A big thank you to everyone who sent in questions. These are tough ones, so I decided to answer them with my exsperance. If you have had different results please feel free to put it in the comments.
I actually like the smell of my fingers after playing guitar. I've never thought they smelled like garlic though. More of a brass or tarnished copper smell to me.
Yeah I think that was at Woodstock when he lit the guitar up and caught it on fire later on Frank Zappa ended up with that guitar and Dweezil restored it
For me it's even worse : I'm Portuguese, so my hands use to smell like garlic, potatoes, codfish and, the final ingredient: red wine all over the shirt. Nothing works better to seduce a fine lady 🤢
I've been using the same cleaning methods for almost 40 years and never had any problems; Some warm water, a teeny drop of dish soap and an old toothbrush works great for really dirty and grimy fretboards. Just don't douse it, use just enough to clean it. Wipe it completely dry. Linseed oil works great to condition fretboards. Very little! Maybe three drops for the entire fretboard. Isopropyl alcohol really works great to clean your strings. I've never been impressed by specific and brand name guitar polishes... Lacquer finished guitars.....nothing wrong with using good old car wax. Remember most of the "golden age" electrics were painted with automotive paints (that's why they had similar colors like seafoam green, salmon, black, white, and red). Use sparingly and obviously avoid areas like the pickups and bridge. I love GHS Fast Fret.....not as a cleaner but more of a lubricant for strings and frets. Use very sparingly (one quick run up and down, two strings at a time) and immediately wipe off excess. One stick of that should last decades. Best advice is wash your hands before you play. And wipe down your guitar after every use. Microfiber towels are fine but honestly tea towels (sometimes called flour sack towels) work the best. Cheap and 100% cotton. Never use terrycloth towels!
If you clean your strings with rubbing alcohol, here is a simple tip I use every time to protect the fretboard. Get some plastic food wrap, and tear off a small amount. Place the clear plastic wrap under your strings and then do the rubbing alcohol with a lint free towel. Keeping the rubbing alcohol off the fret board keeps it from drying out. Instead of plastic wrap you can use other protection materials like very thin plastic, cardboard, or a few plastic hotel or credit cards taped together end on end.
A setup guy told me he had a customer that brought him a DNA ridden LP for a setup. He had to clean it with gloves before he could start. The guy came back and was pissed! It took him so long to get all that grime on there. I guess he liked the feel...
I once bought a bass guitar from GWAR's bassist at the time, Casey Orr. It was absolute filthy and clotted with fake blood. I can only assume they don't clean their stuff either - they just sell it! LOL
This also applies to underwear if you are a teenage metal head. When I was a teenager, my poor mum couldn't even put my underwear in the washing machine. She had to get our Pitbull with rabies to do it because he was the only one brave and stupid enough to take on the task. It cured his rabies, though.
For years I restored guitar strings (acoustic and electric) to their original bright sound and appearance by boiling them with a tiny bit of detergent in the water. You can do it several times on a set of strings, but they eventually break just from the removal and reinstallation process. Now that I can afford to buy new strings, I no longer do the boiling thing. But it definitely works.
Pledge is my favourite , I was a lab tech for years and i understand the formula ... perfectly safe and it protects /// I highly don't recommend water or vinegar ( acetic acid on guitars or floors . )
@@PhillipMcKnight - They are a good bunch of guys! I'll be honest, I was itching to try and get the Glarry Tele thinline - I'm pouring every spare penny of my meagre wage into my lovely little home studio (more than welcome to poke your nose into my weeny lil' channel to check it out, a nod of approval or some knowing criticism would be like unto a badge of honour for me!) - but, I'm likely going to buy one anyway, Lord knows what shipping would cost to the UK, and there were folk there that perhaps cant EVER afford to buy guitars, so I stayed out of it. But, it is a real pleasure to see just how many of the TH-cam guitar community do such giveaways... I'm actually proud of us..! End of the day, some pretty darn good people. Thankyou for your help through the last few years - learned a lot about the retail/ distributor / manufacturing of guitars from you, and your reviews always smack of honesty. Sorry about all these words; I rarely comment, so, I guess I'm splurging! Bless you, stay healthy and safe out there Sonic Sensei!!! - New Forest, UK
I use fast fret on my strings before and after I play, I find it helps the strings stay bright sounding for longer, I also like how they feel when I’ve applied it.
Believe it or not, lighter fluid makes for a really effective fretboard cleaner. It really gets into the grain of the wood and gets all the gunk out. It also absorbs/evaporates really quickly so it's an easy clean-up. Easily the best method for cleaning fretboards I've found. It dries the fretboard out a lot and a lot of people have fears that it'll crack the fretboard but I've never had issues. Just oil thoroughly after.
Windex, 409, Pinesol have no abrasives. They can act as *solvents*, though I'm not sure they can act as solvents on any finish you'll likely find on a modern guitar. They can remove oils/fats and possibly make some finishes look "dried out". Alcohols can also have a similar effect. Any kind of alcohol will definitely attack a shellac finish, but shellac isn't very commonly used to finish guitars these days. Caution should be used with old instruments or finishes which you are not sure of.
Another nice video. One point of departure... I would never use WD-40 on a guitar finish. That is awful stuff, WD stands for "water displacement" and it lacquers over time. One can, in a severe case, MAYBE carefully use Naphtha to clean the finish - put on a towel or pad as Phillip explains in the video - and go easy. Martin Guitar Company once advised me to use Naptha to clean ball pen ink from the surface of my guitar with Naphtha, saying small amounts would not harm the nitrocellulose finish, especially if one removes excess with a barely damp cloth afterward. Oddly enough, it worked - but not right away - at first, I was crushed because the ink remained, but after a few weeks, it disappeared and the instrument was like new. So, way cool. You can imagine how I felt when I discovered I had ball pen ink on the top of my new guitar. So, I would use Naphtha sparingly - not WD-40 - for sticky stuff or other stubborn residue on the finish. It does a great job dissolving glue residue from labels and price tags on all sorts of stuff. As with any cleaner, be careful dealing with paint or colors that could react and fade. Just MY take. Good luck guitar mavens! TT
I found microfiber gloves in a dollar store in Japan. Every time I finish playing, I put on the microfiber gloves and give the guitar a quick wipe down. Works great.
I use orange Pledge most of the time. Teak oil for bamboo cutting boards will clean a fret board real good. Pledge will shine a matt finished guitar over time, but works great on most electrics. Armor All will make it sticky, but works great on your amp & strap.
I find carnauba wax gives a great finish after cleaning off the grime with waterless car cleaner. A clean microfibre cloth is best to clean and polish, but don't use the same cloth or you will end up with a streaky finish.
Only thing I clean my guitar with is a micro fiber cloth. I used to use windex and a clean rag back in my youth. It worked fine but I only did this during string changes. That way I could get the Pickguard and pickups, as well as fretboard, tuning keys, and headstock. I would also during string changes take the Pickguard off and tighten up pots, tuning keys, and imput jack.
I've started to use Ballistol (a mineral oil) to condition fretboards in place of lemon oil. I also use it to clean strings. I place a small amount on a microfiber cloth, and run the cloth underneath the strings. I would say it's the same as lemon oil in respect to how often to use, as you don't really want a fretboard all saturated with any oil, but, used sparingly, it can preserve and clean.
Heres the thing guys, you dont oil your fretboards the only thing to clean your guitar you can use water and a rag, the oil will actually be soaked into the wood and will loose the frets over time and will feel greasy afterwards, and depending on how you do it may even look cloudy after a few hours, realistically if the wood looks dry again no oil, just use a humidifier!! I dont know why this mistake has been passed down from generations to generations its just not needed and yhe oil actually does more harm to your guitar then fix
i use soft cotton cloth and breath to clean the body. i use a piece of nylon bedsheet to clean the strings immediately after playing. i use fret doctor once per year when changing strings for the fretboard. naptha for the arm oils creating the haze where your arm rests. most of all, wash your hands first! great video, thanks,
Best is prevention...keep the fingernails short. It's so hurtful to see a clawed away fretboard. Most scratches on the body and pickguard are from the nails, not the pick.
Been cleaning my guitars with IPA for over 10 years. No adverse reaction - great way to clean a grimy instrument. Phillip, you also advise cleaning with lighter fluid and WD40 - both are way stronger solvents than IPA.
If your gonna use zippo fluid to clean the fretboard.. Dampen one of the corners of the rag and use that to clean off the fretboard. It does work. You also wanna wipe off the fretboard to get any excess off. Then condition your fretboard and your good.
The best string cleaner I have found is Goo Gone. Really...give it a try. It is very noted for removing those pesky sticker glue residues also. It is safe for poly and acrylic finishes. Denatured alcohol [ 100% alcohol ] is safe on poly and acrylic surfaces. Beware on cellulose or lacquer surfaces. It cleans 'gold' parts very effectively, without damage, as well as electrical parts. The liquids mentioned by Phillip have no 'abrasives' in them. It's the chemicals that are potentially damaging, except for various polishes and rubbing compounds, which do have abrasives. Acetone is an amazing fretboard cleaner for wood fretboards, but not maple fretboards, which have a coating that can be destroyed by acetone. Acetone will dissolve oozing resins very well. However, acetone is a plastic eater, and will also wreck cellulose and lacquer very quickly. I use it for bare wood before priming, as it removes any sticky resins, etc. Keep it away from poly and acrylic! I have used furniture lemon oil for over three decades, without any issues at all. Don't overdo it. I use slightly used Scotchbrite green pads for cleaning strings, and fretboards. Works great. I have been repairing and modding guitars for about 35 years now, and, rest assured, I have made my share of egregious mistakes and blunders, some really, really bad. But you can often learn more from your failures than you can from your successes. I've failed enough to learn a lot.
Thanks! I was gonna ask about goo gone. I just restored a guitar that seemed like it was stored in a pig shed if all the pigs were 3 pack a day smokers. I used goo gone and it seemed to work really well. I also used windex on the chrome. It seemed fine, but after watching this I'm glad I didn't use it on anything else!
@@markbaum9615 It will NOT damage any guitar strings or any poly or acrylic finish, but is not for lacquer or cellulose. I use it to take off glue goo on poly guitars all the time without any issues.
Pledge works fantastic! Been using it for 30 years and never had 1 issue. To Phillip's point, spray on the rag. Cheap and easy + you will love the shine. Lemon Pledge and you will love the smell(no garlic). Use Sparingly on the fretboard!
Olive oil: my luthier is a qualified string instrument (ie violin, viola, etc) repairer who does guitar work as a side-line. He recommends olive oil for fingerboards - a light application every six months. But - here's the kicker - do NOT use the expensive extra-virgin-first-cold-pressing stuff. It goes rancid and soon becomes a sticky mess. Use a light inexpensive olive oil of the sort often sold in spray bottles. I've been using it for years and can confirm it both cleans and conditions the fretboard and does NOT go sticky or smelly. And it lubricates strings (apply on a moistened clean lint-free cloth).
Now you're getting it. Although on a few occasions I did give my guitar a drink. I read in Scientific American that Stradivarius soaked certain woods in beer and may have used other Spirits in his wood curing process. I'm now a slightly wiser 55 but at 16 I thought, wow ill drink with my guitar(I had given her her name) to make her alive as I had no other friends. The fantasy of it was fun. Plus reasons. Thanx for responding
I miss Radio Shack lol. I used to buy tuner cleaner there for pots and switches, it’s a electronics cleaner with a lubricant specifically for pot, sliders, switches etc. Plexiglass polish for small aircraft is great guitar polish, it’s a silicon polish with the same ingredients but you can buy a big jug for the price of a little bottle of the same thing sold for guitar polish.
I too have used Pledge for a long time even when some have said not to. It cleans and polishes at the same time, and works great. The first time I tried it was on an old beater axe and it was fine, so from then on I have used it on all my guitars. Never presented an issue.
I've heard soooo many differing opinions over the years on boiling guitar strings, but I don't think I've ever heard of it for the purpose of cleaning the strings, so that was interesting. Maybe it's laziness but I've never put strings *back* on a guitar after removing them. I do clean them after playing (sometimes better than others if I'm being honest) and tend to keep them on the guitar until they're that guest who has totally worn out their welcome and have to tell them the party is over and they gotta leave. Great video that every single guitar player of all skill levels should watch. Those playing with coated strings might want to take that (and some common sense lol) into account. Speaking of, I know it's subjective (playing/feel-wise) but would like to hear your thoughts on them. I used to go back and forth on them; I like their longevity but stopped using them because I prefer the feel and other characteristics of traditional nickel-wound. Sorry for the wall of text but thanks again for this one.
Peter Townshend of the obscure mod band The High Numbers used to shake the dust off his guitars by bashing them against his amplifier, the stage floor, and Keith Moon’s drums. 🥁 🎸
I have a 6oz spray pump bottle of Martin Guitar Polish that is 40 years old…..have about 2oz left….still as good as the first day I used it.Good stuff!
Dude, i love you so much you're basically a guitar sensei. I've learned so much from you that it is astounding! Frequently, i will watch another one of your videos and am consistently impressed with your ability to teach me a new tip, trick, or bit of knowledge that i was unaware of. You're amazing, and i hope you realize how appreciated you are. Not only are you incredibly knowledgeable, but the way you consciously decide to provide solutions for people who dont own, or have the ability to expend resources on, expensive tools; is both admirable and creative. You sincerely have a great deal of respect and admiration from me. Thank you, sensei!
Hey Phil, I read a passage in a guitar repair book of mine where apparently BBking use to use a Blitz cloth to clean his strings after playing every time. I've been doing this for over 20years. Before and after playing I wash my hands and after I'm done playing I wipe the strings down with a Blitz cloth. Always seems to work and a lot less maintenance needs to be done to my guitars over all in keeping with this regiment. Some , like my son say it's too much effort, however the sound of my guitars are always consistent and the strings feel smooth all the time. Once your use to it , you don't even think of it. Great videos and information as usual, cheers!
Orange/lemon oil: the major component of citrus peel oil is limonene, and it's the limonene that's responsible for the citrus smell. It's an excellent degreaser, cleaner and deodorizer and it's non-toxic (unlike isopropanol). You don't need the food grade variety - the cheaper industrial variety is fine. Sold on Amazon and elsewhere. And - if you really want to get your strings clean, put them in an ultrasonic bath cleaner with a degreaser. You could use limonene, or a water-soluble degreaser as sold for cleaning bicycle chains.
Water - I was lent a very old Suzuki acoustic and the fretboard you could have planted potatoes on, man it was filthy! I just put the thing in the sink, ran the hot water over it and washing up liquid, hot water and a brush did a cracking job. I happen to know however that these guitars didn't use hyde glues which would dissolve in hot water [wags finger]. After I let it dry out, put lemon oil on and buffed it the difference was shocking.
White mineral oil, sold as chopping board/butcher's block oil is cheaper and sold in large quantities is my go to for oiling fingerboards. Never goes bad, nothing in it like perfumes etc so does what it needs to. I also use it on a white scotchbrite pad it allows the fingerboard to be cleaned, requires no masking as it's not shedding, but also polishes the fretwire at the same time. It is 0000 steel wool equivalent that won't get stuck in the pickups.
Thanks Phillip for a very informative video. It was very timely as some of my guitars were getting a bit grubby (dirty) and I was wondering about the best ways to spruce them up. I love your channel, cheers (from Australia).
Merry Christmas! Windex on electric guitar body’s works great. On unfinished wood it’s a no no. Linseed oil on fret boards or orange oil. Mineral oil works great for fretboards also.
Great topic. I use white distilled vingar to patina nickle and chrome parts like bridges and tuners. My wife always has Murphy's Oil Soap around and used sparingly it's good for cleaning Rosewood finger boards. It's made for cleaning wood.
As i was searching for best things to use to clean the fretboard I'm glad you mentioned lighter fluid to clean the fretboard, as I use that to clean my vinyl records, thanks👍
Plain regular Windex works great on sticky, stinky sweat covered necks finished in poly. Spray some Windex on a rag or paper towel and wipe the neck and dry off with clean dry rag or paper towel for a nice clean slick neck.
Phil, I remember John Cippolino saying in an old Guitar Player Magazine interview that he used Hoppes #9 nitro solvent to clean his guitar strings and that he could use the same set for months and longer. I guess if it works on cleaning guns it could work on strings as well. He said that he didn't like to change his strings unless they broke or were completely played out. Have you ever heard of this before?
Best tip I’ve learned that’s not included here and it’s cheap, available and safe… extra virgin coconut oil to hydrate and lube the fretboard up. Microfiber it away after half a minute. Plus major bonus! It helps your playing too if your fingers are all raw dogged from the strings.
The hard part is a lot of string lubricants has silicone, so I feel sometimes there is no way to stop it. I prefer silicone free polishs like Music nomad
After playing I use automotive spray detailer on guitar body , neck , pickguard and hardware buffed out with a micro f/t then clean the strings with a naptha/mineral oil mix using 1'x2' cotton cloth rubbing each string wet then rub dry . It's always enjoyable to see and play a clean instrument as it is pulled out of the case .
I would use Denatured alcohol over the diox-it or wd-40. Very safe for finishes and cleaning fretboards. Can be found at any home Depot or Lowes. Good stuff!!!!
I have seen Steve Kimock use Pledge polish on his guitars onstage. He sprays it directly on the guitars then wipes the guitar down. Even from day one I was told never to use furniture polish of any kind on my guitars. He has some really great guitars too, including a Cripe.
Having grown up in the land of slot machines, i was amused by the "garlic smell" notion. That nickel smell is as nostalgic as grandmas cookies to me lol
I use WD40 for string manteinence, use a cloth that won't leave residue on the strings and apply wd40 on it, with your strings loosened a bit pinch the cloth with the oil and the string and go up and down, repeat on each string, after that I use my fingers alone to pinch the strings and remove excess, wiping my fingers on the cloth after each ( I use my fingers bc the clean cloth would remove almost all of it), if you get this oil on your fretboard it won't ruin it but I wouldn't recommend it, it really helps the strings lifetime and you get less friction with the frets while bending and fingers slide real nice, you want just a little amount btw.
I've used "Restore-a-finish" on my rosewood fretboard. A SMALL amount goes a long way, but it not only made the RW look slightly darker, but made the board look healthier. Be very careful with it and a very small amount goes a long way. Wipe on a couple frets, then wipe it off pretty quickly. Just my 2 cents...
Thank you, coincidentally I am cleaning up and restringing my brother in law's accoustic for Christmas.I bought lighter fluid ( never seen a fretboard this horrid!)I know the main ingredient in lighter fluid is naphta.For the heck of it I Googled " Ronson" lighter fluid and as luck would have it they changed their formula about 5 years ago!!! No more naphta! Zippo would be the answer unless you use a lot of it and buy the quart size of naphta at your hardware store.Merry Christmas to you and your family and thanks for your hard work in putting these videos together....😊
Buy white mineral spirits for the price of a banana, take a cloth and wrap it around a piece of wood, like icicle sticks to also clean the underside of the strings. Congratulations! You obtained lifelong fast fret.
I know boiling strings sounds goofy but I have heard about this for 30 years. Personally I wouldn't bother unless maybe it was on a guitar with locking tuners. Also, pretty sure it would ruin Elixrs. One thing I would suggest to everyone... when you open a pack of new strings, run them through a clean rag before installing. You might be surprised at the oil/dirt that comes off.
For sticker removal... I have my first bass from when I was a kid that's got a bunch of stickers on it. I'm finding that it actually has some real value beyond sentimental and was pondering restoring it. My worry, the stickers have been on it 30+ years now and I'm worried there may be some UV shading. It's been in case, bag or closet most of that time but not all of it. Is this something you've come across? Should I worry about it? Any advice would be most appreciated.
So today we learned that guitars can be used as a weapon against vampires. How awesome is that?! Merry Christmas Phil and thanks for the great channel.
I'd never even considered Windex or such like, but I instantly thought could you use such solutions to deliberately damage the paint for an aged/relic look? (Disclaimer: I wouldn't consider relicing my own kit, just curious!)
I've used Windex for years with no problems. Like you said, I just spray a bit on a cloth (rather than spraying the guitar) before rubbing, and finish by rubbing with a dry part of the cloth. I would never use vinegar. Because smell. Never tried lighter fluid. If you are recommending this you might want to include some pointers on safe treatment of the rags after cleaning. I think I would be worried about the smell too. If you are asked to work on a guitar that has never been cleaned in years and played in sweaty smokey places ... maybe. I think it is easier (and more hygienic) just to keep it clean. I know EVH disagrees, but (flame on!) he is a bit of a wack job anyway.
There was a local, VERY high-end _acoustics-only_ shop here for years (the gentleman has since retired). Sold McPhersons, Lowdens, Larrivees, the original USA Batsons, higher-end Taylors, along with many, many small run boutique names I'd never even heard of (lots from Europe, each brand quite impressive). Just before he retired, I was buying a gorgeous Lowden and an upper-end Larrivee from him (splurging on my two fantasy acoustics during his close-out sale), and I asked what he used to clean them all. Totally straight-faced, he replied: "Windex". I politely offered my surprise, but he repeated that all the guitars in his shop were windex-ed whenever needed (and yes, he'd spray the cloth first) and that he'd been doing it like that for years. Needless to say, each guitar there was always in gorgeous shape. Man, I miss having that store around these days. Personally, I had already been using Windex from time to time, mostly on especially dirty guitars, say, bought from a shop (and mostly on solidbodies), but I _also_ then wipe them down afterwards with a soft, water-dampened t-shirt, etc. in a two-step method. Playing over 50 yrs, and I've never had a problem.
My fingers can get black from the strings, and/or possibly frets. I came across one guitar that had some kind of dyed rosewood fingerboard. The dye was black, and the owner complained that his fingers were turning black when playing. Which I think was the result of the dye, and the fingerboard oil product/fast fret type stuff, which was acting as a kind of solvent. Heavily played areas on the fingerboard, after wiping with a clean cloth revealed a very pretty red rosewood that the manufacturer wanted to cover up to look more like ebony for some reason.
I do get very black hands. I thought it might be some type of product to protect the wood on the Epi 339 on its long trip from China. This is my first Chinese Epiphone, but I have a few Pao Ferro axes with none of this at all. The same guitar was replaced by Sweetwater for very microphonic/squealing pickups and both have the same issue. I bought this guitar because I don’t own a Dogear single coil guitar and I’ve always wanted one. Sweetwater gave me the option to get the pickups switched out locally, or waxed etc or exchange it. There is no shops locally that want to do this on a 339 due to the hollow body difficulty with the wiring. It’s a beautiful guitar and plays very nicely. Fit and finish are great except the dark stuff on the fretboard. I thought I had it cleaned pretty good using a Frine product, but after restringing it’s still there. My fingers are actually black after playing. A person on the Epiphone guitar lovers Facebook page says it’s oil that seeps from the wood. The pickups are still squealing out of control, I hate it because I like the guitar, but because they aren’t carrying it anymore Sweetwater is going to just take the guitar back or trade for another guitar/product. I’m sure this won’t be my last Pao Ferro fretboard and I’m wondering how to clean whatever this is? Thanks
Olive oil for *cleaning*? Never heard of that, but it'll work fine to "moisturize" unfinished wood such as rosewood or ebony. As long as you wipe on AND THEN WIPE OFF! If it's going rancid on your guitar, you're using way too much! Use any oil sparingly.
In automotive paint supplies there is a product called fish eye remover. It essentially turns the whole surface into one big fish eye that is not as noticeable. Better to get rid of all traces of silicone unless painting a car interior.
A big thank you to everyone who sent in questions. These are tough ones, so I decided to answer them with my exsperance. If you have had different results please feel free to put it in the comments.
Merry Christmas! Thank you for all you do.
Hi im building a SG diy with 3 pick ups. Can you help me with what. Pick ups to use. Thank you
hey thanks for very informative video! i got one more tho is it safe clean unfinished fretboard with ethyl alcohol ? Happy christmas
Merry Christmas and please check this out Phil !! 🤣 you're gonna love it th-cam.com/video/HRMM6T725Uw/w-d-xo.html
Merry Christmas
Mmmmm olive oil and garlic. I use it to clean my pastacaster
Pestocaster, I'd say ;-)
Stratopastar
Want a guitar made of garlic bread with spergetty strings
My lasagne Paul is way better than your Pastacaster
😂😂😂😂🎸👍
I actually like the smell of my fingers after playing guitar. I've never thought they smelled like garlic though. More of a brass or tarnished copper smell to me.
I like to smell my fingers after handling hot dogs. To each their own I guess
@@herculesbrofister265 depends if it's your hotdog or someone else's
yea. same here
I hate it ... :(
You're not using enough oregano on your neck.
Hendrix used lighter fluid to clean his guitar only it didn’t work out so well.
... well, he forgot to apply it only to the rag first...
I mean, it didnt have any dirt on it after.
He wasn't cleaning it, he was relicing it
I mean, it worked great.....once.
Yeah I think that was at Woodstock when he lit the guitar up and caught it on fire later on Frank Zappa ended up with that guitar and Dweezil restored it
I'm Italian so if my hands don't smell like garlic I think something is wrong.
FOUND THE VAMPIRE!!!
Me too. Garlic belongs on everything!🤣🎸
Same here, my hands don't smell like garlic and i dont like garlic too🤢
Mmmmm…..my favorite food is Italian, and I’m American Indian and German lol
For me it's even worse : I'm Portuguese, so my hands use to smell like garlic, potatoes, codfish and, the final ingredient: red wine all over the shirt. Nothing works better to seduce a fine lady 🤢
I use a mineral oil I found in Home Depot that's used to "refresh" butcher blocks. Works beautiful
I've been using the same cleaning methods for almost 40 years and never had any problems;
Some warm water, a teeny drop of dish soap and an old toothbrush works great for really dirty and grimy fretboards. Just don't douse it, use just enough to clean it. Wipe it completely dry.
Linseed oil works great to condition fretboards. Very little! Maybe three drops for the entire fretboard.
Isopropyl alcohol really works great to clean your strings.
I've never been impressed by specific and brand name guitar polishes...
Lacquer finished guitars.....nothing wrong with using good old car wax. Remember most of the "golden age" electrics were painted with automotive paints (that's why they had similar colors like seafoam green, salmon, black, white, and red). Use sparingly and obviously avoid areas like the pickups and bridge.
I love GHS Fast Fret.....not as a cleaner but more of a lubricant for strings and frets. Use very sparingly (one quick run up and down, two strings at a time) and immediately wipe off excess. One stick of that should last decades.
Best advice is wash your hands before you play. And wipe down your guitar after every use. Microfiber towels are fine but honestly tea towels (sometimes called flour sack towels) work the best. Cheap and 100% cotton. Never use terrycloth towels!
You realize you don't have tonuse dish soap and water anymore right? It cost 3 dollars for a bottle of actusl guitar cleaner. Yes believe it or not
@@preston2636and it cost about 50 cent for dishsoap which works just as well.
If you clean your strings with rubbing alcohol, here is a simple tip I use every time to protect the fretboard. Get some plastic food wrap, and tear off a small amount. Place the clear plastic wrap under your strings and then do the rubbing alcohol with a lint free towel. Keeping the rubbing alcohol off the fret board keeps it from drying out. Instead of plastic wrap you can use other protection materials like very thin plastic, cardboard, or a few plastic hotel or credit cards taped together end on end.
Back in the 80s, when I was a budding teenaged metal-head, I never cleaned my guitars. The grime was a badge of honor! LOL
A setup guy told me he had a customer that brought him a DNA ridden LP for a setup. He had to clean it with gloves before he could start. The guy came back and was pissed! It took him so long to get all that grime on there.
I guess he liked the feel...
I was like that, now here I am trying to clean a very rusty Floyd trem from my first decent guitar...
I once bought a bass guitar from GWAR's bassist at the time, Casey Orr. It was absolute filthy and clotted with fake blood. I can only assume they don't clean their stuff either - they just sell it! LOL
This also applies to underwear if you are a teenage metal head.
When I was a teenager, my poor mum couldn't even put my underwear in the washing machine. She had to get our Pitbull with rabies to do it because he was the only one brave and stupid enough to take on the task. It cured his rabies, though.
@@onpsxmember gotta have that toan dust
For years I restored guitar strings (acoustic and electric) to their original bright sound and appearance by boiling them with a tiny bit of detergent in the water. You can do it several times on a set of strings, but they eventually break just from the removal and reinstallation process. Now that I can afford to buy new strings, I no longer do the boiling thing. But it definitely works.
wow didn't know that will try
ssounds fun might try it
A Big Thanks for the tip. Satin finish - wd 40 and soft wipe with micro fiber cloth and brand new look.
Pledge is my favourite , I was a lab tech for years and i understand the formula ... perfectly safe and it protects /// I highly don't recommend water or vinegar ( acetic acid on guitars or floors . )
Its never pointless to refresh oneself upon the basics.
great to see you with John Mankuta and company the other night - Big love from the UK Phil!
That was a lot of fun.
@@PhillipMcKnight - They are a good bunch of guys! I'll be honest, I was itching to try and get the Glarry Tele thinline - I'm pouring every spare penny of my meagre wage into my lovely little home studio (more than welcome to poke your nose into my weeny lil' channel to check it out, a nod of approval or some knowing criticism would be like unto a badge of honour for me!) - but, I'm likely going to buy one anyway, Lord knows what shipping would cost to the UK, and there were folk there that perhaps cant EVER afford to buy guitars, so I stayed out of it. But, it is a real pleasure to see just how many of the TH-cam guitar community do such giveaways... I'm actually proud of us..! End of the day, some pretty darn good people. Thankyou for your help through the last few years - learned a lot about the retail/ distributor / manufacturing of guitars from you, and your reviews always smack of honesty. Sorry about all these words; I rarely comment, so, I guess I'm splurging! Bless you, stay healthy and safe out there Sonic Sensei!!! - New Forest, UK
I use baby oil to lube the nut, the fretboard and neck of my guitars, been doing so for years with no issues
I use fast fret on my strings before and after I play, I find it helps the strings stay bright sounding for longer, I also like how they feel when I’ve applied it.
Same for me. Someone showed me that product years ago.
I love that stuff. Also helps with string noise front moving your fingers across wound strings. At a good gig, sweat will do that same.
Believe it or not, lighter fluid makes for a really effective fretboard cleaner. It really gets into the grain of the wood and gets all the gunk out. It also absorbs/evaporates really quickly so it's an easy clean-up. Easily the best method for cleaning fretboards I've found. It dries the fretboard out a lot and a lot of people have fears that it'll crack the fretboard but I've never had issues. Just oil thoroughly after.
is that you Jimi ??
It’s naphtha
@@williamsporing1500 dont be smoking
Windex, 409, Pinesol have no abrasives. They can act as *solvents*, though I'm not sure they can act as solvents on any finish you'll likely find on a modern guitar. They can remove oils/fats and possibly make some finishes look "dried out". Alcohols can also have a similar effect. Any kind of alcohol will definitely attack a shellac finish, but shellac isn't very commonly used to finish guitars these days. Caution should be used with old instruments or finishes which you are not sure of.
Another nice video. One point of departure... I would never use WD-40 on a guitar finish. That is awful stuff, WD stands for "water displacement" and it lacquers over time. One can, in a severe case, MAYBE carefully use Naphtha to clean the finish - put on a towel or pad as Phillip explains in the video - and go easy. Martin Guitar Company once advised me to use Naptha to clean ball pen ink from the surface of my guitar with Naphtha, saying small amounts would not harm the nitrocellulose finish, especially if one removes excess with a barely damp cloth afterward. Oddly enough, it worked - but not right away - at first, I was crushed because the ink remained, but after a few weeks, it disappeared and the instrument was like new. So, way cool. You can imagine how I felt when I discovered I had ball pen ink on the top of my new guitar. So, I would use Naphtha sparingly - not WD-40 - for sticky stuff or other stubborn residue on the finish. It does a great job dissolving glue residue from labels and price tags on all sorts of stuff. As with any cleaner, be careful dealing with paint or colors that could react and fade. Just MY take. Good luck guitar mavens! TT
I found microfiber gloves in a dollar store in Japan. Every time I finish playing, I put on the microfiber gloves and give the guitar a quick wipe down. Works great.
Why not play with them on?
Lighter fluid and a match seems to clean everything! 🔥🎸🔥
Ask Jimi!
I use orange Pledge most of the time. Teak oil for bamboo cutting boards will clean a fret board real good. Pledge will shine a matt finished guitar over time, but works great on most electrics. Armor All will make it sticky, but works great on your amp & strap.
I've done the same.
I find carnauba wax gives a great finish after cleaning off the grime with waterless car cleaner. A clean microfibre cloth is best to clean and polish, but don't use the same cloth
or you will end up with a streaky finish.
Only thing I clean my guitar with is a micro fiber cloth. I used to use windex and a clean rag back in my youth. It worked fine but I only did this during string changes. That way I could get the Pickguard and pickups, as well as fretboard, tuning keys, and headstock. I would also during string changes take the Pickguard off and tighten up pots, tuning keys, and imput jack.
I just walked around my room sniffing all of my instruments' strings...…. I guess I got the garlic free versions :D
I've started to use Ballistol (a mineral oil) to condition fretboards in place of lemon oil. I also use it to clean strings. I place a small amount on a microfiber cloth, and run the cloth underneath the strings. I would say it's the same as lemon oil in respect to how often to use, as you don't really want a fretboard all saturated with any oil, but, used sparingly, it can preserve and clean.
Olive oil....fuggetaboutit.
Anything used in a salad doesn't belong on a guitar.
somebody toucha my *spaghet*
I put flax seed oil on mine
Heres the thing guys, you dont oil your fretboards the only thing to clean your guitar you can use water and a rag, the oil will actually be soaked into the wood and will loose the frets over time and will feel greasy afterwards, and depending on how you do it may even look cloudy after a few hours, realistically if the wood looks dry again no oil, just use a humidifier!! I dont know why this mistake has been passed down from generations to generations its just not needed and yhe oil actually does more harm to your guitar then fix
i use soft cotton cloth and breath to clean the body. i use a piece of nylon bedsheet to clean the strings immediately after playing. i use fret doctor once per year when changing strings for the fretboard. naptha for the arm oils creating the haze where your arm rests. most of all, wash your hands first! great video, thanks,
Your videos are second to none Phil. Very much appreciate the time and work put in.
On Hawaii the frettboards get moldy.
I use tea tree oil to clean and hold the mold at bay.
It helps the strings rust slower too.
Cheers man for the information guitar cleaning, it's quite an important factor to ensuring the quality I believe of the guitar
Best is prevention...keep the fingernails short. It's so hurtful to see a clawed away fretboard.
Most scratches on the body and pickguard are from the nails, not the pick.
I use Simple Green on grimey fretboards with a cut down toothbrush. Works great.
Been cleaning my guitars with IPA for over 10 years. No adverse reaction - great way to clean a grimy instrument.
Phillip, you also advise cleaning with lighter fluid and WD40 - both are way stronger solvents than IPA.
If your gonna use zippo fluid to clean the fretboard.. Dampen one of the corners of the rag and use that to clean off the fretboard. It does work. You also wanna wipe off the fretboard to get any excess off. Then condition your fretboard and your good.
The best string cleaner I have found is Goo Gone. Really...give it a try. It is very noted for removing those pesky sticker glue residues also. It is safe for poly and acrylic finishes.
Denatured alcohol [ 100% alcohol ] is safe on poly and acrylic surfaces. Beware on cellulose or lacquer surfaces. It cleans 'gold' parts very effectively, without damage, as well as electrical parts.
The liquids mentioned by Phillip have no 'abrasives' in them. It's the chemicals that are potentially damaging, except for various polishes and rubbing compounds, which do have abrasives.
Acetone is an amazing fretboard cleaner for wood fretboards, but not maple fretboards, which have a coating that can be destroyed by acetone. Acetone will dissolve oozing resins very well. However, acetone is a plastic eater, and will also wreck cellulose and lacquer very quickly. I use it for bare wood before priming, as it removes any sticky resins, etc. Keep it away from poly and acrylic!
I have used furniture lemon oil for over three decades, without any issues at all. Don't overdo it.
I use slightly used Scotchbrite green pads for cleaning strings, and fretboards. Works great.
I have been repairing and modding guitars for about 35 years now, and, rest assured, I have made my share of egregious mistakes and blunders, some really, really bad. But you can often learn more from your failures than you can from your successes. I've failed enough to learn a lot.
Thanks! I was gonna ask about goo gone. I just restored a guitar that seemed like it was stored in a pig shed if all the pigs were 3 pack a day smokers. I used goo gone and it seemed to work really well. I also used windex on the chrome. It seemed fine, but after watching this I'm glad I didn't use it on anything else!
Thank you for your mistakes. Thanks to you we won’t need to experience those same failures. Happy holidays
Sorry....goo gone is way too strong....it will eat a hole in carpet..or damage any finish easily
@@hallobre haha...you don't know about my myriad failures over the 30+ years. Many were pretty embarrassing, actually.
@@markbaum9615 It will NOT damage any guitar strings or any poly or acrylic finish, but is not for lacquer or cellulose. I use it to take off glue goo on poly guitars all the time without any issues.
Pledge works fantastic!
Been using it for 30 years and never had 1 issue.
To Phillip's point, spray on the rag.
Cheap and easy + you will love the shine. Lemon Pledge and you will love the smell(no garlic).
Use Sparingly on the fretboard!
Olive oil: my luthier is a qualified string instrument (ie violin, viola, etc) repairer who does guitar work as a side-line. He recommends olive oil for fingerboards - a light application every six months. But - here's the kicker - do NOT use the expensive extra-virgin-first-cold-pressing stuff. It goes rancid and soon becomes a sticky mess. Use a light inexpensive olive oil of the sort often sold in spray bottles. I've been using it for years and can confirm it both cleans and conditions the fretboard and does NOT go sticky or smelly. And it lubricates strings (apply on a moistened clean lint-free cloth).
I've used it for a while, too. It works for me!👍😎🎸🎶
Linseed
@@davekiddie4467
Linseed (aka flax) oil polymerises and goes hard. Great for cricket bats .....
@@FangPaw best thing for guitar necks Rolling Stones luthier used it for 50 years and me being a luthier i use it aiso. olive oil is not recomended
@@davekiddie4467
Is linseed oil OK for ebony boards as well?
The orange oil, specifically, is used as a decreasing agent. General mineral oil is the hands down, the best, for conditioning the fretboard.
I’ve used 95% iso alcohol on a rag to clean the strings for a year now. I thought I was the only person to do such a thing.
Bourbon.
@@therugburnz That's a waste of bourbon. Use something undrinkable.... like gin.
@@LightningDogg My guitar Carol and I drink Kentucky Bourbon. If we want something undrinkable l use Jack Daniel's.
@@therugburnz Lol I thought you were suggesting bourbon as a cleaner. I'm a scotch man but I think I could drink almost any whiskey before gin. Cheers
Now you're getting it. Although on a few occasions I did give my guitar a drink.
I read in Scientific American that Stradivarius soaked certain woods in beer and may have used other Spirits in his wood curing process. I'm now a slightly wiser 55 but at 16 I thought, wow ill drink with my guitar(I had given her her name) to make her alive as I had no other friends. The fantasy of it was fun. Plus reasons.
Thanx for responding
I miss Radio Shack lol. I used to buy tuner cleaner there for pots and switches, it’s a electronics cleaner with a lubricant specifically for pot, sliders, switches etc. Plexiglass polish for small aircraft is great guitar polish, it’s a silicon polish with the same ingredients but you can buy a big jug for the price of a little bottle of the same thing sold for guitar polish.
what about pledge polish,been using it for 40 years,just be sure to wipe down after applying .Thanks from Glendale,Good holidays.
Pledge has silicone in it.
I too have used Pledge for a long time even when some have said not to. It cleans and polishes at the same time, and works great. The first time I tried it was on an old beater axe and it was fine, so from then on I have used it on all my guitars. Never presented an issue.
I use lemon Pledge to clean my motorcycle also
Kizzy C I’m pretty sure you’re correct! It’s an antifreeze green Victory Cross Country
Armor all on the fretboard, especially maple, makes it extremely slick but does permeate over time causing finish and paint to no longer stick.
I've heard soooo many differing opinions over the years on boiling guitar strings, but I don't think I've ever heard of it for the purpose of cleaning the strings, so that was interesting.
Maybe it's laziness but I've never put strings *back* on a guitar after removing them. I do clean them after playing (sometimes better than others if I'm being honest) and tend to keep them on the guitar until they're that guest who has totally worn out their welcome and have to tell them the party is over and they gotta leave.
Great video that every single guitar player of all skill levels should watch. Those playing with coated strings might want to take that (and some common sense lol) into account. Speaking of, I know it's subjective (playing/feel-wise) but would like to hear your thoughts on them. I used to go back and forth on them; I like their longevity but stopped using them because I prefer the feel and other characteristics of traditional nickel-wound.
Sorry for the wall of text but thanks again for this one.
Peter Townshend of the obscure mod band The High Numbers used to shake the dust off his guitars by bashing them against his amplifier, the stage floor, and Keith Moon’s drums. 🥁 🎸
A big thanks Phil for all you do! Your channel was one of the best finds of the year. Merry Christmas to you and all the folks here!
I have a 6oz spray pump bottle of Martin Guitar Polish that is 40 years old…..have about 2oz left….still as good as the first day I used it.Good stuff!
Dude, i love you so much you're basically a guitar sensei.
I've learned so much from you that it is astounding!
Frequently, i will watch another one of your videos and am consistently impressed with your ability to teach me a new tip, trick, or bit of knowledge that i was unaware of.
You're amazing, and i hope you realize how appreciated you are.
Not only are you incredibly knowledgeable, but the way you consciously decide to provide solutions for people who dont own, or have the ability to expend resources on, expensive tools; is both admirable and creative.
You sincerely have a great deal of respect and admiration from me.
Thank you, sensei!
I clean my guitars with marinara sauce and garlic. Then I bake it for 10 min at 425. Perfect.
You’re the best Phil! Thanks!
Hey Phil, I read a passage in a guitar repair book of mine where apparently BBking use to use a Blitz cloth to clean his strings after playing every time. I've been doing this for over 20years. Before and after playing I wash my hands and after I'm done playing I wipe the strings down with a Blitz cloth. Always seems to work and a lot less maintenance needs to be done to my guitars over all in keeping with this regiment. Some , like my son say it's too much effort, however the sound of my guitars are always consistent and the strings feel smooth all the time. Once your use to it , you don't even think of it.
Great videos and information as usual, cheers!
Perfect timing!! Christmas is when I take care of all the guitars!! Huge help! Thank you so much!
Orange/lemon oil:
the major component of citrus peel oil is limonene, and it's the limonene that's responsible for the citrus smell. It's an excellent degreaser, cleaner and deodorizer and it's non-toxic (unlike isopropanol). You don't need the food grade variety - the cheaper industrial variety is fine. Sold on Amazon and elsewhere.
And - if you really want to get your strings clean, put them in an ultrasonic bath cleaner with a degreaser. You could use limonene, or a water-soluble degreaser as sold for cleaning bicycle chains.
Thanks Phillip! A Very Merry Christmas To You and Your Family! Thanks for all you've shared this year! Peace, Love and Joy To All! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
Water - I was lent a very old Suzuki acoustic and the fretboard you could have planted potatoes on, man it was filthy! I just put the thing in the sink, ran the hot water over it and washing up liquid, hot water and a brush did a cracking job. I happen to know however that these guitars didn't use hyde glues which would dissolve in hot water [wags finger]. After I let it dry out, put lemon oil on and buffed it the difference was shocking.
Best channel about guitars, Feliz Navidad Phil desde Guadalajara México 🤘🏻
Feliz Navidad
Fret Doctor solo for me. And that little bottle with eye dropper cap goes a long way
Cheers!
I use WD40 to clean my strings, spray a small amount on a tissue, wrap it around each string individually and move it up and down.
Works a treat.
White mineral oil, sold as chopping board/butcher's block oil is cheaper and sold in large quantities is my go to for oiling fingerboards. Never goes bad, nothing in it like perfumes etc so does what it needs to. I also use it on a white scotchbrite pad it allows the fingerboard to be cleaned, requires no masking as it's not shedding, but also polishes the fretwire at the same time. It is 0000 steel wool equivalent that won't get stuck in the pickups.
Thanks Phillip for a very informative video. It was very timely as some of my guitars were getting a bit grubby (dirty) and I was wondering about the best ways to spruce them up. I love your channel, cheers (from Australia).
Merry Christmas! Windex on electric guitar body’s works great. On unfinished wood it’s a no no. Linseed oil on fret boards or orange oil. Mineral oil works great for fretboards also.
Hey Phil, Merry Christmas to you & your family. See you at NAMM
Merry Christmas! See you at NAMM
Great topic. I use white distilled vingar to patina nickle and chrome parts like bridges and tuners. My wife always has Murphy's Oil Soap around and used sparingly it's good for cleaning Rosewood finger boards. It's made for cleaning wood.
Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all get 20 new guitars
I got another tuner (already got Three) no guitar ☹
As i was searching for best things to use to clean the fretboard I'm glad you mentioned lighter fluid to clean the fretboard, as I use that to clean my vinyl records, thanks👍
Plain regular Windex works great on sticky, stinky sweat covered necks finished in poly.
Spray some Windex on a rag or paper towel and wipe the neck and dry off with clean dry rag or paper towel for a nice clean slick neck.
Phil, I remember John Cippolino saying in an old Guitar Player Magazine interview that he used Hoppes #9 nitro solvent to clean his guitar strings and that he could use the same set for months and longer. I guess if it works on cleaning guns it could work on strings as well. He said that he didn't like to change his strings unless they broke or were completely played out. Have you ever heard of this before?
Best tip I’ve learned that’s not included here and it’s cheap, available and safe… extra virgin coconut oil to hydrate and lube the fretboard up. Microfiber it away after half a minute. Plus major bonus! It helps your playing too if your fingers are all raw dogged from the strings.
Just stay away from silicon. No benefits worth the possible finishing problems. Building and repairing for many years no need for silicon.
The hard part is a lot of string lubricants has silicone, so I feel sometimes there is no way to stop it. I prefer silicone free polishs like Music nomad
Phillip McKnight crap now I have to check my string lube.
Are you putting computer chips on your guitar??
After playing I use automotive spray detailer on guitar body , neck , pickguard and hardware buffed out with a micro f/t then clean the strings with a naptha/mineral oil mix using 1'x2' cotton cloth rubbing each string wet then rub dry . It's always enjoyable to see and play a clean instrument as it is pulled out of the case .
On a dull draggy neck, automotive polishing compound or swirl remover will get that slick action back. Does a good job.
Strap it to the roof and send it through the car wash I mean what could go wrong?
On a serous note, happy Christmas and thanks for some great content.
Merry Christmas
Or just break it down and throw it in the dishwasher. Top rack only!
I would use Denatured alcohol over the diox-it or wd-40. Very safe for finishes and cleaning fretboards. Can be found at any home Depot or Lowes. Good stuff!!!!
WD40 smells god awful! I would never use that.
I always boil my nylon strings...
I microwave mine, never fails.
if you boil your nylon strings won't they stretch?
@@robertdiaz2563 only one way to find out for sure! 😉
Al Dante?
@@bjl1000 al dente or andante? 😁
I have seen Steve Kimock use Pledge polish on his guitars onstage. He sprays it directly on the guitars then wipes the guitar down. Even from day one I was told never to use furniture polish of any kind on my guitars. He has some really great guitars too, including a Cripe.
Having grown up in the land of slot machines, i was amused by the "garlic smell" notion. That nickel smell is as nostalgic as grandmas cookies to me lol
I use WD40 for string manteinence, use a cloth that won't leave residue on the strings and apply wd40 on it, with your strings loosened a bit pinch the cloth with the oil and the string and go up and down, repeat on each string, after that I use my fingers alone to pinch the strings and remove excess, wiping my fingers on the cloth after each ( I use my fingers bc the clean cloth would remove almost all of it), if you get this oil on your fretboard it won't ruin it but I wouldn't recommend it, it really helps the strings lifetime and you get less friction with the frets while bending and fingers slide real nice, you want just a little amount btw.
anyone else sniff there fretting hand when he mentioned the garlic smell?
I've used "Restore-a-finish" on my rosewood fretboard. A SMALL amount goes a long way, but it not only made the RW look slightly darker, but made the board look healthier. Be very careful with it and a very small amount goes a long way. Wipe on a couple frets, then wipe it off pretty quickly. Just my 2 cents...
What about Murphy's Oil Soap? I've been using it on my acoustics for quite awhile - seems to work great.
Thank you, coincidentally I am cleaning up and restringing my brother in law's accoustic for Christmas.I bought lighter fluid ( never seen a fretboard this horrid!)I know the main ingredient in lighter fluid is naphta.For the heck of it I Googled " Ronson" lighter fluid and as luck would have it they changed their formula about 5 years ago!!! No more naphta! Zippo would be the answer unless you use a lot of it and buy the quart size of naphta at your hardware store.Merry Christmas to you and your family and thanks for your hard work in putting these videos together....😊
Ernie ball guitar polish and fast fret for the conditioner and youre done!
Buy white mineral spirits for the price of a banana, take a cloth and wrap it around a piece of wood, like icicle sticks to also clean the underside of the strings. Congratulations! You obtained lifelong fast fret.
@@onpsxmember honesly thats a good idea but 8 dollars a year seems alright by me,easy frets lasts a lot
Fast fret is the shizz
@@markbaum9615 hell yeah!
I used to use fast fret but it left too much of a sticky feel on my fingers after playing
Orange peel works to remove stubborn remaining adhesive after pulling off stickers; the orange oil degreases & the spongey rind helps to scrub
Thanks, really useful tips... Merry Christmas...❤️
Merry Christmas
I was expecting a shaken not stirred joke. Thanks for the tips Phil.
As always, your GREAT!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!!!!
Merry Christmas
I know boiling strings sounds goofy but I have heard about this for 30 years. Personally I wouldn't bother unless maybe it was on a guitar with locking tuners. Also, pretty sure it would ruin Elixrs.
One thing I would suggest to everyone... when you open a pack of new strings, run them through a clean rag before installing. You might be surprised at the oil/dirt that comes off.
For sticker removal... I have my first bass from when I was a kid that's got a bunch of stickers on it. I'm finding that it actually has some real value beyond sentimental and was pondering restoring it. My worry, the stickers have been on it 30+ years now and I'm worried there may be some UV shading. It's been in case, bag or closet most of that time but not all of it. Is this something you've come across? Should I worry about it? Any advice would be most appreciated.
Phillip- you have good presentation indeed. I like your style!
So today we learned that guitars can be used as a weapon against vampires. How awesome is that?!
Merry Christmas Phil and thanks for the great channel.
Merry Christmas
I use alcohol wipes or handy wipes to clean my fretboard then dunlop ultimate 65 lemon oil to condition. Works excellent!
I'd never even considered Windex or such like, but I instantly thought could you use such solutions to deliberately damage the paint for an aged/relic look? (Disclaimer: I wouldn't consider relicing my own kit, just curious!)
Windex isn't strong enough to damage a guitar enough to make it look aged, it'll just look kind of dull over time
Music Nomad F1 Oil is great stuff. You can use it on rosewood and maple fretboards. No odor and very light.
Long time viewer. Just want to say I appreciate the way you do what you do and a big Merry Christmas to you and your family, Phil!
I've used Windex for years with no problems. Like you said, I just spray a bit on a cloth (rather than spraying the guitar) before rubbing, and finish by rubbing with a dry part of the cloth. I would never use vinegar. Because smell. Never tried lighter fluid. If you are recommending this you might want to include some pointers on safe treatment of the rags after cleaning. I think I would be worried about the smell too. If you are asked to work on a guitar that has never been cleaned in years and played in sweaty smokey places ... maybe. I think it is easier (and more hygienic) just to keep it clean. I know EVH disagrees, but (flame on!) he is a bit of a wack job anyway.
I use window cleaner all the time too.
There was a local, VERY high-end _acoustics-only_ shop here for years (the gentleman has since retired). Sold McPhersons, Lowdens, Larrivees, the original USA Batsons, higher-end Taylors, along with many, many small run boutique names I'd never even heard of (lots from Europe, each brand quite impressive). Just before he retired, I was buying a gorgeous Lowden and an upper-end Larrivee from him (splurging on my two fantasy acoustics during his close-out sale), and I asked what he used to clean them all. Totally straight-faced, he replied: "Windex". I politely offered my surprise, but he repeated that all the guitars in his shop were windex-ed whenever needed (and yes, he'd spray the cloth first) and that he'd been doing it like that for years. Needless to say, each guitar there was always in gorgeous shape. Man, I miss having that store around these days.
Personally, I had already been using Windex from time to time, mostly on especially dirty guitars, say, bought from a shop (and mostly on solidbodies), but I _also_ then wipe them down afterwards with a soft, water-dampened t-shirt, etc. in a two-step method. Playing over 50 yrs, and I've never had a problem.
My dad uses car wax to clean guitar bodies, would you recommend it?
Yes on modern finishes I have also used it with good success.
Only 100% wax.
No abrasives.
For cleaning fretboard and strings etc I use ballistol oil. Works great for me.
I’ve noticed black stuff from Pao Ferro fretboards. How do I clean this?
Do you black on your hands after you play?
Rick Brown In my experience it’s from unpolished frets more than the board.
My fingers can get black from the strings, and/or possibly frets.
I came across one guitar that had some kind of dyed rosewood fingerboard. The dye was black, and the owner complained that his fingers were turning black when playing. Which I think was the result of the dye, and the fingerboard oil product/fast fret type stuff, which was acting as a kind of solvent. Heavily played areas on the fingerboard, after wiping with a clean cloth revealed a very pretty red rosewood that the manufacturer wanted to cover up to look more like ebony for some reason.
I do get very black hands. I thought it might be some type of product to protect the wood on the Epi 339 on its long trip from China. This is my first Chinese Epiphone, but I have a few Pao Ferro axes with none of this at all. The same guitar was replaced by Sweetwater for very microphonic/squealing pickups and both have the same issue. I bought this guitar because I don’t own a Dogear single coil guitar and I’ve always wanted one. Sweetwater gave me the option to get the pickups switched out locally, or waxed etc or exchange it. There is no shops locally that want to do this on a 339 due to the hollow body difficulty with the wiring. It’s a beautiful guitar and plays very nicely. Fit and finish are great except the dark stuff on the fretboard. I thought I had it cleaned pretty good using a Frine product, but after restringing it’s still there. My fingers are actually black after playing. A person on the Epiphone guitar lovers Facebook page says it’s oil that seeps from the wood. The pickups are still squealing out of control, I hate it because I like the guitar, but because they aren’t carrying it anymore Sweetwater is going to just take the guitar back or trade for another guitar/product. I’m sure this won’t be my last Pao Ferro fretboard and I’m wondering how to clean whatever this is? Thanks
I use car quick detailer for the body and back of the neck.
Olive oil for *cleaning*? Never heard of that, but it'll work fine to "moisturize" unfinished wood such as rosewood or ebony. As long as you wipe on AND THEN WIPE OFF! If it's going rancid on your guitar, you're using way too much! Use any oil sparingly.
In automotive paint supplies there is a product called fish eye remover. It essentially turns the whole surface into one big fish eye that is not as noticeable. Better to get rid of all traces of silicone unless painting a car interior.
Murry Chribnas
I use smoked fish for oiling fretboard. Mmmmm love it.