taking care of guitars

[moku]

i'm not anal about it but i play them and also takes care of them. i was just reading straycat's thread about how the buyer of his guitar didn't really take care of the guitar--basically slimed it up... and it was a vintage kramer

so i'm curious how do you guys treat your guitars? how do you clean the frets/fredboard, bridge, electronics, and hardware, etc.? what kind of products are out there that you guys recommend? post pics/links, if possible. thanks.

[Whoopu2]

I'm not super religious about cleaning mine. They live in their cases when not being used, I wipe off the strings semi-regularly, and I oil the fretboards when I change the strings. Seems to work well enough.

[moku]

i used to use dimarzio's fretboard wipes... until they stopped making the large jars i used to use. now they just have small jars.

what kind of oil do you use?

[Hellbat]

On rosewood and ebony I use this...

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/fingerboard-01-cleaner--prep

Followed by this...

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/fingerboard-02-deep-conditioner

On my finished neck/fretboard on my Strat, I use this...

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/formula-no-65-guitar-polish--cleaner

I clean and do a halfassed polish on my guitars every string change in addition to polishing the frets and cleaning/oiling the fingerboard. If the guitar has sat more than being played but just needs new strings, I will skip the fretboard steps and just throw on strings, but I still give the rest of the guitar a good clean.

[xenophobe]

I clean and polish my guitars every 6 months or so. I oil the fretboard with lemon oil when I change strings.

Tip: Get a bulk pack of microfiber cloths from Fry's or Costco for like $10 and keep one in each of your guitar cases, so there will always be one around. They clean all fingerprints and oils off finishes easily and you can go a lot longer between polishing or complete cleanings.

[Jayster]

I'm an ebony snob(tried maple, don't like it - rosewood is ok, but kinda like fucking your cousin...) anyway ~ Fret doctor(bore oil) on the neck, no exceptions or excuses. Everything else is inferior.

On the guitar body I like virtuoso polish, but really any wax is ok...

On da frets - about once a year or so, I will lightly polish them with 0000 steel wool... My biggest thing is, I sweat like a pig when getting into a good jam session and need to wipe the body down every time. I'll change strings upon play time, usually about 1-3 months(and I don't normally break strings maybe twice a year). Keeping your floyd set correctly will save string life, I don't wipe the strings down or anything like that.

On my acoustic, I'm lazy as hell and have had the same strings for about 2 years......

[xenophobe]

Everything else is inferior.

Honestly, just about anything will suffice. As long as you moisturize your ebony boards every 6 months or so, you're ok.

Vintage guys say pure lemon oil on ebony, olive oil on rosewood and fingergunk on maple is what works best. I honestly don't think it matters as long as you do it on a somewhat regular basis.

Car polish on painted bodies works great. Caranuba or beeswax works great on oil finish bodies and necks.

[Jayster]

Honestly, just about anything will suffice. .

I wish I could say I'm such a badass only my word matters, BUT that so isn't the case .. I would truly stress for ebony necks you try this product(that's how much I love it, having tried most other things...) http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

Personally I feel it's so above and beyond, that I'm willing to take the time to freely endorse it... BUT, If they suddenly feel they want to give me money - I'LL take it

EDIT ~ This company actually sent me a warning Email, suggesting that I was using to much of their product. I had somewhere around 20 guitars at the time, and had used less than a half bottle... The other half I gave to a fellow JCF'er when he brought me an amp head.... GREAT GUY, JDR .....

[JACKSONFREAK]

I clean mine when ever I get around to changing the strings. lol No but seriously i dont get much time to play especially since gettin married a few months ago and working two jobs. I get more time to play at work these days. One of the perks of being a guitar tech i get to play all the stuff i work on. On my own stuff i use Gibson polish cus its what i have at home. I use lemon oil on rosewood but only twice a year if needed. I keep my guitars in there cases for the most part with only a few out on a stand stand for those moments when i do get to play at home. At work i use Music Nomad Polish and carnuba wax. Great stuff all natural and safe on all finishes. I use either music nomad F-one oil for the finger boards (and acoustic bridges) or the Kyser lemon oil depending on how dry it is. The F one goes on the more dry board cuz its a lot thicker and seems to last longer when applied. I polish the frets and clean the board with 0000 steal wool. I cover the pups with with either tape or place a magnet on the steel wool to collect any debris from the wool pad. I use the Virtuoso cleaner for a rubbing compound and to clean all the hard stuff off.
Gil

[AdRock]

I t y to clean the fret board a little whenever I change strings. Wipe it down after every time I play it. I use bore oil on the fret board whether its ebo.y or rosewood.

[xenophobe]

I wish I could say I'm such a badass only my word matters, BUT that so isn't the case .. I would truly stress for ebony necks you try this product(that's how much I love it, having tried most other things...) http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

Personally I feel it's so above and beyond, that I'm willing to take the time to freely endorse it... BUT, If they suddenly feel they want to give me money - I'LL take it

EDIT ~ This company actually sent me a warning Email, suggesting that I was using to much of their product. I had somewhere around 20 guitars at the time, and had used less than a half bottle... The other half I gave to a fellow JCF'er when he brought me an amp head.... GREAT GUY, JDR .....

I'm not saying that stuff isn't all that. I'm just saying that as long as you condition your fretboard (as opposed to never conditioning a fretboard) with any number of products, it doesn't really matter all that much.

[DonP]

I'm an ebony snob(tried maple, don't like it - rosewood is ok, but kinda like fucking your cousin...) anyway ~ Fret doctor(bore oil) on the neck, no exceptions or excuses. Everything else is inferior.

On the guitar body I like virtuoso polish, but really any wax is ok...

On da frets - about once a year or so, I will lightly polish them with 0000 steel wool... My biggest thing is, I sweat like a pig when getting into a good jam session and need to wipe the body down every time. I'll change strings upon play time, usually about 1-3 months(and I don't normally break strings maybe twice a year). Keeping your floyd set correctly will save string life, I don't wipe the strings down or anything like that.

On my acoustic, I'm lazy as hell and have had the same strings for about 2 years......

Jayster got it right except I use gorgamyte to polish the frets instead of steel wool.

I don't sweat much and can go years on a set of strings.

I'll also mention don't over-oil the fretboard. Too much can be a bad thing.

[tomanyjacksons]

My fretboards get a bit of dirt on them so I clean them with a quick bit of rubbing alcohol with an old toothbrush then an immediate wipe off, followed by a drying period. Then I tape the fret board off, all but the frets then I take 0000 steel wool to the frets followed by a Dremel polish with some rouge type polish on a felt pad. After that I wipe them down and pull all the tape make sure the neck is nice and clean and oil it with D'Andrea lemon oil letting it soak in for just a little bit maybe 30 to 45 seconds then I rub it in with a lint free cloth not sure what they're actually called but they're the ones that stick to your hands when your hands are all dry and cracked. I let it set after I get all the extra oil off for about an hour to make sure it doesn't have any more oil come back out of the board. Then I polish the body with Dunlop guitar polish only worrying about the area where the strings are. Then I restring and then follow up with a bit more polishing to the rest of the body. All of my guitars get this treatment about every 3 or so months, it really depends on how funky they get. I've got 14 guitars that get this treatment so I spend a lot of time keeping them clean and ready for action as I play in a cover band that requires a lot of different tunings. Strings get changed every month or so depending on how often each gets used. My regular, show guitars get new strings every month and the ones that just get played at home get them every 3 to 4 months.It's sad to see people with guitars that are worth a few thousand dollars never take care of their guitars and all of mine get the utmost in care with my most expensive guitar was $800 new.

[horns666]

Everytime I give advice about taking care of guitars...the post is deleted.

GOOD..I hope ALL your guitars get nasty..and stinky!!! While ALL mine glisten, shimmer, and sheen!!!

so there!!!

[moku]

wow, you guys really take care of your guitars! so many options... i'm going to have to try some of the recommendations. i'll probably start with the dunlop lemon oil...
thanks!