how to maintain a guitar not used in years..?

[dmagelneo]

hey yeah , recently my bro stopped playing the guitar and he has lend/given it to me, its an SD-3 Maestro guitar that cost around 300 I think , heard that its quite good, but the guitar fretboard is quite dusty and the strings are quite rusty, I'm currently using a normal guitar stand for the support.

I tried using a cloth to wipe the fretboard but its so hard to remove the dirt.. hmm

 

[diaperman]

yo bro, i know how that feels.

my advice is, without much knowledge of how your guitar is,

1. Try to use a toothbrush (used, please don't use your siblings or sth) and dip into water. Lovingly brush ALONG the grains GENTLY. Get all the muck out along the whole neck. Wipe the excess water with tissue and let it dry.

2. DO NOT do funny things with lemon oil or mineral oil or alcohol cus i have no idea what you guitar is like. If you use normal water you cant go wrong.

3. Use a DAMP(not dripping wet) cloth to white the body and the back of neck.

Thats essentially the basics of what you should do to keep the guitar at its pristine condition. Appplication of oil is subjected to guitar fretboard material and stuffs these kind of things you can learn on the way later. If you have a bit of extra cash, do get a luthier to check it or ask SOFT people, know some actually provide cleaning/polishing services.

All the best for your guitar endeavors!

 

[dmagelneo]

This is my SD-3 Maestro Acoustic Guitar fretboard

This is my Ibanez SA120 electric Guitar fretboard..

 

[Phil]

To carry on from Diaperman's informative post;
You clean it up good, get all the grime and dirt and what-not out.

Next you can actually use lemon oil. Lemon oil can't be used on maple fingerboards, but for rosewood, no problem at all.

Lemon oil helps to condition and moisturize the wood, which can get pretty dry. You know it's dry when it's all pale.

I like the Planet Waves one, pretty cheap as well. You can find it at most guitar shops. In fact, Planet Waves have a whole bunch of pretty nifty stuff for guitar maintenance.

If you want to go a step further, check out the other stuff that Planet Waves carries. The 'Shine' one is pretty good, in my humble opinion. All safe for use on our precious guitars. Those in the picture are the refill pack. They are usually sold individually in a bottle-form.

For rusty frets, you can go the DIY way, use some thin plastic and cut some slots on it. This will act as a template, to protect your fingerboard when you use Brasso to polish up the frets. It can get a bit messy, but it saves a few dollars.

If not, then invest in something like the Planet Waves

For rusty strings, just change a new set. Doesn't cost much, feels better, sounds better.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

And don't forget to give it a full setup, too.

 

[tyzjames]

I think the Dr Duck Ax Wax does a pretty good all-in-one job... I use it to clean/condition my fretboard, strings, body etc..

 

[pianomankris]

For cleaning it, two things i'd recommend:

1) milk. Milk will take the dirt off pretty easily. Just use toilet paper and milk. But give it a good clean afterwards with toilet paper and water (or saliva - see below), otherwise your fretboard will smell of cheese in a few weeks' time lol

2) saliva. Seriously - this is the best way I have found of cleaning the fingerboard. Same process as for milk - use toilet paper. Spit on the toilet paper, or directly on to the fingerboard.


I don't use specific cleaning products designed for the job as

a) they are expensive
b) they run out quickly if you have a lot of guitars (I have over 30, so would go through a lot of cleaning fluid in cleaning all my guitars),
and
c) to me personally, the fingerboards feel just, well, too 'slippy' when cleaning fluid is used on them.

Using cleaning products can get a bit crazy. I stick with the basic methods lol.

PS it was Bryan Adams' guitarist who told me about the milk trick. That's what he does when he sets up and cleans his own guitars (I was playing in a backing band one night Bryan Adams was playing, and was speaking to them after the gig about gear etc etc)

 

[Phil]

That's something new, thanks for the tip.

 

[xiaoviper]

Lemon oil helps to condition and moisturize the wood, which can get pretty dry. You know it's dry when it's all pale.

I heard lemon oil will hurt the frets... I use Ernie Ball Wonderwipes fretboard conditioner. Works well, heard its some orange used instead of lemon. It smells really orangey too.

 

[Phil]

Lemon oil used in excess might cause the frets to loosen. Works well when used sparingly.

Everything in excess is bad la, basically.

 

[crapsh1t]

For cleaning it, two things i'd recommend:

1) milk. Milk will take the dirt off pretty easily. Just use toilet paper and milk. But give it a good clean afterwards with toilet paper and water (or saliva - see below), otherwise your fretboard will smell of cheese in a few weeks' time lol

2) saliva. Seriously - this is the best way I have found of cleaning the fingerboard. Same process as for milk - use toilet paper. Spit on the toilet paper, or directly on to the fingerboard.


I don't use specific cleaning products designed for the job as

a) they are expensive
b) they run out quickly if you have a lot of guitars (I have over 30, so would go through a lot of cleaning fluid in cleaning all my guitars),
and
c) to me personally, the fingerboards feel just, well, too 'slippy' when cleaning fluid is used on them.

Using cleaning products can get a bit crazy. I stick with the basic methods lol.

PS it was Bryan Adams' guitarist who told me about the milk trick. That's what he does when he sets up and cleans his own guitars (I was playing in a backing band one night Bryan Adams was playing, and was speaking to them after the gig about gear etc etc)

you use your saliva?? does anybody who touch your guitar knows about that...... haha... jk... =D

 

[dmagelneo]

woah.. hmm stress.. , if I send back to maestro shop for maintainence , is it better? to restring, and clean the fretboard/polish.? will it be really ex?