Fretboard cleansing is a kind of Goldilocks features of instrument care. In my restore work, I’ve needed to cope with points arising from each extremes of fretboard upkeep: harm from overzealous and heavy-handed cleansing and oiling, and the grime-encrusted victims of lengthy neglect.

I lately took my parlor guitar to a tech who set it up and “cleaned the fretboard,” however his work was not pleasing to the attention. The tech mentioned he used solvent and lemon oil for the cleansing. What’s the correct strategy to take care of a fretboard? 
—Dana Howard

Since your query mentions a solvent, let’s start with this: no solvents ought to be vital for correct fretboard upkeep, and there are dangers concerned with their use. Along with the plain dangers to the end, solvents can compromise the integrity of the fretwork itself. Many producers and techs use glue when putting in frets, and a few solvents can wick beneath the frets and assault that glue. If the guitar has bindings and/or inlays, solvent might additionally loosen or assault them, particularly if they’re celluloid. 

Nothing extra excessive than guitar polish or lukewarm soapy water ought to ever actually be vital to wash a fretboard, and even these ought to be used sparingly. Basically, until you’re a skilled, keep away from utilizing any form of solvent in your guitar. If you want to take away previous tape or stickers, the most secure solvent is naphtha, which is understood to be comparatively secure for many glues and finishes when used with warning.

After I encounter disturbing quantities of grime and grime on a fretboard, I usually start by rigorously scraping to take away as a lot as I can mechanically. This could depart scratch marks on a fretboard, so use a secure software—one straightforward and really efficient choice is just a popsicle persist with the top lower to a clear, sq. face. Utilizing this stick like a chisel, you possibly can take away various gunk from a fretboard with out a lot danger of scarring the underlying wooden. 

I comply with with a silicone-free guitar cleaner resembling Dunlop Method No. 65 or Stew-Mac guitar polish. These are useful in softening and loosening up remaining grime so it may be scrubbed off. It may be arduous moving into the tiny little corners subsequent to the frets. For this, one in every of my finest instruments is simply an previous toothbrush. If vital, you possibly can trim the bristles a bit to make them shorter and stiffer for notably powerful areas.

In circumstances the place the fretboard wants numerous cleansing, the frets themselves are additionally steadily tarnished and in want of sharpening. This can be a frequent space the place folks inadvertently do minor harm—not simply gamers but additionally many well-meaning guitar techs. 

Traditionally, the perfect materials for sharpening frets has been 0000 metal wool, which is cheap, straightforward to search out, and leaves an exquisite shining floor on the frets. The softness of the pad additionally conforms completely to the rounded fret tops and leaves no corners or flat spots. Nonetheless, metal wool has a number of large downsides. It sheds tiny particles of metal when used, which might float within the air and be inhaled. These particles can even shortly and tenaciously cling to any close by magnet (resembling a pickup); some pickups are inclined to interference and even harm from gathered metal wool particles. Lastly—and most vital for this query—sharpening frets with metal wool invariably leaves a sample of high-quality cross-grain scratches within the fretboard wooden. You may not see the scratches in all gentle circumstances, however they’re painfully apparent as soon as you already know what to search for.

In case you are utilizing metal wool to wash your frets, I very strongly advocate masking the fretboard. This may be finished with tape, which is a time-consuming course of that many techs nonetheless discover worthwhile, or with the one-at-a-time fret masking instruments bought by lots of the luthier provide corporations. Should you don’t wish to spend money on these, you possibly can approximate them for infrequent use by merely chopping a fret-sized slot in a chunk of skinny, resilient plastic. Nonetheless, for lots of the causes above, I’ve gravitated away from metal wool in recent times, selecting as an alternative to make use of a mix of inexperienced and grey nonwoven abrasive pads resembling Scotch-Brite, high-quality sandpaper on a concave backing software, and (of all issues!) the foam-backed abrasive blocks marketed for sharpening fingernails. This final merchandise is my present favourite—cheap and versatile. Many of those blocks have 4 totally different grits round their perimeter, which allows fast and really good fret sharpening. (Once more, masks your fretboard!)

The ultimate stage in a typical fretboard makeover is oiling, and even this seemingly innocent activity will be overdone. Oiling a fretboard is enjoyable; it makes the wooden look darkish, wealthy and glossy, and offers the entire guitar a vibe improve. It additionally feels easy and slick underneath the fingers, whispering guarantees of quick runs and easy motion. For these comprehensible causes, it’s not unusual for folks to go overboard with oiling, by utilizing an excessive amount of and doing it too typically. On brand-new devices with kiln-dried fretboards, I put simply sufficient oil on a tender fabric to depart a constant coloration when wiped on the fretboard, however no extra. 

Effectively-loved devices have already got fairly a little bit of pure oil labored into the wooden, so not way more is required. Many occasions, I’ve seen folks soak a rag with lemon oil and lather on a thick-drippy layer of oil, most of which must be wiped off afterwards. Along with being a waste, this does little or no to assist the fretboard resist seasonal humidity adjustments, and it may produce other undesirable unintended effects. Over-oiling the fretboard may cause free frets by wicking underneath the fretwire and into the slots, even when the frets are glued in place. As with solvents, oils also can creep underneath inlays and put these prone to coming free. Extra oil on the fretboard will find yourself in your strings, shortening their lifespan and dulling the sound prematurely. And eventually, it simply makes a large number. Apply oil flippantly and sparingly.

Cleansing and sustaining your fretboard will be enjoyable and satisfying and is most simply finished when altering strings, which many individuals do on their very own. (That is one purpose why I encourage folks not to vary their strings one by one—that makes it almost unattainable to wash your fretboard in the course of the string change!) I encourage you to provide fretboard cleansing a strive for your self. Simply preserve the above suggestions in thoughts, to hopefully assist preserve the guitar off the restore bench a little bit longer!