Fuddland

I don’t take the best care of my guitars. They’re in very good nick considering they’re both around ten years old, but still: I don’t own any bespoke guitar stands [the nearest wall usually suffices, which means they’ve fallen over a good few times over the years], and I’ve only changed the strings a handful of times. But there’s a good reason behind this.

You know that gunk that accumulates on a [ball-based] mouse’s rollers and scroll-wheel, or on the keys of a well-used keyboard; the gunk that’s essentially human skin-cells and sweat, mixed in with some miscellaneous dust and dirt? Every now and then you need to open up the mouse and remove the gunk with a cotton bud and some nail-polish remover [if you’ve never done this, I’d highly recommend it: the improvement is usually so drastic it’s as if you’ve bought a new mouse].

The same thing builds up on a fret board, and it’s a lot trickier to clean off. I’m wary of applying any kind of chemical to the wood, so it’s a case of scraping away all that dead skin by hand, fret-by-fret, which is made much easier if you’re replacing the strings at the same time, but still a fairly grim and monotonous task. If anyone’s got some top tips to make this job simpler, I’d love to hear them—otherwise I’m considering attempting to play whilst wearing latex gloves in the future.

#1

felicity | 2005 / 03 / 20 – 17:30

my ex used to clean the fret board with plain old furniture polish(Mr sheen to name the exact brand)when he changed the strings, but then he did change the strings once a month at least. it was the only household cleaning he took seriously, and with 6 guitars it took some time as well!

[Edited by commenter — 17:32]

#2

Richard | 2005 / 03 / 20 – 22:39

I change the strings on my guitars every few months, but I’ve never bothered cleaning the fretboard. There is some gunk on there, and the fretboard is rather worn - especially on my acoustic - but I don’t worry about it. I think it adds to the character of the instrument. :-)

#3

Lesley Garrett's mum | 2005 / 03 / 21 – 08:47

Re #2 - You must be very clean, I always have all manner of kak behind my frets - at least I did when I used to play a lot.

A smokers toothbrush is the best thing I found - stiff enough to remove the grub but not so much it scratches the wood.

#4

mrtn | 2005 / 03 / 21 – 12:00

only changed strings a handful of times in ten years? to paraphrase you, “I’d highly recommend it: the improvement is usually so drastic it’s as if you’ve bought a new guitar” ;)

re cleaning: yeah, stiffish toothbrush, slightly dampened in warm water, dried off immediately, does the trick…

#5

David | 2005 / 03 / 21 – 14:50

Re #1–4: Thanks for the advice chaps [especially from Ms Garrett’s mother, I’m so touched you’ve continued to visit after all the Red Nose Day debacle], I shall look for a suitable brush for future cleaning purposes. And yes, it does sound absolutely lovely with new strings—remind me never to leave it so long again. :)

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