Now, as discussed in cleaning the guitar fretboard, some people recommend using very light grade of steel wool or plastic wool (non soap variety that’s found in SOS pads) to VERY LIGHTLY clean the really hard to reach places on the fretboard that the cloth will not clean, so make very sure that you make this a light treatment. To much of this and you’ll lose your fretboard!
One major note to make: Avoid products that are silicone based. They clog up the wood, and don’t allow it to breathe properly, which then becomes hard to clean up and makes for a very messy ordeal.
Another major note: Avoid a wax on the fretboard. This will effect the sound and playability of the guitar, and should be avoided.
If you have a fretboard cleaning product, I want to mention that certain products are not safe to be used on certain materials, so read the packaging for ‘supported’ materials like maple or rosewood. Often times on the guitar manufacturer’s website they will have a list of recommended cleaning formula to use on the fretboards as well as the body (and it should be a different product). To use the product, place a small amount on a little corner of the cloth and then rub the fret board with that spot of cloth. Once the cloth has become dirty, find another clean spot of cloth and put a drop or two of the product on it, then continue on up the fret board in the same fashion until the entire fret board is cleaned.
You can read more on using fretboard lemon oIl, olive oil, or fretboard conditioner to become more familiar with their functions and applications.
Finally, you can put those new strings on using some our advice, and polish them up using some string cleaner, although I would suggest that new strings don’t quite yet require the string cleaner, but as you use it, you’ll learn this.
NOTE: Always remember to read the manufacturers label on the product that you are using for additional and specific application instructions.
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