever....

[Axewielder]

Hmm interesting. So I don't really do the steel wool thing for day to day maintenance, but rather as part of the teardown and restoration of an old beat-up guitars. From then on out it's lemon oil. I haven't seen any issues with ebony and steel wool but I'll have to ponder this information.

[xenophobe]

Ah, in that case, steel wool can provide some consistency to the texture of a heavily worn board if you're only going one direction, I suppose.

[Axewielder]

There seem to be a lot of articles on the interwebz supporting the idea of cleaning ebony with 0000 steel wool so I'm going with fuuuuuuuuuuuuck xeno and metalhobo!