Just thought I'd throw in a plug for a couple of great products that I have mentioned on other threads...

Dunlop 65, clean at wax at the same time.

GHS Fast Fret, clean strings and oil fret board at the same time.

These two products travel with me and make for fast clean ups every time I play (including practice at home which is where I do most of my playing)...


Let me know if you use these products and like them...or any comments on other cleaning products you like better?

All the dirt and gunk that builds up on your fretboard adds to the tone.

i agree with larryz on the FastFret. I love that stuff when used correctly. I dont know so much about Jasco's comment...

i have never been keen on fast fret. i have a friend who sprays all his guitars and i prefer to keep it off of mine. i add a little lemon oil at string changes but that is it.

Exactly. And due to that "tone" I always clean the strings after I play.

Scott Fraser

Don't use any fret junk, just lemon oil. When it comes to cleaning the varnished lumber, any good quality furniture cleaner will work. I've never seen any reason to buy a specific 'cleaner' just for my guitars.

I've used and really liked GHS Guitar Gloss (goes on wet, soaks up oily residue, then dries to a powdery state and then you buff it off- don't use it on open-grained bare/unfinished wood like ebony or rosewood fretboards or bridges, just on finished wood or oiled maple or the like), and I used to also follow that with "Trick" cleaner/spray for a really super clean, slick NON-STICKING feel (especially on the back of a Tung-oiled/Butcher's Waxed "raw" maple neck).

Stewart-MacDonald's "Preservation Polish" is pretty good, too.

On fretboards other than finished maple, I like just wiping it down and occasionally applying a light amount of fretboard/bore oil like "Fret Doctor", Gibson, or lemon oil.

Personally I hate lemon oil; I feel the acidity ruins the luster of my acoustic guitars' ebony fretboards. I used to use that Dr. Stringfellow lemon oil spray by Kyser, and it really wasnt all that fun.

Really, FastFret is just mineral oil on a stick; don't get tied up in a knot over weird names-- it's just freaking mineral oil.

Also, furniture cleaner will gunk up over time, sorta like waxes. Personally I like using water based cleaners like Dunlop 65 or even just a slightly damp rag for my lacquer- and nitrocellulose-finished guitars. Every once in a while, you could use carnauba wax or that furniture cleaner if you want a dazzling shine. Obviously, I have to be even more dainty with my french-polished guitars.

I don't care for the GHS Fast Fret, but it's OK; and I've known plenty of players who love and swear by the stuff; it's something to try, and you'll either love it or not.

I dislike the spray-on stuff like Finger Ease and those types of things, though. Too much!

Pure lemon oil-like in the little bottles and used sparingly, That`s it. No furniture polish, bobsled wax, nanotech coatings.

Remember, most of that "gunk" on there is dirt, oil etc. from your hands and sweat. I never wash my hands with furniture polish! ROFL

I like to clean mine with a LIGHT mixture of your favorite dish washing soap and some water and "clean" the gunk with it and a damp towel.

Then use another damp towel to "rinse".

I've also used those cleaning wipes that come in the plastic can. Haven't used them on the high-end guitar yet, testing them out on the el cheapo first to make sure they don't do anything to the finish after 6 months of use.

Originally I was in the guitar store and thought I would pick up some Finger Ease, which I never have used as I don't like spraying the neck (to include the back and the fretboard) with anything, but thought I'd give it a try as my fingers need some help when the strings feel dry to me...the store was out of the Finger Ease but one of the techs suggested I try the Fast Fret and he let me use the one they use in the store which looked a little worn out but I put some on my guitar and it felt pretty good so I figure what the heck I'll try it...

long story short, I'm glad I didn't buy the Finger Ease and really like the fact that the Fast Fret is good for the Fretboard as some string cleaning products warn you to keep the string cleaner off the fretboard...suggested the product to a friend and he to loves it and uses it before and after each time he plays...it's quick and easy and as Grey Seraph says it's just white mineral oil on a stick...no spray no fog etc...but lets you play faster and easier while cleaning the strings....

as far as leaving the strings dirty to enhance tone, my hands are too acidic and my lower strings rust out to fast and get thin if left on too long, especially if I don't clean them once in a blue moon...so for me, this is a Godsend.

One friend of mine kinda exudes peanut butter or something... when he plays one of my guitars, they are just grimy and oily. His own fretboards look like there is a layer of that stuff from the garage floor laying on the board, packed up behind the frets, and with worn patches where the strings rub it off of ther wood. Another bud is of the acid variety, and if I don't wipe down the strings after he plays, they'll corrode.

Anyway, there is nothing special or unique about the finishes on guitars... they are traditional varnishes, lacquers, and polys. The right cleaner for any substance coated with these finishes is the right cleaner. No reason to pay special money for 'guitar' specific cleaners. Anything that cleans the grunge off of moms coffee tables will do the same for your guitars. Anything that polishes the appropriate finish will polish a guitar with the same finish.

In terms of the lemon oil on the neck... there are several products that have 'lemon oil' in the title, but are other things as well. On a neck, I choose to use just plain lemon oil, not one with other additives, polishes, or waxes.


I don't usually use any slippy stuff on the strings when I play, but I did write a piece that I simply could not play without getting string noise. I wanted to get a clean recording. I tried Elxir strings but did not like the tonality. So I bought some finger ease. I sprayed it on a rag and wiped it onto the strings. worked just fine. But as I say, I don't usually use anything like that, so I'm no expert.

Yes and no. Chances are, the varnish found on furniture isnt nitrocellulose. Also, I doubt there are any tabletops that are french polished. Such guitars can easily scratch with a brush of hair--I wouldn't want anything but something made specifically to clean such things to touch my classical guitar's body.

Yeah, but I said: "The right cleaner for any substance coated with these finishes is the right cleaner."

If you have an instrument covered in French Polish, which is just shellac, then any furniture grade shellac cleaner will work.

Bill

You would take chances using furniture stuff on a 21,000 dollar guitar?

yes. And it is not "taking a chance", if it is the right polish or cleaner for the finish. The point to the finish is to protect the wood. The point of the cleaner is to clean that finish, and the polish is to shine that finish. The cleaner and polish do not penetrate the finish and get to the wood, so it doesn't matter if the finish is on a $3 million dollar cello, a $21k classical guitar, or a $2 plank of pine.

But for just a second, let us assume that the cleaner does penetrate the finish and get to the wood. What do you expect to happen?

a staining could occur. orangepeel could occur. Maybe cratering. tiny holes could appear in the finish. the finish could bubble. A blemish could occur on the finish.

Generally, out of fear of my guitar getting hurt, I don't even do such things myself. It gets cleaned by light use of a dunlop polishing cloth without any dampness whatsoever and I buy a new cloth for it every 6 months for fear of abrasion. Of course in playing it nicks occur, such as from rasgueados and whatever, but I minimize danger to the guitar. It has never been played outside ever. The case is a calton case (http://www.caltoncases.com/) that is made of custom fitted fiberglass, aircraft-grade metals, and is lined on the inside by memory foam and other types of foam, which takes any and all beatings. Maybe I'm completely OCD about it but if that guitar were to fail, I wouldn't have a concert guitar.

"a staining could occur. orangepeel could occur. Maybe cratering. tiny holes could appear in the finish. the finish could bubble. A blemish could occur on the finish."

Why would that happen, given the previously stated situation? And if it did, how would that affect your concert guitar sound?

I don't know, I'm just an old rocker here, but the tools that make money for me deserve respect, they deserve to be treated well, but they are tools. Tools are going to get dinged and scratched and dented and stained... and in the end, we all love to see the signs of a well-played instrument.... not abused, but well played. I do a lot of work (I have to get into the habit of saying 'did'... I'm not fully retired yet, but darned close....) with the Pittsburgh Symphony and I am exposed on a regular basis to large quantities of instruments that are rare, often hundreds of years old, and extremely valuable. As you can imagine, the care routines among an entire orchestra of musicians runs the gamut, from not caring much about them much to taking reasonable care of them. I don't see anyone obsessing. (And many of these people own more than one of these multi-hundred thousand dollar instruments.) Maybe that familiarity has led to what you may perceive as my cavalier attitude, but I'm not seeing the fear or the logic involving impossible (or at least very highly unlikely) chemical reactions. Tiny holes or bubbles? That would be the wrong chemical, so it would be the wrong cleaner or polish for your finish. A blemish? What kind of a blemish? Again, a cleaner or polish designed for your finish is not going to damage your finish. Orange Peel? That is a spray issue that could happen when spraying on a finish. Not when cleaning or polishing a finish.

I will never fault someone for wanting to take superlative care of his property. I see so much neglect, it is sad. But I would hope that you would want to know the science from the voodoo. But taking care of your instrument? Good on ya!

Haha dude, I work for the Orange County Symph and yeah I hear you on the spectrum of personalities these people have in tandem with their instruments. I guess, thinking about it, orange peel probably wouldnt happen. Yeah I love the idea of a instrument that's beaten up from "loving it too much," so to speak, just I know that nicks from fingernails wont harm the guitar. I just worry about it's visible appearance from a stage, because unless I'm Julian Bream and can rock that beat-up guitar look because I'm so badass, I don't want to look unprofessional about my care for instruments. I mean, I saw pics of your instruments, and they seem quite well-held-together and w/e, and obviously I wanna take one off of you , so I dont doubt your care of them.

"and they seem quite well-held-together and w/e, and obviously I wanna take one off of you , so I dont doubt your care of them."

Yeah, I do take -good- care of my instruments, to the point of even having whole house humidification installed. Most of my instruments were bought used, and most all of the nicks and dings occurred pre-Bill. The new ones are pretty much pristine. In the last couple of years I sold off a Gibson 125, a 335 12 string and a Fender XII, all from the 1960s and all looking like they were maybe three or four years old.

But when I buy an older guitar, I consider the wear and tear when I buy it... primarily, does it affect the sound? Lets face it, Rory Gallager and Stevie Ray V took away the stigma of using a worn instrument.

I just change my strings every couple days.